Jason Day ties course record with 11-under par round; Patrick Reed joins elite list with victory at Kapalua

Patrick Reed wins Hyundai Tournament of Champions, but Jason Day’s form looks ominous.

Patrick Reed beat Jimmy Walker on the first sudden death playoff hole to win the Hyundai tournament of Champions at the Plantation Course at Kapalua, Hawaii.

The victory was Reed’s fourth on the PGA Tour which means he joins some elite company in becoming only the fifth player in the past 25 years to win four times before the age of 25. The other four are Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia and Phil Mickelson.

While the event has everyone talking about Reed and the prospects of a long and successful career, Australian golf fans should be excited about the form of Jason Day, in particular his course record equalling final round.

Day began the final round eight shots behind leaders Jimmy Walker and Hideki Matsuyama and up until this round his form had been scratchy at best.

Day made par on his opening four holes and then suddenly his putter got hot. Day reeled off 11 birdies in his next 14 holes to tie Chris Kirk’s course record he’d carded earlier in the day, 11-under par 62.

Day finished just one stroke out of the playoff, finishing in a tie for third place and netted himself a cheque for $332,667. What looked to be a so-so start to the year for Day, suddenly became very exciting, not to mention lucrative.

Day looked set for a stellar 2014 after securing the WGC Accenture Match Play title in a dramatic match against Victor Dubuisson. A top-5 finish at the US Open followed later in the year but a troublesome back injury meant Day was playing catch-up for the rest of the year.

By all reports his back is no longer troubling him and the strong final round may just be the confidence boost 27-year-old Day needs to add to his two PGA Tour victories in 2015.