Reunited at the start of this year, it is 10 years since Swatton and Day celebrated one of the seminal moments in Australian golf when they fulfilled major championship destiny at the 2015 US PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.

Not only did it mark the summit of a shared journey that began when Day came under Swatton’s watch as a troubled teen attending the Hills International School west of the Gold Coast, it was the centrepiece in a stretch of golf that made Day the best player in the game.

In the decade since, Day’s family with wife Ellie has expanded to five children, he has endured a debilitating back injury and, after parting ways with Swatton in 2020, sought swing changes with a range of coaches and a period where he chose to go solo.

The past decade has also seen Day record runner-up finishes at the PGA Championship (2016) and The Open Championship (2023) and win a further six times on the PGA TOUR, spending 51 weeks as the world No.1.

Now 37 years of age, Day spent the majority of 2022 outside the top 100 but has enjoyed a resurgence, a resurgence Swatton believes can continue by looking back at what made him great in the first place.

“Jase just needs to, in his own words, quiet the noise that he’s been going through for the last three or four years,” said Swatton, who has both Day and rookie Karl Vilips in the field this week at Quail Hollow Club.

“He also needs to get back to the things that have made him great, and I think he’s gotten away from those a little bit in the last three or four years.

“Part of my job and part of my role is to come back in and say, ‘Hey, this is what you did when you were the best player in the world.’ Remind him of that, but also to hold him somewhat accountable to that. To be able to say, ‘This is what you did. We need to get back to that winning formula and allow everything else to fall into place.’”

When the pair combined for major championship glory, Day was a tenacious 27-year-old in the midst of four wins in the space of six events with world golf at his mercy.

The motivating forces may have changed in the decade since, yet Swatton sees the game and a new cause driving him to the best in the sport again.

“Jason’s in a different place now. He’s got five kids; Dash (Day’s eldest) is a very fine golfer in his own right,” said Swatton.

“When you reach the highest of highs and you become the best player in the world, you get to the top of the mountain and you go, OK, that’s great, it smells and looks a little different up here.

“I think Jase wants to set examples and sort of say, ‘This is what your dad did, but also, too, this is who your dad is.’ Set examples, lifetime lessons for his kids.

“I think he wants to prove not only to himself, but to his family, that this is who Jason Day is.

“I’ve definitely seen the signs that I need to see to feel encouraged and I think Jason’s seen the signs that he needs to also feel encouraged.

“Whether it’s this year or not, I definitely think he’s got another (major) in him, if not more.”

Day was at the peak of his powers when he held off world No.1 Jordan Spieth at the 2015 PGA Championship with Swatton on the bag.

With legacy on his shoulders and Lake Michigan sitting ominously to his left, Day delivered a superb tee shot to the heart of the green at the par-3 17th to protect his three-shot advantage.

When Day marked his ball after his birdie putt from 40 feet came to rest a foot from the cup on the 72nd hole, tears began to flow.

Reflecting on that moment, Swatton admitted that he started to become overcome by emotion back in the 18th fairway.

“It is a tough hole to get it done, to be fair. It’s a difficult shot,” Swatton recalled of the par-4 finisher.

“It’s a semi-blind tee shot and the second shot you are hitting to this amphitheatre green with the whole clubhouse in the background and the crowd lining the right side of the fairway.

“I remember Jason turning to me and I’m trying to have this conversation with him. I’m trying to give him the yardage, give him the wind direction, give him everything else and he just said, ‘Tell me where to hit it.’

“It was probably that moment, for the first time all day, that I kind of got a little nervous and I allowed the moment to get a little bit… not out of control, but just envelop us both.

“It was like, you knock it on the green here and you manage the two putt and you’re going to become a major championship winner and win the PGA Championship.

“That’s probably the moment that I kind of allowed it to get maybe a little too much for the both of us.

“That embrace after he knocked that putt in and watching Jase just do the belly cry and sob, there’s nothing better than that.”

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