LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Jason Day became the latest high-profile golfer to make a caddie change, saying that Colin Swatton will no longer be carrying his bag but will remain as his swing coach.
Day, who has 10 PGA Tour victories, has suffered through a trying season and hasn't won since the 2016 Players Championship. The former No. 1 golfer in the world who has slipped to ninth at times was emotional Wednesday at the BMW Championship explaining the situation that led to Swatton taking a seat.
"Sometimes the chemistry just doesn't work,'' said Day, 29, who has referred to Swatton as a father figure. "He's been my coach since I'm 12. Obviously this is a very hard time for both of us with regards to we had a relationship for so long, my caddie for 11 years.
"My attitude is not good coming to the golf course because of things he can't control, obviously. It's not a good formula for success out here.''
Day and Swatton first met at the Kooralbyn International School in Queensland, Australia, where Day's mother had sent him after the golfer's father had died.
Swatton traveled with Day to the United States when he turned professional as a teenager, and they've been together since. Day insisted Swatton would remain as his coach, though he's unlikely to travel to tournaments. A high school friend, Luke Reardon, will work for Day the next two weeks.
"I'm blaming him for nothing,'' Day said of Swatton. "The last couple of weeks were tough. I never wanted it to turn into a toxic relationship, where he's taken me from where I was as a 12-year-old kid to where I am today and I'm not talking to him anymore.''
Earlier this summer, Phil Mickelson and his caddie of 25 years, Jim "Bones'' Mackay, parted ways. After The Open, Rory McIlroy and his caddie since 2008, J.P. Fitzgerald, split.