Jason Day will be looking for his first Masters title.

An American scene devoid of good friends and some personal issues had eroded his zest for a game he had devoted his life to while close family lived in Australia.

HOT FORM: delighted Day confidently heads to Augusta

Whether it was a week, a month or just a flicker of high exasperation, it was a crossroads moment for a 23-year-old who was not nearly as self-confident as he is today.

He had won his first PGA Tour title the previous year and had banked more than $5 million in prizemoney so the hollowness was separate to how well he has always swung the club.

The Day “team” helped turn him around and a brilliant second at the 2011 Masters, when he fired a second round 64, was a cathartic event as much as a career high to that point.

Day offered further insight during a sit-down interview on Golf Channel in the US with former pro-turned-commentator David Feherty.

“I felt like quitting the game before that (2011 Masters) week ... I was having the worst time on the golf course,” Day said.

“I was not going to play that week and just take time off. It was my first one too.”

In the end, it was “a fantastic first experience” for Day, who is now in shotmaking and personal harmony for another huge crack at Augusta next week.

Day’s victory at the World Matchplay championship in Austin, Texas was testimony to his new steeliness and clarity of mind.

Four confidantes told him to pull out yet ignoring them is why the hottest golfer on the planet has what it takes to conquer the Masters.

The imposing Queenslander plans to embrace the hype, not drown in it, as he heads to Augusta as the reinstated world No.1.

In truth, Day will not have any choice because of the way he astounded the golf world again with his streak of seven head-to-head wins in Austin.

When searing pain shot through his back on the 15th tee in his first match, even lifting a trophy looked beyond him much less winning it.

Day is a marvel. That is six wins from his past 13 starts on the PGA Tour and back-to-back with a bad back.

Jason Day is on an incredible run of success.Source:Getty Images

He beat South Africa’s classy Louis Oosthuizen 5&4 in the final but outduelling former world No.1 Rory McIlroy 1-up in a semi-final of seven lead changes and 11 birdies meant more.

As ever, Day was frank with how close he came to pulling out with back spasms when his team was urging him to put himself on ice before the Masters (April 7-10).

“Four of my team tried to talk me out of it. I’m like ‘just don’t worry about it’,” Day said.

It took hours of daily treatment from Bubba Watson’s therapist Brian Smith, his doctor and trainer plus sleeping on a heat pad to get him through.

Most of all, it was Day’s fierce competitive instincts.

Day has flicked a switch since his golden run began last July and it is something he has never taken in his golf bag to Augusta before.

“There’s a little bit more belief in my ability that I can get the job done,” Day said.

“It’s the mental hurdle I had to jump to get that major (PGA Championship) and knowing what it feels like to win a major championship with a lot of people watching and expecting you to play well.”

Jason Day wom his first major at Whistling Straits last year.Source:Getty Images

It’s priceless armour-plating just as the killer putting and chipping brilliance that sunk McIlroy is his edge for escape acts around Augusta’s tricky greens.

“It’s knowing that I’ve been in the heat of the battle and understanding what that feels like,” Day said.

“Everyone knows when you are standing there on Sunday at Augusta, you have to be able to stay in your own little world and if you don’t have the best stuff, find a way to get it done.”

Day ($7) jumped to favouritism yesterday on UBET ahead of defending champion Jordan Spieth ($7.50), McIlroy ($8), Adam Scott ($11) and Watson ($13) among a pack of hot Masters fancies.

Bring on the hype, he says, but finding a balance with not wanting the green jacket so much is suffocating.

“There’s going to be a lot of hype,” Day said.

“There’s going to be a lot of hype around Jordan, there’s going to be a lot of hype around Rory because he could finish his career Grand Slam, there’s going to be a lot of hype around myself going in there as world No.1.

The world No.1 comes to Augusta a last-start winner of the World Match Play.Source:AP

“Embrace it.

“It’ll be fun to walk through the gates as world No.1.

“I’ve got to focus on a lot of things but I know the feeling of trying too hard.”