Scared silence overtakes U.S. Open as Jason Day collapses

UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. -- Chambers Bay is an absolutely brutal walk in calm conditions, when the weather is overcast and temperatures are just moderate -- like it was on Thursday. On Friday, though, the course has warmed up, and the sun is beating down on players and fans. The conditions were already very tough when Jason Day, hovering near the top of the leaderboard, went down on the ninth hole, his last of the day. He laid prostrate, not moving an inch as his fellow golfers, Justin Rose and Jordan Spieth, and caddies rushed to him. What had been one of the rowdier grandstands for the hour preceding Day’s arrival went totally silent as he laid motionless just below the crowd.

There is no place to hide at Chambers Bay -- no trees or spots of shade around the course. When you’re out there, you’re going to bake in the sun while walking for miles around the course. It’s eight or nine miles to walk 18 as the players do, and just about everything is on a hill.

Day crumbled to the ground walking on to the green at No. 9 after sending his approach long and into the back bunker behind the flag. Where he went down -- on a huge sideslope near the grandstands -- made it look like a fall at first. It quickly became clear that Day had simply collapsed. He was also heard telling medics this was another bout of a vertigo problem he’s been dealing with for years and, most recently, forced him to withdraw from last month’s Byron Nelson.

While the medics tended to Day, Spieth attempted to shield him from the crowd and chastised journalists with cameras, trying to preserve some semblance of privacy. Twice Spieth implored people to let Day receive medical attention on the green without a barrage of camera clicks. “Guys! C’mon!” he shouted at photographers lining the hill above where Day was laid out.

Jason Day (white shirt) and Jordan Spieth make their way down the hill at the 9th, just steps before Day’s collapse.

After spending a considerable amount of time prone with medics crowded around him, Day got up -- still wobbly -- and slowly walked to the bunker as the grandstands behind the 9th roared. Shaking, he had to have a rules official remove a small rock in the bunker, afraid he might bump his ball. And somehow, he blasted out to a mid-range putt that just missed.

Considering the circumstances, it was the best bogey you’ll see this weekend, and the crowd stood and roared again to show its approval.

Day isn’t the first to battle the elements at Chambers Bay this week. Caddies, who are making the same walk as players while carrying another 50 pounds of gear, have struggled with falls at times. I saw one go down on the 12th Thursday, and others have dealt with leg and wrist injuries from falls this week.

Whether the heat and strenuous walk triggered Day’s collapse or he was dealing with vertigo, it was a scary scene at the 9th. If Day’s condition isn’t serious, and an ambulance was staged by the scoring tent to take him to a hospital, he will have a significant rest before having to tee off on Saturday afternoon after going out early on Friday.