The 18th made it tough on Day, but it was worth it in the end

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Jason Day (right) and his wife, Ellie, celebrate his first win at the HP Byron Nelson Championship.

IRVING, Texas -- The next time Jason Day steps to the tee at the 429-yard par-4 18th at the TPC Four Seasons Resort, he will not use driver. He will not use 3-wood. He will use a 3-iron, he will hit it short, he will hit it right ... and if he does nothing else, he will absolutely, positively avoid the water.

And when he hits his next shot, he will avoid the water again. That's his promise.

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Day, you see, is tired of getting wet at the 18th. It happened to him three times in his four rounds this week at the HP Byron Nelson Championship -- on his tee shots in the first and third rounds, and then his 4-iron approach shot in Sunday's final round. Considering that he was holding a shaky one-shot lead over playing partner Blake Adams when that last punch to the gut took place, Day was wondering if this wicked closing hole was simply determined to keep him out of the winner's circle.

But there is a balancing act to this thing called fate. The 18th had been Day's cruel antagonist -- as it had for the rest of the field, ranking as the most difficult hole this week -- and perhaps it simply owed one him. So it sent Adams' approach shot to a watery grave as well.

With both players forced to take drops, Day now knew a bogey would be good enough to win his first PGA TOUR event. And when he rolled in his winning putt from 14 feet, 4 inches, the drain of a long day and the end of an often frustrating, often painful, journey had finally arrived.

"Looking back at it, I think it's going to be one of those holes that I want to forget," said the 22-year-old Australian, "but one of those holes that I want to remember because it was my first win."

He thought it would come sooner. Just a few years ago, Day had been tabbed as a potential star. But his path veered off its projected course. As he started to make a little money, he started to work less. He got, in his words, "lazy." He slacked off.

"I was very poor growing up," he said, "and to have a couple of dollars under my belt kind of eased the tension. And with that, I didn't work hard."

But eventually the light clicked on. Day realized he was wasting talent, and he started to apply himself. He broke down his swing. He analyzed courses. He used a daily journal to write down what he did well, and more importantly, what he needed to work on. Needing to secure his TOUR card this year, Day began to wonder if he needed to find another profession -- and he realized he didn't want to work at a check-out counter.

Health issues have plagued him this year, as he's gone through a variety of diagnoses and treatments. Only this week did he think the issue had finally been uncovered (a sinus problem).

Sure, he's only 22. Sure, he's just six years older than Jordan Spieth, the teenage kid who became the biggest draw this week. But when Day's final putt dropped, the celebration was one of relief. "It's been a hard, tough road for me," he said.

The 18th, of course, made it tougher on him. It was also tough on his wife, Ellie, who had her first date with Jason just a few days after his 2007 win on the Nationwide Tour. Day had been persistent in his wooing of Ellie, an Ohio native, and finally got her to say yes the week he claimed the Legends Financial Group Classic. She was in Jason's gallery that week, perhaps doing a little scouting before their big date.

And now she was watching her husband on the 18th.

When his approach shot found the water, "I almost died," Ellie said. "It's just so intense. You try to stay even because you know things can change every second. But I can't help it. Guess I'm just crazy."

Even crazier is that Adams, who eventually finished with a double bogey to drop into a tie for second, did not know that Day had found the water. "It wouldn't have mattered," Adams said, "because my shot was the same shot. ... I had one option."

Day, though, certainly didn't expect to have company in the pond. "I was surprised that Blake followed me into the water," Day said. "That took a little bit of pressure off my shoulders. ... I think if he knew that I hit it in the water, he may have chipped out."

Instead, a few minutes later, Day was leaping into the arms of his caddie Colin Swatton, followed by an embrace from Byron Nelson's widow, Peggy Nelson.

Soon, he and Ellie and their two mini-daschunds will jump into their RV -- they just bought it this week, as a matter of fact -- and start driving to various PGA TOUR events.

Only now, Day won't be looking for his first win. He'll now be looking to add to his total. Now that he's broken through, gotten the monkey off his back, he thinks there are more to come. After all, he's just 22.

"I'm not looking just to win one tournament," he said. "I really want to go ahead and win many more tournaments."

And about the nasty 18th and the taste of three water balls and that bogey on Sunday?

"Doesn't matter how it gets done," Day said, " as long as it gets done."