Jason Day's 18-year FedExCup Playoffs streak comes to an end as health takes priority

GREENSBORO, N.C. – For the first time since qualifying for the FedExCup Playoffs as a rookie in 2008, Jason Day will not be part of the PGA TOUR postseason.

The former world No. 1 entered this week's Wyndham Championship ranked No. 75 in the FedExCup standings with 495 points, needing at least a two-way tie for 12th to climb past rookie Jackson Koivun (at No. 70) and into the top 70. Instead, after a second-round, 3-over 73 left him at 4 over for the tournament and assured of missing the cut, Day's remarkable streak of 18 consecutive FedExCup Playoffs appearances came to an end.

The conclusion of the streak was less about disappointment than perspective.

"I'm looking forward to taking some time off," Day said Friday. "My body's been really awful actually this year, so just to try and grind through it has been tough. The last two days have been pretty hard to try and get my body ready. I wanted to play like 3M and Detroit and unfortunately, I couldn't do anything there.

"Yeah, it was a good streak obviously, but I would have loved to keep the streak going. But things happen, you know. You're not going to keep everything going forever. Best to kind of take some time off, get my body sorted and try and come out next year and play well."

The 2026 season has been defined by the physical setbacks that have limited one of the TOUR's most consistent performers.

A lingering back injury forced the 38-year-old Day to withdraw after 10 holes of the opening round at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills in June. He returned the following week to finish T55 at the Travelers Championship before missing the cut at The Open. The injury then forced him to withdraw from both the 3M Open and the Rocket Classic in consecutive weeks, leaving him scrambling to earn enough FedExCup points to extend his postseason run.

Day acknowledged his health has been the biggest factor behind his struggles.

"Yeah, I would say that's probably the largest attribute to the play has been my body," Day said. "I had some club changes, but other than that it's been kind of all body stuff. A couple coach changes, changed coach, but I think overall I just need to take some time off. Like, my body is beat."

Despite missing the Playoffs, Day said he isn't dwelling on the end of the streak as much as on what comes next.

"I'm not sad right now," he said.

Instead, his focus is on getting healthy enough to compete the way he expects of himself.

"Yeah, I really have to get my body sorted, that's the biggest thing," Day said. "It's hard to play golf the way that I am playing now. And then I'm playing against the best players in the world, you know. I'm giving everyone a handicap and it's just really difficult to do that. Can't come in 100 percent. I know that a lot of guys aren't 100 percent out here and they're playing through some pain as well. Just got to get sorted and come out next year."

The streak's end closes a consistent postseason run by Day, who first established himself as a Playoffs threat with an eighth-place finish in the 2010 FedExCup standings before reaching his pinnacle in 2015.

Fresh off winning the 2015 PGA Championship for his first major title, Day entered that year's Playoffs as the hottest player in golf. He won The Barclays by six shots after a final-round 62 at Plainfield Country Club in New Jersey, then followed with another six-shot victory two weeks later at the BMW Championship at Conway Farms in Illinois. The Barclays victory vaulted him to world No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in his career.

Although Jordan Spieth ultimately captured the TOUR Championship and FedExCup title, Day finished third in the final standings after a season that included five victories.

"I was talking to Jordan this morning about it," Day said when asked about that memorable Playoffs run. "He said that he was No. 1, missed the first two cuts and I won the first two events and then I overtook him."

Day backed up that breakthrough with another strong postseason in 2016, finishing sixth in the FedExCup standings, and advancing to the TOUR Championship in both 2017 and 2018. After years of battling back injuries, he enjoyed a resurgence in 2023, winning the AT&T Byron Nelson to snap a five-year victory drought before qualifying once again for East Lake.

This year, however, his body never allowed him to build momentum.

Rather than lamenting missing the FedExCup Playoffs for the first time in 18 years, Day is already looking toward 2027, hoping that time away will allow him to return healthy and contend again.

Said Day: "Just try and get healthy and get back to it next year, that will be good."