ORLANDO, Fla. – Jason Day is putting the band back together with Colin Swatton, his former coach, caddie, mentor and a second father of sorts since they met at the Kooralbyn International School in Australia when Day was a troubled 12-year-old.

“He knows my game better than anyone, obviously, because we've had the history there,” Day said on Friday at Bay Hill Lodge & Club at the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational . “We had a bit of a break and now we're back together, which is nice. I'm looking forward to seeing the progression of my game going forward.”

The early returns are promising. After shooting 76 in the worst of the windy opening-round conditions, Day carded seven birdies and an eagle on Friday to shoot 64, the low round of the week thus far and his career low at Bay Hill. Day sits T-5 and trails 36-hole leader Shane Lowry by four strokes at four-under 140.

Day, 37, and Swatton reached world No. 1 and won the 2015 PGA Championship together. Swatton stepped away from caddying in 2017 but remained as Day’s coach until June 2020. Day, ranked No. 34 in the world entering this week, began working with Chris Como in 2021 and he returned to the winner’s circle at the 2023 CJ Cup Byron Nelson.

Day said he and Swatton started talking again at the beginning of the year and finally had a chance to work together in person this week at Rio Pinar, once the tournament home of Orlando’s annual tour stop in the 1970s. Day has struggled with the short stick this season, ranking 156 ^th in Strokes Gained: Putting, losing just under half a stroke per round.

“We just had some setup changes,” said Day, who has always been one of the better putters on Tour. “I'm not saying that, Hey, I'm going to go back to 2015, 2016 putting, but some of the stuff that I was doing I was a little cramped, eyes too far over the ball. I've always been a person that has had my eyes on the inside of the ball, like a long way. Just some head, a head position change. A little bit further away. Hands, arms up a little bit higher so the shoulders can pitch a lot better or swing a little bit better. Speed has improved dramatically since then, stroke's improved dramatically, and now I can start it on line without scratching my head going, Why did that not start on line?”

Day said he was delighted to have fresh eyes reviewing his stroke, especially a pair that knows his game better than anyone else.

“I was very fortunate that he was willing to come back on board. I know that he's busy with his commentary stuff, and then also he coaches Karl Vilips as well, and he does some teaching on the side, so that kind of keeps him busy,” said Day, who enjoyed hearing a familiar voice from his glory days. “That was nice, because sometimes when you're doing it by yourself it's very, very difficult to come up with the right answers.”