After admittedly failing the test the last time he faced it, Jason Day is confident he can survive and thrive a 25 hole major championship marathon at St Andrews on Saturday.
Day is extremely well poised at the Old Course at eight-under for the championship through 11 holes of his second round, just two off the pace set by Dustin Johnson when play stopped at 9:45pm local time.
But he faces little sleep on Friday night with a 4:30am wake up call to ensure he is warmed up and back in position for a 7am restart, and will then have a quick turnaround for the third round.
The 27-year-old was faced with a similarly long day in New Orleans earlier this season on the US PGA tour and became bogged down and tired with six holes to play, ultimately fading from the lead to fourth place.
His fitness was again brought into question at the US Open when he collapsed with vertigo but the Queenslander heroically battled through it.
“Right now I need to grind it out as much as possible. I have to just knuckle down and do it and worry about getting my rest on Saturday night,” Day said.
“Try to get as much sleep as I can tonight because the short turnaround is going to be tough on us but that’s just how it is.
“I will just have to embrace it and go with it as part of the British Open challenge. The key is I have to stay patient. It is not the first time I’ve had to play extra holes, I understand what I need to do to manage it and I have to be very careful not to get frustrated with myself as that will be easy to do on such a long day.
“You can get very angry and frustrated very quickly on days like that but I’m sure I can be on top of it.”
Coach and caddie Col Swatton believes the different weather conditions and the importance of the tournament will ensure his charge will be up for the fight.
While the day will be long, and with brutal early winds, he remains upbeat.
“I think the biggest thing tomorrow is it is a lot cooler than it was in New Orleans and he’s a little bit fitter, he’s been taking the medication (for his vertigo) and I think he will be fine,” Swatton said.
“It’s a major championship and I’m sure he will get up for it.”
