Tiger Woods warns Players champ Jason Day he’ll kick his butt when he returns

Jason Day, after his Players Championship win cloaked him in an aura of invincibility similar to that which enveloped his texting mentor in his heyday, is drawing the inevitable comparisons to Tiger Woods.

The current world No. 1, however, wants to extend his lead over the golfers formerly known as the other members of the late, lamented “Big Three,” so he’s ready when the formerly top-ranked golfer finally does return to the PGA Tour.

“Tiger says he’s going to kick my butt when he comes back,” Day told reporters after going wire-to-wire on Sunday for his seventh victory in his last 17 starts. “If he does come back and he’s turned into Tiger Woods again, I’ve got to kind of watch my behind.”

Paying homage to the sidelined Woods, who types inspirational messages to his protege from wherever he is continuing his rehab from three back surgeries, makes for an amusing sound bite. But we’re guessing that by the time Woods commits to his first competition since August (who has the Memorial? U.S. Open at Oakmont?), Day won’t be scared to face his remote adviser -- or anyone else, for that matter.

More to the point -- after Day put the tournament away down the stretch of the finale at TPC Sawgrass -- everyone else in the field on any given Sunday will be eyeing the scoreboard to see how the game’s best player is acquitting himself.

“That’s Tiger-esque, that kind of a run,” Adam Scott said Sunday about his fellow Australian. “The way he’s walking around, he’s got that kind of unbeatable look about him.”

It’s a look and feel that has laid waste to the so-called “Big 3,” a media-manufactured myth designed to drum up support for a rivalry among Day, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy. Rickie Fowler’s 2015 Players win put him in the periphery of the discussion about who constituted the best golfers on Tour.

After Day’s four-shot win at Sawgrass -- two days after Spieth and Fowler missed the cut, and despite giving McIlroy and the rest of the guys a chance to catch up during a lackluster opening nine holes -- may we now lay that ridiculous notion to rest?

The latest evidence was the would-be duel between Day and Spieth that fizzled out early as Jason “shellacked” (Spieth’s word) Jordan by 14 shots (63-66 to 72-71) in their much-hyped game-within-a-game at Sawgrass on Thursday and Friday. And then there’s McIlroy, winless in 2016 after finishing eight shots back of Day at Sawgrass, and whose new claw grip has not helped him find the hole.

Whether it’s a matter of skill, confidence, drive, and/or all three, Day has it all over his would-be peers.

“I’ve never been more motivated to be No. 1 in the world. I’ve never been more motivated to try to extend that lead from one to two,” Day said. “All the hard work that I’ve put into my game right now has paid off, but I’ve got to keep working hard to win as much as I can.”

His ambition is evident to anyone with just a passing knowledge of the current game.

“That sounds awfully Tiger-like.”

To mix sporting metaphors, the ball’s in your court, Tiger.