Jason Day sacrificed Thanksgiving with his family in America and wound up giving thanks to his loyal fans down under living up to the hype in his long-awaited Australian Open return.
A delighted Day posed for selfies, offloaded balls and signed autographs after posting a birdie-filled five-under-par 66 to set himself up nicely for a run at the Stonehaven Cup.
Only three off the pace, and without a worry in the world, the former world No.1 shrugged off a late double-bogey to pay tribute to the big gallery that flocked to see him on Australian fairways for the first time in four years.
"It was amazing actually, the support that we had here today," he said.
"It was exciting to play. The crowds were terrific out there.
"It's been four years since I've been here, so I think I owe it to everyone that wants an autograph or wants a picture, to be able to stop and give it to them."
Day was especially pleased to have had his biggest fan, mum Dening, in the crowd at The Australian Golf Club - and she is healthy again after winning her battle with cancer.
"It's great to see her out and looking healthy because at the start of the year it didn't look so well," he said.
"I haven't been able to play in front of her a lot as a professional. She's seen one of my wins with the World Cup, so it would be really nice to be able to try and win this one for her.
"It reminds me of the old times when she used to watch me. I'm just glad I played good enough, so she didn't have to walk off the golf course again.
"She can be a little hard sometimes, but that's what got me to the position I'm in today. Her being strict and hard on me forced me to do the right things off the course."
Day will start his second round three shots behind early leader Cameron Davis, who opened with a sizzling eight-under-par 63 on the same course on which he won the national amateur championship two years ago.
