A trip to former NBA star Michael Redd’s house has put Jason Day in an Olympic frame of mind.
The Queenslander, a good friend of the Olympic basketballer, said to see avid golfer Redd’s gold medal from the 2008 Beijing Games had piqued his own interest in Rio 2016.
“I had a buddy (Redd, who) represented Team USA and I was at his house and looking at his medal and it was just an amazing piece,” Day said.
“It's history being able to look back on it and tell a story one day and what you did, where it was, what happened.
“It would be a good moment just to capture in time.”
Day, 27, said he’d once thought of the Olympics as a realm of amateur athletes, but as golf prepares for its first Games appearance since St Louis in 1904, he’s hot to pull on the green and gold in Brazil next year.
“One thing that I do want to do is I want to represent my country in the Olympics. It would be amazing to win (a) medal,” Day enthused.
“To have the opportunity of representing your country and going to the (opening) ceremony and winning a medal would be pretty neat just looking back on it.”
The newly crowned Canadian Open champion admitted solving scheduling issues in 2016 would be critical.
The Open Championship, Canadian Open, US PGA Championship and Olympics are likely to fall in successive weeks in a crowded 2016 calendar.
“Looking at the schedule right now with the two majors and Canada, that's going to be tough – a tough stretch for me,” Day said.
“But I'm looking forward to having a look at the schedule and picking my tournaments.”