It's been a long journey back to form for Jason Day, which has featured numerous equipment changes.
The former world number one, who won eight events in two years between 2015 and 2016, is now ranked 41st in the Official World Golf Rankings, and is winless since 2023.
After years of battling chronic back pain that threatened his career, Day underwent a total swing overhaul. This shift toward a more body-friendly, upright motion led him to discover Avoda Golf, famously also linked with Bryson DeChambeau.
Day was drawn to Avoda's iron set, which utilises a unique same-length philosophy attributed to DeChambeau. By keeping the shaft lengths and lie angles identical for these clubs, Day achieved a more consistent posture and strike, reducing physical strain.
But even since switching to Avoda, Day explained that he has had serious struggles finding the right clubs for him.
Photo by Mike Mulholland/Getty Images
Day is playing his best golf of the year at the Houston Open , and heads into the weekend in T4. He said that he's finally found the right fit with his irons after some serious struggles.
Speaking after his second round, the 2015 PGA Championship winner said, "I said earlier that I went back to first-generation iron from Avoda. Tom had it right the first time. The guy that built them for me.
"It just, I went through a second generation and a third generation… Essentially what happened was I was standing there, and these irons were going too straight. The first generation irons were going too straight for me. At the time, I was wanting to hit a draw.
"I got them to make some where they're drawing and the second generation was drawing too much. Third generation, we made a few tweaks. It was drawing fine, but just the way that it looked to me, with a little bit of offset, looked like it was hooded and pointing left, so I was kind of fighting that.
"Then the first generation is onset, so there's no offset at all. So it looks a lot squarer to me and it seems to come out with a little fade, which is kind of where I'm at. I've come full circle, gone from a draw to a fade.
"I don't even know what I want. Golf is we want what we don't have. It is frustrating sometimes, but just stick to what makes you good and go from there. Hopefully, fingers crossed, I will not be making any changes soon."
Honestly, having your irons fly too straight seems like a great problem to have. Maybe that's the lesson here.
Diving into the numbers, and it's clear that Day has been playing extremely well in nearly every aspect of his game. What's cost him is his iron play this season, but there are some positive signs emerging.
The only area in which Day has lost strokes to the PGA Tour field this season is on approach. He's losing an average of 0.22 strokes per event in 2026. And he showed no signs of improving recently.
He lost strokes on approach in his last three events, his worst showing of the season coming at the Genesis Invitational, where the 13-time PGA Tour winner lost 1.7 strokes to the field.
But so far at the Houston Open, things appear to be trending in a positive direction. Day has gained 1.43 strokes with his approach play through two rounds, putting him in the top 20 of all players.
If he can consistently combine that with his elite short game, which he has learned on through his most successful periods, then expect Day to become a frequent contender at the top of PGA Tour leaderboards.
