MELBOURNE — Jordan Spieth's US Masters victory struck another huge blow for golf's ‘Generation Next', leaving an inspired Jason Day convinced of a changing of the guard. The 21-year-old Spieth's brilliant wire-to-wire win at Augusta shot him up to world No. 2 behind top-ranked 25-year-old Rory McIlroy. Between them, the pair have won the last three majors, with Martin Kaymer winning last year's US Open at the age of 29. World No. 5 Day is the next best 20-something after McIlroy and Spieth in rankings and is desperate to keep pace with the young guns. “I want to be up there with him. That's what I want to do,” Day said in quotes published by Australian Associated Press. “To watch (Spieth) play so well and to watch Rory play great and really keep that competitive edge and results up is amazing. “I know it's tough to do but it is something we are all striving towards even more now.” A raft of 20-somethings are knocking on the door of the top 10, including world No. 13 Rickie Fowler (26), 14th-ranked Patrick Reed (24) and 15th-ranked Japanese Hideki Matsuyama (23). “Our generation is strong. It has taken over now,” added Day, who has had a couple of near-misses at the Masters. “Hopefully we can all continue to play well for many years to come and win lots of big tournaments.” Watson back on course Bubba Watson hardly had time to wipe the sleep out of his eyes before he was back on the golf course, half a world away from the disappointment that was this year's Masters. As defending champion, he was 19 strokes behind runaway winner Jordan Spieth when play came to end Sunday. Watson presented the new champion with his green jacket then got on a plane to Genzon Golf Club ahead of Thursday's inaugural Shenzhen International in the southern Chinese metropolis. “And then Jordan played unbelievable,” he told reporters Wednesday. “He was the first person ever to get 19 under. Made all his putts. “It's pretty special to see him battling the year before and me beating him, and then him coming with that performance the following year. Pretty amazing.” Watson said the Shenzhen event — co-sanctioned by the European and China PGA Tours — would give him time to reassess the putting that let him down as he sought to add a third green jacket to his 2012 and 2014 triumphs. — Agencies
