Day's pledge to win back fans at Aus PGA - PGA of Australia

Day will tee off alongside Cameron Smith and defending champion Min Woo Lee from the 10th tee at 6:10am on Thursday morning, his first competitive round on Australian soil since the 2017 Australian Open.

It is his first Australian PGA Championship since he finished tied for ninth at Coolum in 2011, the 37-year-old spending the past three days reacquainting himself with a Royal Queensland layout that has changed significantly in that time.

At No.31 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Day is the highest-ranked player in the field but knows he may not be No.1 amongst Queensland golf fans when the tournament begins.

“Obviously Cammy is a very big favourite being here and obviously got a lot of fans here,” Day said of the three-time Australian PGA champion.

“Even though I’m from here, it’s kind of hard to get the fan base when I haven’t been here as much.

“I’m looking forward to playing with Min, looking forward to playing with Cam.

“I’m really interested to see the crowds out there, seeing how many people will come out. Fingers crossed we have good weather. I know that rain is not ideal, but we’re going to have really good weather on the weekend and that should be fun. That should bring out a lot of people.”

With five children and a base in Ohio that he has held for more than 15 years, playing in his home country while competing on the PGA TOUR has been a constant to-and-fro.

He was close to returning 12 months ago but chose to stay in the US after wife Ellie gave birth to their fifth child, Winnie, in September.

Already on this trip he has spent time with his sisters for the first time since the passing of his mother, Dening, in March 2022 and reacquainted himself with meat pies from a bakery in Forest Lake west of Brisbane.

It is a taste of home that he intends to sample more regularly.

“Me being healthy and being able to bring my family down, that’s something that I want to do. To be able to come back a little bit more,” said Day.

“I would love to do that. My family has never been to Australia. I’d love to bring them down.

“The last time I played Royal Queensland was when we had I think one bridge and we literally had the golf course on the other side of the bridge, so it has been a while.

“What Cam Smith has done so well, he’s supported Australian golf since he’s turned professional, especially here in Brisbane and he’s done a wonderful job. Same with Adam Scott.

“It’s nice to see the guys come back.”

While this visit has been seven years in the making, it is something of a hit-and-run mission for the 2015 US PGA champion.

He was one of the first on course on Monday to kick-start his preparations, meticulously plotting a first major Australian victory that would allow him to join some of golf’s global stars to have had success in Australia.

“I know that I’ve always wanted to win in Australia,” he added.

“I’ve seen Jordan Spieth come down here, Rory (McIlroy) come down here and obviously they’re playing the Australian Open and winning the Australian Open. They’ve accomplished that and it’d be nice for me to be able to do that, especially here in Brisbane where part of my life I grew up, and especially at a place like Royal Queensland, very iconic.

“I grew up playing some tournaments here. It’s always nice to be able to win a tournament regardless of where you go, but to be able to win one on home soil and to know that you can come back and win one, that would be special.”