Jason Day explains why it may actually be better to miss the fairways at the Houston Open this week

Jason Day is finely poised after two rounds of the Houston Open at Memorial Park.

Day produced some scintillating golf on day two of the Houston Open on Friday, carding a seven-under-par round of 63.

The 38-year-old Australian is sitting four shots adrift of the halfway leader, Gary Woodland, with 36 holes still to play.

Day has the ideal skill set to win at the Houston Open this week, what with his impressive ball-striking and incredible short game.

Jason Day is someone who’s hugely popular amongst his fellow PGA Tour pros, and it’s little wonder as to why.

Now Day will be hoping to cement his legacy even further still by adding to his PGA Tour win tally.

Table of Contents

Jason Day explains why it may be better to miss the fairways at the Houston Open

Day will be delighted with his position after two rounds of the Houston Open, and he now has a real chance to win for the 14th time on the PGA Tour this weekend.

If he plays anywhere near as good as he did on day two in Houston, it’s hard to see how anyone will stop him from doing just that.

The Australian was asked by reporters to sum up his second round at Memorial Park on Friday.

“It was nice, steady, patient golf,“ Day replied.

Photo by Ken Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

“I mean, obviously there’s a lot of guys going deep out there. I wouldn’t say deep, deep, but there’s some decent scores and there’s scores to be had just because it’s pretty firm out there.

“I actually think the rough is actually firmer than the fairways.

“You can definitely get like a 20-, 30-yard boost if you land it in the rough. And the rough is very thin. It doesn’t play — it’s enough to get a little flyer here and there, but it’s not too crazy.“

The fact that driving the ball offline could be a potential advantage at the Houston Open will be a fascinating subplot this weekend.

Jason Day explains the importance of his front nine on day two in Houston

Day carded a round of two-under-par 68 on day one in Houston before posting a sizzling 63 on day two.

And his opening nine of five-under-par was the bedrock of his superb second round score.

Day was asked just how important it was for him to vault himself into contention on the front nine, rather than linger around the cut-line.

“I want to say like 2 under’s the cutline,“ Day said.

“You can go through that front nine, there is opportunities out there, but you can go through that front nine even par and then you scramble on the back and then you really put yourself under the pump.

“Sixteen, 17, even 18 can be a tough finish sometimes, 16, 17 — actually 14 on’s really, really hard. A long par 4, then a tricky par 3, water, water 16 and 17, and then the long par-4 18.

“It is difficult. But it’s nice to be able to get out there, shoot 5 under on the front side so you cannot think about anything other than just kind of moving forward.“