Jason Day has credited a brutal dressing down from wife Ellie for a third round turnaround at the Masters.
World No.3 Day was furious with himself after scraping through the six-over-par halfway cut on the number and screamed his frustrations aloud in family motorhome parked down the road from Augusta National.
"My wife over there, she was kind of ready to slap me in the face because I was so negative with myself," admitted Day.
Added wife Ellie: "I told him, 'Get it together. Find something and break it, if he wanted. I didn't care as long as he did it before the kids came back."
The harsh words helped and a wonderful stretch of four consecutive birdies around Amen Corner allowed the Queenslander to claw his way back to three over with a gutsy 69 on Saturday.
At nine shots back, Day would have to equal the greatest final-round comeback in Masters history - achieved by Jack Burke in 1956 - if he was to win a maiden Masters title.
Although the 29-year-old conceded his chances were slim, he noted that starting the final round in 2016 level pegging with eventual winner Danny Willett taught him a valuable lesson.
"Anything can happen on a Sunday at Augusta. Guys can either melt down or guys can come from behind and win big," said Day, who has a runner-up and a top-three among five previous Masters appearances.
"The first two days kind of put me out of it, so I've just got to try and do the best job I can and hopefully if I can put everything together. Give it a good shot."
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