SHOCKING details have emerged of Jason Day’s early life, including revelations he abused alcohol as a 12-year-old and endured savage beatings from his father after playing a poor round of golf.
Day, who was born in Beaudesert in 1987, has enjoyed a meteoric rise to the summit of world golf in recent years and currently holds the world number one ranking.
But in a series of stories released overnight, new details have emerged that paint a traumatic picture of life for the young boy living at 35 Duckett Street, whose rags to riches story captured the sporting world.
The Telegraph reveals Jason Day’s father Alvyn used to beat his son after the talented young golfer played a poor round of golf, labeling the father a “deplorable figure” and a “savage disciplinarian”.
The New York Times also shed more details on the abuse, revealing Alvyn started striking his son with an open first when Day was 10 or 11.
“If his father believed Day was capable of breaking 50 for nine holes and he did not, he would beat Day in the car on the way home,” the Times wrote.
The Times spoke with Day’s mother Dening for the story, with Ms Day revealing she began accompanying Jason and her husband to the golf course after she noticed bruises on her son’s body.
Jason Day’s early battles with alcohol are detailed in the reports, including a drunken experience as a 12-year-old when he “woke up in a stupor, unable to recall the faintest detail about the night before.”
The revelations cast new light on the rise of Day, who began his golfing journey as a three-year-old after his father salvaged a second-hand golf club from a local tip.
Before long, Alvyn constructed a makeshift nine-hole putting green in the backyard of their Beaudesert home, complete with floodlights, which allowed a young Jason to practice all through the day and well into the night.
When Jason was 12, Alvyn passed away from stomach cancer, a tragic event that almost sent the young golfer’s life spiraling out of control.
It was the steady hand of his mother Dening who kept Day on track.
Ms Day selflessly sold the family home on Duckett St to fund her son’s schooling and training at The Kooralbyn International School (TKIS).
Later, when TKIS closed down, Day relocated to Hills International College at Jimboomba where he lived on campus, practicing morning, day and night to mimic the dedication of his golfing hero Tiger Woods.
By the time he was 13, Day won his first major tournament at the Australian Masters junior event on the Gold Coast.
Fourteen years later on August 17 last year, Day’s journey reached its summit when he clinched the US PGA Championship in Whistling Straits, his first major in 20 attempts.
Day finally secured the world number one ranking in September last year following a win at the BMW Championship in Illinois.
