“Wa*ker”: Jason Day hot mic moment captured at the 2024 PGA Championship
Microphones and cameras are everywhere at the PGA Championship, which is something Jason Day recently learned. He was caught on a hot mic, which happens quite often. Golfers express their delight or frustration in what they've just done without much of a second thought, and it occasionally makes waves depending on what they said.
Day appeared to forget that he could be heard by everyone (including the television broadcast), shouting:
"Wa*ker."
That is generally used as a derogatory term, especially in British slang. Day is from Australia, but he let the term slip after a swing at the PGA Championship. Day is not a LIV Golf member, though recently, their language at the Masters Tournament came into focus.
Golfers often say whatever they feel when they've missed a shot or if they've struck it well. The language used by Day falls into the category of what Padraig Harrington deemed unsavory.
The golfer said via Mirror:
"There was quite a bit of — on the Masters last week, there was an awful lot of extra expletives from LIV players. Clearly LIV players don’t get fined for expletives, and I’m not saying they’re encouraged, but they’re certainly not discouraged from doing it. So it was interesting that there was those players who might have held back in the past who are now LIV players were letting go fully."
Day is still a member of the PGA Tour, but a hot mic caught him dropping his own expletives. With broadcasts having microphones and cameras everywhere, this was not the first nor will it be the last time someone's caught in this manner.
Jason Day's PGA Championship performance
The shot that prompted a curse from Jason Day aside, the Aussie's performance at the PGA Championship has been solid. He is currently tied for 37th at seven under par. That's right alongside Joaquin Niemann, Rory Mcllroy, and several others.
The first round, he shot even at 71. In round two, he stepped up his game to avoid the cut and shot four-under to ensure he could return to play for the third and fourth rounds. In that third round, he shot 69 and is currently one under through five holes on Sunday.
Getting to the top of the leaderboard is going to be a tall task for the remaining 13 holes. Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa are tied at the top with -15, and they haven't even shot in the fourth round yet. They'd have to do poorly and Day would have to catch fire for him to mount a comeback.
Still, making the cut, which is more than Jon Rahm, Tiger Woods, or Phil Mickelson could achieve, is impressive as is being well under par this long into the tournament. Jason Day has performed admirably in 2024.