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This Jason’s Golden Fleece is the Green Jacket, but is it his Day?

Jason and the Argonauts, contrary to popular belief, are not a pop punk band from Staffordshire, nor a football team from Toronto. Jason was an old Greek hero whose kingdom was wrongfully usurped, so he had to go on a quest for the fabled Golden Fleece to reclaim the throne. He got it in spectacular fashion, slaying a dragon to do it, and all manner of other mythological beasts as well. As far as legends go, that’s right up there.

Golf’s modern day…err…Day…Argonaut – the affable Australian Jason Day – is the game’s proper rejoinder to a Greek hero. He’s a perfect a physical specimen: a broad-shouldered, burly-muscled, chisel-chested, 400-yard drive uncorking that could give the fabled Spartan warriors a run for their money in a melee. Only the fleece he is seeking is a jacket and it’s green not golden.

Day hasn’t slain a dragon yet, seeing as how they are few and far between in the Western Hemisphere, but he did dismember a monster last August, decimating Pete Dye’s Whistling Straits course to the tune of 20-under, a major championship record. 1,000+ bunkers don’t matter much when you can hit 400 yard drives over all the trouble. It’s easy to win Wanamaker Trophies like that – see “Daly, John” or “Stick, Crooked” another Pete Dye design thought to be a stern test, only to be laid low by brute strength off the tee and a sublime short game.

Day’s also the hottest player in the world right now. He won his last two starts in dominant fashion, first at Bay Hill three weeks ago, then at the Match Play the week after. That propelled him to the top of the world rankings. Most of all, he plays particularly well at Augusta, finishing second in 2012, third in 2013. With his devastating synergy of gargantuan length, unflappable demeanor, and steely-nerved short game prowess, he’s our pick to win, both here and in my column at Golf News Net.