Latest news with #ColSwatton
News.com.au
14-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Karl Vilips could be one of the greats of Australian golf according to the coach who took Jason Day to world No.1
Karl Vilips put his child prodigy days behind him with a PGA Tour win in his rookie season and his coach says the young Australia is certainly something special and could be 'one of the greats'. Col Swatton, who steered Jason Day to world No.1, has been a key part of Vilips' team since his college days at Stanford and declared the 23-year-old Australian was 'definitely ahead of the curve' having already netted two professional wins, including a PGA tour breakthrough, in just 12 months since turning pro. Vilips is one of seven Australians teeing it up at this week's PGA Championship at Quail Hollow in North Carolina and in a final few sessions in Florida last week, Swatton reaffirmed his young charge had a 'superpower' that sets him apart from other young players. 'I think it's his maturity and his ability to process information but also be honest in what was happening with his game,' Swatton said. 'I reminded him of this before he came to Quail Hollow. I said his ability to be honest enough and brutal enough in what happens from a week-to-week perspective on tour ... that allows him to grow. I told him that was one of his superpowers. 'That questioning (of his game) allows him to be in a position where only a few are at his age.' A meeting at the start of the year where Vilips spoke about how he would play in one of the $30m Signature events at RBC Heritage, an event he wasn't qualified for and would likely need a win beforehand to get into, particularly struck Swatton. Vilips then went and won his first PGA Tour event in Puerto Rico that not only got him into the RBC but into the majors and secured paying rights in the US until the end of 2027. 'I thought to myself, he's a kid that saw himself somewhere months before it happened, and it's the law of attraction, what you will focus on will become your belief and your future,' Swatton said. 'I told him he will have a better career on the PGA Tour than he will at Stanford. From here on in it's a matter of trying to continually improve … but we also have to not be overzealous in our expectations.' Expectations are, however, growing for Vilips, who Swatton said was far more progressed than Day at the same age. 'He hasn't played that many professional events, but he's won two times in the past six months,' he said. 'He's definitely on a trajectory and a curve. I said to him it even took Jason Day three years to figure out how to win on the PGA Tour, he (Vilips) already has within his first four events. 'He is definitely ahead of the curve and he could be really, really special given the right environment, the right people around him, the right information, he could be one of Australia's great golfers.' US PGA Championship Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte, North Carolina 2024 champion: Xander Schauffele Past Aussie winners: Jim Ferrier (1947), David Graham (1979), Wayne Grady (1990), Steve Elkington (1995), Jason Day (2015) TV times: Live 3am-9am Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo. A ustralians in the field Cameron Davis World ranking: 68 Previous appearances: 4 (2021-2024) Best finish: T4 (2023) Jason Day World ranking: 32 Previous appearances: 15 (2010-2024) Best finish: 1st (2015) Min Woo Lee World ranking: 27 Previous appearances: 3 (2022-2024) Best finish: T18 (2023) Adam Scott World ranking: 40 Previous appearances: 24 (2001-2024) Best finish: 3rd (2018) Cameron Smith World ranking: 148 Previous appearances: 9 (2015, 2017-2024) Best finish: T9 (2023) Elvis Smylie World ranking: 206 Previous appearances: Nil Karl Vilips World ranking: 117
News.com.au
13-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Ten years after he won his only major Jason Day is back at the PGA Championship being guided by former mentor Col Swatton
A decade after Col Swatton helped guide Jason Day to his major breakthrough, the long-time coach and caddie is back in the former world No.1's ear ahead of the year's second major championship at Quail Hollow and confident he has 'one more in him'. Swatton said Day, who won the 2015 PGA Championship when he was the world's best player, was unhindered by the disc issue that forced him to withdraw from an event last week and had the 'mature' mindset to not only win another major but multiple majors. Day, enjoying a 'second career' after slumping to as low as 150 in the world during a wretched run of injuries and swing issues, has reunited with Swatton, the man who guided him from a talented but distracted teen to the top of the world. It's a combination that netted Day all but three of his 13 PGA Tour wins and spanned 20 years before they separated in 2020, three years after Swatton stopped caddying for the now 37-year-old. Swatton said part of his job since they reunited was to remind Day what he did when he was the 'best player in the world', and he liked what he saw. 'He's obviously matured a lot,' Swatton said on Tuesday from North Carolina where rain has washed out the opening two days of practice. 'There's a lot that's happened in that interim period. 'He's changed coaches … he's gone through everything that he needs to do to try and get some answers and clarify what's going on and the best way for him to feel that he needs to swing it. 'Subsequently, he's come full circle again. When he reached out at the start of the year, he was honest and saying, 'Hey, I'm a little lost here'. 'Jase just needs to, and in his own words, quieten the noise that probably he's been going through for the last sort of three or four years and also get back to the things that have made him great. 'So part of my job is to come back in and say, 'Hey, this is what you did when you were the best player in the world' and remind him of that.' Among Day's major ambitions though, Swatton revealed the Australian also had another singular goal. 'He's got his heart set on trying to be fully exempt for a lifetime on the PGA Tour, and that's 20-plus wins,' he said. 'I think unfinished business in getting back to the No.1 player in the world, I think that's definitely on his radar.' Day finished in a tie for eighth at the Masters in April, continuing a long list of good results in the majors, with 17 top-10 finishes from 52 starts. He's also a previous winner at Quail Hollow, taking out the Wells Fargo Championship in 2018, a year he won twice before waiting five years to collect another PGA Tour trophy. The combination of factors, plus a clean bill of health for Day, who avoided the wet weather by staying at home in Ohio to practice before travelling late on Monday US time, has Swatton confident his pupil 'has another one in him' when it comes to major victories. 'Will it be this week at Quail Hollow? I don't know. Nothing would surprise me,' Swatton said. 'Jason definitely has the skill set to get it done. 'We've made some pretty good progress this year. We've seen some signs. We saw it again at the Masters. 'I've definitely seen the signs that I need to see to feel encouraged, and I think Jason's seen the signs that he's seen to feel also encouraged. 'Whether it's this year or not, I definitely think he's got another one in him, if not more.' Day is one of seven Australians in the field for the PGA Championship, along with Cam Smith, Adam Scott, Min Woo Lee, Cam Davis, Elvis Smylie and another Swatton student, former child prodigy and now PGA Tour winner, Karl Vilips.
