Jason Day said Monday at Augusta National that Tiger Woods is “just a human being like everyone else and we have struggles,” and called it “a little bit selfish” for Woods to drive and put other people in harm’s way.
Day’s comments came ahead of the Masters, where Woods is not in the field after a rollover crash and arrest in Florida late last month. Woods collided with a pickup truck and rolled his Range Rover before being arrested and charged with DUI with property damage and refusal to submit to a lawful test. He pleaded not guilty. Officials said he had two hydrocodone pills in his pocket at the time of the arrest, and he has since stepped away from golf for an undetermined period to seek treatment.
Day said Woods is “not immune to it just because he can hit a golf ball really well,” adding that the five-time Masters champion has had “25 to 30-something surgeries.” Woods was recovering from a ruptured Achilles he suffered in March 2025 and underwent surgery for a lumbar disc replacement in October, his seventh back surgery. He also nearly lost his leg in a separate car accident in Southern California in 2021.
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The Australian knows Woods’ pull on golf as well as almost anyone. Day and Woods both reached No. 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings earlier in their careers, and Day said, “He was my hero growing up. The reason why I play golf is because of this tournament and Tiger.” Day has won 13 times on the PGA Tour, with his latest victory coming at the 2023 AT&T Byron Nelson. He finished T6 two weeks ago at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, arrives at Augusta National at No. 41 in the OWGR and was T8 at the Masters last year.
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Day also widened the lens beyond the crash itself, saying it is hard to watch Woods go through the fallout “under the microscope” and that some people want him to fail while others want him to succeed. His conclusion was simpler than the criticism: he hopes Woods comes through treatment and “is better.”
