Kern: Not a bad Day for defending PGA champ

SPRINGFIELD, N.J. - Jason Day, who's still the world's top-ranked golfer, loves being a husband and a father. It's a huge part of who he is and what he's become. But sometimes, being a family man doesn't always hug him back.

Like this week, for instance, when he should have been getting ready to defend his PGA Championship title. Instead he was battling a cold - which he caught from the oldest of his two young children, Dash - that kept him off the Lower Course at historic Baltusrol Golf Club until Wednesday. Then, following Tuesday night's Champions Dinner that he hosted, he had to go with his wife Ellie to the hospital when she suffered an allergic reaction to something she ate. Guess who picked the menu?

"That's part of having a family, right?" Day shrugged on Thursday, after he shot a 2-under-par 68 in the opening round of the fourth and final major of the season, which left him three off the lead. "Things aren't going to be perfect all the time. I enjoy having them with me on the road. It's not the first time that the kids and myself and Ellie have been sick. It's not going to be the last time.

"It's speed bumps that you have got to try and slow down and get around."

Wonder just how many times Tiger Woods went through anything similar on the eve of a grand-slam event?

"We were (in the emergency room) until 2 o'clock or something like that," Day had recounted on Wednesday. "So I'm kind of running on 'E' right now. She's fine. Everything was great. I had to call the paramedics over. She was kind of freaking out in the back of the bus, and she's like, 'Call 911, call 911,' which is understandable because she got all red. I've been in that situation before when I first ate seafood. That's why I don't eat seafood anymore. I started swelling up and I looked like Hitch in that movie.

"I was kind of calm about it. I'm trying to look for Benadryl, and we didn't have any. But the paramedics came and they looked after her. We got a little bit of loss of sleep, but . . . "

At least he got to spend time with retiring head professional Doug Steffen at the dinner, which he said helped with his preparation.

The 28-year-old Day, who was also the defending champ at last week's Canadian Open (where he tied for 14th), has won five times since getting his first major last August at Whistling Straits. But he's 0-for-his-last five starts, though that includes two top 10s. This is the first time he's broken 72 in a major since he also opened with a 68 11 months ago. It's the fourth straight year he's started in the 60s at the PGA.

This time he was paired with two-time PGA champion Rory McIlroy, who also has a U.S. and British Open on his resume, and Phil Mickelson, who won the PGA here in 2005 and would have earned his sixth major two weeks ago at Royal Troon if not for Henrik Stenson. It was the marquee threesome of the morning wave.

They started on 10, the easier of the nines. Day birdied Nos. 11, 2 and 5. He three-putted for a bogey at 6. The other guys in his group weren't so fortunate. McIlroy, who finished a distant fifth at the British and hasn't won a major since the 2014 PGA, had no birds and four bogeys. Lefty was also 4-over through 11, but made three birds in a five-hole stretch coming home.

Was it hard trying to get anything going while the rest of the group was struggling?

"Rory actually hit it OK, he just didn't hole anything on the greens," Day noted. "Phil fought back very nicely on the back side. Sometimes it does zap the energy out of the group when a couple of the guys aren't playing well. You have to get in your own world and stay there and focus on what you need to do.

"The scoring conditions were pretty good. The greens were very receptive. Obviously over the afternoon it's going to get hotter and make it a little bit tougher. If we get the (wet) weather tomorrow then that will change it because everything will soften up. It's probably a little more conservative than I usually am, because I think with major championships you have to be patient.

"Take your opportunities when you can and work yourself up to the lead come Sunday. If you get off to a great start, great. If not, kind of chip away at it."

He led after three rounds at Whistling Straits. He tied for 10th at the Masters, eighth at the U.S. Open and 22nd at the British. He could lose No. 1 this week, depending upon what Dustin Johnson does. DJ shot 7-over 77 in the afternoon.

"I know the only way to stay at No. 1 is to win tournaments, finish well in big tournaments," Day reiterated. "You've just got to keep plugging along. I've always said winning takes care of everything.

"I'm pretty pleased, to be honest. I'm very excited about how I hit it today. Really positive stuff going into the next three rounds. Got to do a little bit of putting trying to straighten out a few (things). Even though I'm a little bit under the weather I'm glad I took Monday, Tuesday off. It was kind of a blessing, really. With how hot it was, you can get drained pretty quickly."

How's that for spinning a detour-filled prelude?

"The Champions Dinner, I don't want that to be the last one I have," Day insisted. "It was pretty special to be able to go through that and have Ellie there. I haven't been out on the course too much to soak (being the defending champ) in. I mean, I'm not looking at it like that. Once again, I'm here to do a job and try and win the tournament."

When that warm and fuzzy part of his life isn't making those inherent intrusions.

@mikekerndn