Could this finally be Jason Day’s major?

When Jason Day finished second in consecutive Majors at just 23, it seemed we were witnessing another Australian superstar in the making.

But, winning the WGC Accenture World Match Play this year followed by an enforced lay-off with a thumb injury pretty much typifies his stop-start career. Day is gambling that cortisone shots will allow him to get back on track.

“I think I’m more prone to injuries than the majority of the guys out here judging by my seven-years as a pro,” he reasons.

“I tore the TFCC (triangular fibrocartilage complex) in my right wrist back in 2009 and had a cortisone shot.

“I haven’t had to have another shot since, so I went for the same treatment for my thumb when it flared up after the Match Play.

“I could go and have surgery for the thumb, but I’d rather go down the road of trying to fix it with cortisone before going under the knife.”

So Day arrives at Hoylake cautiously optimistic about regaining the form that saw him triumph over Victor Dubuisson in the Arizona desert at the start of the year.

“It was a pity that I could not continue playing back then as I definitely felt I had a chance of getting the No. 1 spot in the rankings.

“But I had no choice because the game is so competitive these days, and you are not going to make any impression playing anything less than 100%.

“The biggest thing I have learned from bitter experience is not to mess around with injuries and simply seek out the best guy, have it looked at and get it fixed.”

But, the 26-year-old explains, the mind plays tricks in those situations that defies cortisone or any other medical treatment.

“Yeah, you sit there thinking, ‘when is my thumb going to get better? Would this be a career-ending injury?’ I just didn’t know.

“Obviously when you are sitting on the couch watching the guys play golf every week, things like that go through your head, and you are probably your worst enemy at the end of the day.”

Day’s form at The Open is in sharp contrast to his Masters, US Open, and USPGA results, but he is undeterred.

“I missed the cut by one at Congressional, but I’m coming off fourth at the US Open along with a good weekend at the Travelers Championship.

“Of course I’d love to win, but it is not as easy as Tiger Woods made it look when he was doing it. But I’ve put myself in contention two or three times, so it just shows I’m doing the right things.”