World No.1 Jason Day has hinted he could quit the game in a little over a decade when he plans an intensive examination of his attitude, form and his increasing family responsibilities.
While he has said he has a goal of earning a place in the World Golf Hall of Fame, the Australian still might retire from professional golf a lot sooner than most of his colleagues if he is disatisfied with his form and family life takes priority.
The 28-year-old has been on the PGA tour since 2008 and has two small children, and said he will assess his life when he turns 40, including the possibility of retiring.
“When I get to 40, I’m going to re-evaluate everything and then go from there,” Day told The Golf Channel.
However he also said there was a strong possibility he would decide to press on in a bid to snare more majors.
“When I get to 40, I would like to see where I’m at in my career because I might want to go, ‘You know what, I’m done. I’m just happy with everything,’ and I’m going to go off my merry way and I’ll probably never pick up a golf club ever again.
“But it also depends on if (son) Dash is playing, if (daughter) Lucy is playing, if I’m still competitive and my body’s great, because I’m just trying to extend. What I’m doing with my body and with my golf game, I’m trying to extend the longevity of my career.”
Day has 10 career victories, including his first major title at the PGA Championship in 2015.
He has won three times this year, and has held on to the No.1 spot for most of 2016.
However his career has not been without physical issues. Day battled a back injury earlier this season and struggled through bouts of vertigo much of last summer. He also dealt with a thumb injury in 2014, and his powerful swing has led many analysts to question how long his body will hold up.
“It’s over when you don’t want to improve anymore. It’s over when you’re done improving yourself on and off the golf course,” Day said.
“That’s probably the biggest thing, because winning is taken care of by the process that you put into your game.
"The small victories that you have along the way, with regards to practising that extra hour when you didn’t really want to, or being out there practising when you didn’t want to practise that day. Going to the gym when you felt like, ‘You know what, I’ll just take a day off and go tomorrow.’
“They’re the small victories you have, and that’s the process that goes into – they’re the pieces of the puzzle that you slowly etch together to make the big masterpiece, which is the winning formula.”