Coming second again in a major championship has quite cheered Jason Day after his physical and personal struggles - but he's promised he's ready to get back into the winner's circle again after his British Open near-miss.
The Queenslander was all smiles again at Hoylake on Sunday after some difficult times as he finished joint runner-up behind runaway American winner Brian Harman at Royal Liverpool.
It meant he added his name to an elite band of eight other players, including Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Arnold Palmer and his fellow Queenslander Greg Norman, who have finished runner-up in each of the four majors - as well as winning one.
But Day, the 2015 PGA winner, would rather be known as a champion than a nearly man and he vowed after finishing six shots behind Harman on Sunday: "At some point I'm going to get off one and get my second one."
He's been trying for eight years since that PGA win at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin to join an even more elite circle than the one he entered on Sunday - that is, the company of Peter Thomson, Norman and David Graham, the three Australian men who have won more than a single major.
Day knows there's no feeling like winning one of the big ones. As he talked to media on Sunday following his final round, proud yet still just a bit dissatisfied he hadn't got closer to challenging Harman, he listened to the cheers outside the tent as the American holed his victory putt on the final green.
"What a feeling," Day said.
"He's got a six-shot lead for his first major championship, it's pretty awesome,. Just caps off what he's accomplished here this week."
That's the feeling Day wants again and this was another important step back after some difficult times for the former world No.1 who's had constant battles with chronic back problems and vertigo, as well as having to contend last year with the death of his mother.
He's already enjoyed one statement win this year, lifting his first PGA crown for five years at the Byron Nelson in Texas, but this effort from a man with a history of back woes playing in the pouring rain felt even more important.
"The majors are the ones you want to win," he said.
"You always count how many majors you can win, and people ask - they say, 'How many tournaments you've got?', but they always look at how many major championships you've got, as well."
That's why major number two would be so important to him after slumping to 175 in the world last September and having to rebuild his swing to combat the stresses of his back ailments.
"It's been nice, especially where I was with the injuries and everything," he said.
"You're seeing some guys out there battling injuries, and they lose confidence.
"To be able to work through that and get my game back to where I feel like it should be, I feel like I've done the right thing.
"I've just got to tighten things up, and then maybe get myself in contention a little bit more."
But it feels like 'J Day' is back - and that couldn't be better news for Australian golf.
