Thursday 2 April 2015 19:50, UK
Without doubt, it took Jason Day a little while to begin to fulfil his abundant potential but at just 27 years old this is a reflection of the fact that he arrived in the US as a very young, very raw talent with lots to learn.
Thanks to a coach and caddie, who is also a very close friend, a wife and now a child, Day has found a fantastic off-course platform which has enabled him to focus on his target - to become the world's best player.
Standing in his way at first was Tiger Woods but no sooner had the greatest player of his generation started to fall, along came the man most likely to carry the torch. As compatriot Adam Scott had Tiger to chase, Day now has Rory McIlroy and the challenge is one he'll relish.
The last two years have seen Day make good progress up the Official World Golf Rankings and, crucially, put wins on the board. From the summer of 2010 to the start of 2013 he went without a victory of any note, but since then he's secured a WGC Match Play, the individual and team World Cup honours for Australia and, more recently, an impressive success in the Farmers Insurance Open.
That Day won the Farmers - played on a US Open course in Torrey Pines - came as no surprise. While for so long the victories were elusive, Day has been developing a formidable record in majors, with seven top-10 finishes from just 16 appearances. Here at Augusta he's been no worse than 20th and that, in last year's renewal, came at a time when he was nursing an injured wrist.
Of course, with so many top-10s come a host of missed opportunities.
When Adam Scott won this title for Australia in 2013, it was in part thanks to Day who had made bogeys on 16 and 17 shortly after hitting the front. Three pars after he'd walked off the 15th would've seen him take part in the play-off with Scott and Angel Cabrera. In the same year's US Open, Day played the final eight holes in three-over. Justin Rose, who beat him by two shots in the end, played those same holes in two fewer shots.
However, to use these two isolated incidents under the most intense pressure as evidence that Day does not have what it takes would be churlish at best. He's still improving, has subsequently figured out how to convert contending into winning, and there are few players in the world who now look more reliable when it comes to the crunch.
Everything about him says Day will be around at the weekend and in the running for the Green Jacket.
