Two-time US Open champion Curtis Strange believes world number one Jason Day can defy the odds and win a second major title in the Masters.
Day is guaranteed to be top of the rankings when he arrives at Augusta National after back-to-back victories in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and WGC-Dell Match Play.
And former Ryder Cup captain Strange feels the US PGA champion can become just the third player after Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods to claim a green jacket after winning their previous two tournaments.
“Absolutely I think he can do it,” said the 1988 and 1989 US Open champion, who is now an analyst for ESPN.
“I think it’s a great position to be in.
“You wonder how long it will last.
“He’s not thinking like that. He’s doing everything he can possibly do to keep this going through next week, and I’d much rather be in a position where people are saying can it last, versus trying to find something.
“I’d rather be in Jason Day’s position than Jordan Spieth’s position right now.
“Jason is incredibly streaky. We saw that last year. But really it’s a streak continuing from last year to this year. He seems to have figured it out.
“Remember, we wondered when we first saw Jason about five years ago at Augusta (he finished joint second on his debut in 2011) and then he didn’t quite play to what we thought he might the next couple of years, due to injuries and whatnot.
“He’s doing now what I’ve always thought he would be able to do. He’s an incredible swinger of the golf club, a free swinger, which means he’s going to play some streaky golf, up and down a little bit, much like Rory (McIlroy).
“And when a standard has been set by Tiger playing well every single week, sometimes it’s a bit unfair to hold all these guys to that.
“But Jason is having a streak of his own, and it’s good stuff, and I don’t see any reason why he won’t be playing well next week.”
Day suffered an injury scare when he hurt his back during his first match in the WGC-Dell Match Play.
However, he recovered to win all seven matches at Austin Country Club, including a semi-final victory over defending champion McIlroy.
The 28-year-old used his length off the tee to good effect on many occasions, but former US Open champion Andy North believes Day’s skill around the greens has made the biggest difference to his game.
“He drives the ball so well, which to me is the one shot you have to be able to do at Augusta,” ESPN analyst North said.
“That is a huge advantage and the better he plays and the harder he swings at it, the straighter the thing goes,” he added.
“But I think the biggest change in Jason over the last three or four months is his short game is incredible.
“He went from a player that had an average short game that could really strike the ball, to where now you’re seeing him play some rounds where he goes out and hits nine or 10 or 11 greens and shoots two, three, four under par,” he said.
“He’s getting it done with his short game, and I think that just adds another bullet to his gun.
“He’s been able to show us a whole new side of him with his short game and this great ability to recover after poor shots.”