Jason Day remains in contention to win his first US PGA Tour event since 2018 at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am on the Monterrey Peninsula.

Day’s return from a bad back has been a revelation; he added a 70 at Spyglass Hill today to his early rounds of 64 and 67 to be at 14-under par, just three shots from the lead held by Nick Taylor of the US.

Day said earlier this week that he was using balloon therapy to ease the issues in his back, which forced him to miss the Australian Open and the Presidents Cup late last year.

He was put on the therapy by his trainer, Kevin Duffy. For half an hour a day in the gym, he literally stands and blows up balloons.

“If I stood with my shirt off, my rib cage always faces right,” he told PGAtour.com. “So I’m trying -- through balloons, blowing into them; I could do it without it – and I’m trying to hold a certain position and get my rib cage back into position.

“But through blowing up a balloon, it actually pressurizes everything for you because if you don’t hold that breath and exhale out, it honestly feels like you’re suffocating. That’s the feeling that I’m trying to get.”

Day said he was self-conscious but happy that it helped. “If you need a kids’ party, I can do it for you.”

Another Australian, Matt Jones, is in the top 10 at Pebble Beach with a round to play

LEADERBOARD