OAKVILLE, Ont. — Jason Day isn’t a physician. He’s never entered a medical school. Heck, he didn’t even go to college, electing to try professional golf at the age of 19. But when Day talks about his recent struggles with vertigo, something that has occasionally derailed the young golf star’s career, he admits he might be mistaken for someone with medical experience.
“I sound like a doctor,” he said at the RBC Canadian Open. “I feel like I’m in a conference right now. I mean, if anyone has benign positional vertigo, I can fix you.”
A broad smile crept across Day’s face. It may be one of the few times Day, the 9th-ranked golfer in the world, has been able to joke about his struggles with vertigo. An inner-ear problem, vertigo causes the sufferer to feel like they are spinning. Day has suffered from vertigo since 2010 when a cyst in his sinus cavity led him to have surgery. But Day’s struggles with the medical condition became public when he collapsed at the U.S. Open while near the lead in the second round.
“I think a majority of the people in here saw me fall on my face at the U.S. Open,” Day said. “To be able to get through that week was tough.”
Tough might be an understatement, especially in a sport that prizes balance as much as power.
WATCH ABOVE: The history behind Jason Day and his long-time caddy
It wasn’t immediately clear what was wrong with Day, but the 27-year-old Australian sought medical treatment and continued the tournament. Day had withdrawn from the Byron Nelson golf tournament a few weeks earlier after becoming dizzy, and went to a doctor looking for results. Those results weren’t in by the time he played the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay. Afterwards he went through a battery of tests with a doctor at his home in Ohio.
“We talked a lot and went through a bunch of studies that we’ve done—sleep studies and blood tests,” Day explains. “”I think we did 20 vials of blood and MRIs to my head and neck, and really just kind of tried to pinpoint what is going on.”
In the end it was decided a viral infection in his right ear had caused the vertigo. Day is on medication, and admits the vertigo could be a problem he’ll have to regularly deal with.
For a player as promising as Day, it could be a huge setback. The affable Australian has long been regarded as one of golf’s young guns, a player who could make the world forget Tiger Woods’ struggles and battle with the other 20-something stars of golf like Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth. A powerful hitter—Day averages more than 309 yards off the tee, third longest on the PGA Tour—he’s already won once this year and made more than $3-million while contending at the U.S. Open, where he finished tied for ninth despite the bout of vertigo, and followed it up by tying for fourth at the British Open.
He has superstar potential and has the looks and personality to transcend golf, if only his body will allow it. Vertigo is just the latest ailment to plague Day. Last year it was a thumb injury that put his career in question, followed by a bulging disc in his back. In 2012 his chronic back problems flared up, and he hurt his ankle while jogging and had to withdraw from the Masters after a round.
And now vertigo. If day wasn’t so blessed with remarkable ability, one might start to wonder if he’s cursed.
Day shakes it all off. He has to keep on top of his schedule, and not get too run down to keep the effects of vertigo at bay. Easier said than done when you fly to Toronto from Edinburgh only hours after the British Open ended.
WATCH ABOVE: How golfer Jason Day met his wife
But Day seems as optimistic as one can be considering his mounting medical issues. After all, he says, if he was a linebacker or a shortstop or lacing up skates, he might not be playing at all. Golf is tough and physically demanding, but it doesn’t punish like some other sports.
“It’s a process, but it’s something I can be patient with because golf is kind of a marathon, not a sprint,” he explains. “I’m not on a time limit, which is great. I have all the time in the world.”
He may well be right. But golf is counting on Day to use less of that time on the disabled list and more on the course.
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