Peter Williams: Veteran Pavin overcomes a potentially great Day

The US Bank Championship, formerly the Greater Milwaukee Open, is not the type of PGA Tour event to which you normally pay too much attention.

But last weekend, the event achieved its highest profile in the decade since Tiger Woods made his professional debut there.

Not only did it signal a return to the winner's circle for Corey Pavin, it marked the arrival in professional golf of Jason Day.

If Pavin was ever going to win again, it was going to be in Milwaukee. Brown Deer Park is the shortest course (6066m) on the PGA Tour. The little Californian is the shortest hitter on the tour, with an average driving length of just 242m. He is simply not competitive at many places any more.

He's never been a big hitter but modern technology appears to have done little for his game. In 1986, when metal headed drivers were in their infancy, Pavin's average driving distance was 238m. Titanium heads and graphite shafts have given him four metres in 20 years.

But, as was the case when he won his two New Zealand Opens on courses of modest length at Paraparaumu Beach in 1984 and Russley in 1985, Pavin's accuracy and consistency, combined with deadly putting, was the key to his win in Milwaukee. He had the best possible start with birdies in his first six holes in the first round, returning the lowest ever nine-hole score (26) in the history of the PGA Tour.

Jason Day was born three years after Pavin first won the New Zealand Open. He turns 19 in November and has quickly indicated that his brilliant junior amateur career in Australia and New Zealand may translate to a highly successful life as a professional.

His decision to turn pro is a snub to Golf Australia, which might have expected him to anchor its Eisenhower Trophy team in October. But Day was suspended from four Australian teams because he played in a privately promoted amateur tournament, honouring a commitment made the year before, instead of entering a national trial.

It was amateur officiousness at its worst and Golf Australia has paid the price. Day's sensational start suggests he will foot it in the big time.

In three tournaments, he has a scoring average of 69.2 shots per round, the lowest on the PGA Tour. He's hit 72.2 per cent of greens in regulation - also best on tour. He's the best player inside 30m from the hole - getting up and down 50 per cent of the time.

Those statistics are helped by the small number of events he's played and his fine finish - 12 under par and 13th equal - behind Pavin at Milwaukee. With US$88,000 ($142,000) banked in three weeks, his backers are probably seeing a very quick return on their investment.

Less than two years ago, Day won the New Zealand under-19 championship at Akarana. I was president there at the time and afterwards he thanked me for the club's hospitality and for the condition of the course. I thought he was a really nice kid and vowed then I'd follow his career closely. The signs are it will be successful.