Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about Jason Day and his fantastic win in the US PGA championship on the weekend.

Just to give some background about him: Day married his wife, Ellie, in 2009 and they are now expecting their second child. Day took up golf at his boarding school on Queensland's Gold Coast. He was sent there by his mother to curb his rebellious and partying ways. As we know from today's media, at the age of 12 Day lost his father, Alvin, who had been an enormous influence on his life. After his father died of brain cancer, his mother, Dening, sold the family home to send him to golf school and give him the best chance of reaching his dreams. Day said:

It was very easy to stop partying because there was nothing else to do except go to school and golf. There was literally nothing around us, So I was pretty much forced to go to school and golf. And I realised what my mum had done, and that I needed an education.

Day turned professional in 2006 after winning the Australian Master of the Amateurs. He hit the big time in 2010 with his first event win.

Day faced troubles during his professional career, with injury setbacks and battles with vertigo. This led to many major near misses when he came so close but could not find the finishing touches to his game. Day is officially ranked No. 3 in the world and he has six previous PGA tour victories.

I would also like to mention his caddy, Col Swatton, a PGA professional, who has coached and mentored Day since his early teens, and the enormous support from the Australian PGA, without which none of our golfers would be so successful.