Thursday, 4 June 2020:
 | | JASON DAY of Australia. | |
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Jason Day is raring to go at next week's US PGA Tour restart, aiming to reboot his own career in the congested schedule ahead.
The former world No.1 used the coronavirus shutdown to rest his chronically-injured back before knuckling down to practice.
He is happy with his form after spending plenty of time recently working with long-time coach Colin Swatton - even though his mentor managed to upstage him with a hole-in-one during a practice round in Pittsburgh this week.
Without a victory in more than two years, 12-time US tour winner Day has seen his world ranking plummet to No.51.
He will be setting out to repair that when the tour resumes at the Charles Schwab Challenge tournament at Colonial CC in Texas next Thursday.
"Col and I have been putting in some decent hours and I've been playing well, so I can't wait to get things going," Day told AAP from Ohio.
"I'm really looking forward to getting after it because my back feels better. Overall, I'm really pleased with progress I've made in a short time.
"I have stepped up the practice during the last month or so. My game is feeling good and I just need to tighten the screws now."
On Wednesday, the tour announced a mobile coronavirus test centre supplied by sponsor Sanford Health will travel to each tournament to test players, caddies and essential personnel - there will be no crowds.
The test centre aims to give results within two to four hours, with some 400 individuals to be tested each event.
"The PGA Tour and (commissioner) Jay Monahan are doing the best job they possibly can to get us going again," Day said.
"At these first few events, everyone will be nervous about what they can and can't do but we will find our footing and the anxiety will ease a bit,."
Other Australians expected to tee up at Charles Schwab Challenge are Marc Leishman, Cameron Smith, Matt Jones and John Senden.
The US Tour will then stage the RBC Heritage in South Carolina, the Travelers Championship in Connecticut and Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit, Michigan.
After that, the Jack Nicklaus-designed Muirfield Village course in Ohio will host rare back-to-back events, according to Golf Digest.
A 156-player tournament sponsored by financial management company Workday will be held at the Columbus, Ohio course in place of the cancelled John Deere Classic.
Nicklaus will then host his prestigious Memorial invitational tournament for an elite field of 120.
"It will be a big relief to be able to play and stay at home," said Day, a Columbus resident.
