Lack of practice a benefit for Day in 1st-round 68

To most players in the world, just one day of practice on a course never seen before would be a negative, but Jason Day is not like most players.

The world's top-ranked golfer arrived at Baltusrol on Monday, but due to sickness affecting himself, his wife Ellie, and his two children, only played one practice round on Wednesday. That lack of practice actually turned out to be beneficial, according to Day, who fired a 2-under-par 68 in the opening round Thursday.

"To be honest, by Thursday, if you practice Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, you could be pretty tired with how hot it was," Day told Rex Hoggard of Golf Channel. "You can get pretty drained pretty quickly. I'm glad I took Monday, Tuesday off."

The heat reached temperatures in the low-90s during Day's round on Thursday, hardening up the greens and making it very difficult to putt on. That's about the only thing that the Australian struggled with during an impressive opening round.

"I haven't had the greatest putting display over the last three weeks that I've played," Day said. "I think that shows a little bit in the results."

Day needed 33 putts to navigate Baltusrol on Thursday, but a ball-striking clinic which saw him hit 17-of-18 greens in regulation helped to keep him in contention ahead of Friday's second round.