19th Hole
Jason Day opens up on mental and physical demons
Jason Day’s career has been on a downward trajectory over the past few years, with the former Would Number 1 now in danger of missing out on multiple majors in 2022.
The Australian is ranked 79th in the world and is only exempt for the 2022 PGA Championship, and ahead of the CJ Cup this week, Day spoke frankly about his struggles.
“I’m a different player than what I was five years ago. I’m a different person. I have different priorities. I can’t work as hard as I used to just because of my body, and I’m OK with that.
I’m not trying to do the exact same thing that got me to No.1 in the world. I know that if I did that, I wouldn’t get there because my body wouldn’t handle it. So I’ve got to somehow be able to kind of learn as I go along and try and adapt as best I can.”
Day’s back has been a source of frustration for the Australian, who has had to pull out of multiple events in the past with injuries. Ahead of the CJ Cup, the Aussie revealed that he’d be playing just one more event (after CJ Cup) before January, meaning a long break from competitive golf was on the cards.
“I’m playing this week and I’m scheduled to play the Shootout, and then the next tournament I’ll play is Farmers Open. So I guess that’s three events in five, six months, something like that.
(I’ll be]) focusing a lot on my mind, focusing a lot on my body. Both are very much important, like both body and mind. Trying to work on myself personally, which is something that we don’t do enough of as professional athletes.
So I feel like things are progressing in what they need to do, but, you know, the level — the play that I’m expecting this week, I’m here just to see how things have progressed swing-wise. What that will, you know, produce result-wise will be interesting to see how it goes this week.”
Day also opened up on the stress that returning to his best form has caused him and how he plans to get back competing at a high level while enjoying himself more.
“I guess obviously we all battle demons, you know what I mean, and especially as golfers. It’s such an individual sport even though we do have, as individuals, we do have teams around us, but you’re out there battling yourself.
Try and discover that golf is not the thing that defines me, you know what I mean? If I play bad golf, as long as I give it everything that I can, then it is what it is, the results are the results. Not to always have golf on my mind is what I’m saying. I just don’t need to have that stress and that anxiety of actually going and performing because everyone else thinks I should be performing the way that they should.
So there’s a lot of expectations not only on the golf course on myself, but also have other people around you and whatnot. I feel like these last two years I’ve grown a lot as kind of an individual because I have stopped battling these things and you learn to go, okay, well, I’m either going to quit the game because I don’t want to feel like this and it’s not motivating and I’m struggling with it, or how do I handle it and tackle it head on and be able do it in a healthy way where for the next 10, 15 years, if I want to, I actually enjoy myself on the golf course while competing at a high level.
I think the biggest thing is do I want to climb that mountain again. I’ve got to take it easy and I’ve got to be smart about it because if I’m not smart about it, then it could be short-lived.”
19th Hole
How much each player won at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy made it two wins in as many years at Augusta National, seeing off the challengers on a dramatic Sunday to slip on the green jacket once again. The victory earned Rory a whopping payday of $4.5 million, with Scottie Scheffler his closest challenger earning $2.43 million for his sole runner-up finish.
With a total prize purse of $22.5 million up for grabs, here’s a look at how much each player won at the 2026 Masters tournament.
For players that did not make the cut, they still earned $25k for their efforts at the year’s opening major.
- 1: Rory McIlroy, $4.5 million
- 2: Scottie Scheffler, $2.43 million
- T3: Tyrrell Hatton, $1.08 million
- T3: Russell Henley, $1.08 million
- T3: Justin Rose, $1.08 million
- T3: Cameron Young, $1.08 million
- T7: Collin Morikawa, $725,625
- T7: Sam Burns, $725,625
- T9: Xander Schauffele, $630,00
- T9: Max Homa, $630,00
- 11: Jake Knapp, $562,500
- T12: Jordan Spieth, $427,500
- T12: Brooks Koepka, $427,500
- T12: Hideki Matsuyama, $427,500
- T12: Patrick Reed, $427,500
- T12: Patrick Cantlay, $427,500
- T12: Jason Day, $427,500
- T18: Viktor Hovland, $315,000
- T18: Maverick McNealy, $315,000
- T18: Matt Fitzpatrick, $315,000
- T21: Keegan Bradley, $252,000
- T21: Ludvig Aberg, $252,000
- T21: Wyndham Clark, $252,000
- T24: Matt McCarty, $182,083
- T24: Adam Scott, $182,083
- T24: Sam Stevens, $182,083
- T24: Chris Gotterup, $182,083
- T24: Michael Brennan, $182,083
- T24: Brian Campbell, $182,083
- T30: Alex Noren, $146,250
- T30: Harris English, $146,250
- T30: Shane Lowry, $146,250
- T33: Gary Woodland, $121,500
- T33: Dustin Johnson, $121,500
- T33: Brian Harman, $121,500
- T33: Tommy Fleetwood, $121,500
- T33: Ben Griffin, $121,500
- T38: Jon Rahm, $105,750
- T38: Ryan Gerard, $101,250
- T38: Haotong Li, $96,750
- T41: Justin Thomas, $92,250
- T41: Sepp Straka, $87,750
- T41: Jacob Bridgeman, $83,250
- T41: Kristoffer Reitan, $78,750
- T41: Nick Taylor, $74,250
- 46: Sungjae Im, $69,750
- 47: Si Woo Kim, $65,250
- 48: Aaron Rai, $61,650
- T49: Corey Conners, $57,600
- T49: Marco Penge, $57,600
- 51: Kurt Kitayama, $55,250
- 52: Sergio Garcia, $54,000
- 53: Rasmus Hojgaard, $52,650
- 54: Charl Schwartzel, $51,300
19th Hole
CBS’s Sunday Masters coverage slammed by golf fans
While Sunday was a dramatic day at the Masters, many golf fans were left feeling frustrated by the CBS final round coverage.
There were plenty of moments that golf fans took to social media to air their frustrations on Sunday over, including a lack of shots being shown throughout the day, being behind the live action, confusion over the approach shots of the final group on 18, and providing an angle for the winning putt where the cup couldn’t be seen.
Here’s a look at some of the criticisms that were directed at the CBS coverage throughout the day on X:



This has been a brutal broadcast for CBS. When the folks from Augusta sit down with them this year, you can bet they’ll talk about this 15 seconds where we have no idea where Rory’s ball went, and Dottie moans. #TheMasters pic.twitter.com/ak3mkpIN7V
— Ryan (@PossiblyRy) April 12, 2026
It’s rare criticism coming in for CBS, who are usually heavily praised for their Masters coverage each year.
19th Hole
The surprise club Tommy Fleetwood says is key to his Masters chances
Tommy Fleetwood goes in search for the first major victory of his career again this week, with the Englishman proving to be a popular pick at Augusta National.
Fleetwood’s best showing at Augusta came back in 2024 where he finished T3, and while speaking at his pre-tournament press conference, the 35-year-old emphasized the importance of his 9-wood in his pursuit of the green jacket.
Speaking on Tuesday to media, Fleetwood said:
“It’s a great 9-wood golf course. I think it’s always been — I can’t remember when I first put like a 9-wood in or a high lofted club, but it’s a perfect like 9-wood golf course. I’ve had that in the bag for a few years.”
The Englishman continued, revealing that his strategy for the week won’t just be to hit driver off the tee as much as possible:
“Yeah, it’s funny really because I know Augusta is probably associated with being fairly forgiving off the tee in a way, so you think you can whale around driver a little bit. But I don’t necessarily think that’s always the play for me. I think there’s holes that set up really well where I can draw it with the mini driver if I’m feeling less comfortable with the driver and things like that.”
That strategy he believes will make his TaylorMade Qi10 9-wood extra critical this week in Georgia:
“The biggest thing is the 9-wood for me. If I can put myself in position on the par-5s or the 4th long par-3, like it — for me, I can’t really hit that high 4-iron, so 9-wood helps me a lot.”

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