Day looks to statistics in his bid for World No.1

Jason Day feels that his spot as the No.1 player in the world can be his for the taking, again, in 2019.

The popular Australian is currently ranked 11th in the world, three ahead of Tiger Woods, and he has earmarked where his game needs to improve if he is to again scale those rankings and regain the spot at the top that he owned early in 2017.

Jason Day (Credit: Getty Images)

“If I’m first in strokes gained putting (on the US PGA Tour), hit 70 per cent of greens in regulation and hit 60 to 65 per cent of fairways, then I’ll get back to No.1,” said Day as he prepared to launch his 2019 campaign at the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.

He showed glimpses of his best too, with rounds of 69-71-75-66 to finish 13th, 12 strokes behind Xander Shauffele.

The 30-year-old Aussie spent most of last season ranked first in the strokes gained in putting measurement statistic, while he hit 65 per cent of greens and 58 per cent of fairways.

He gained the world’s best player spot for a second time in March 2016 and stayed there for 47 consecutive weeks; only Rory McIlroy has topped that effort since Woods held a mortgage on that position for an incredible 16 years.

Since then a number of players including Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose and Justin Thomas have attained the honour of being ranked the No 1 player in the world.

“I can’t control what they [other players] do, but if I reach my goals I will definitely win multiple times and that’s what I believe,” explained Day on the eve of the Hawaii event.

“I’ve been working hard on shaping the ball in both directions and controlling my ball flight.”

Day has spent several weeks in the California desert working with his long-time swing coach and former caddie Colin Swatton.