Jason Day withdrew from The Players Championship one hour before he was scheduled to tee off on Thursday morning due to an illness.
Danny Walker replaced Day, who is ranked No. 33 in the world and has a 2016 Players Championship title among his 13 PGA Tour victories. He finished 35th in the event in 2024.
The Australian was reunited with his former swing coach, Colin Swatton, after a seven-year hiatus and was coming into the tournament following a T-8 finish last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Day has two top-10 finishes in six events to start the season.
Day, 37, won the 2015 PGA Championship and spent 47 consecutive weeks atop the Official World Golf Ranking from 2016-17.
However, Day began to suffer from chronic lower back injuries and ultimately dropped as low as 175th in the rankings to begin 2023. The back issues even had him contemplate retirement.
–Field Level Media
