Jason Day withdraws from World Golf Championship in Mexico

Jason-Day,-of-Australia,-hits-from-the-17th-tee-of-the-Monterey-Peninsula-Country-Club-Shore-Course-during-the-first-round-of-the-AT&T-Pebble-Beach-National-Pro-Am-golf-tournament-Thursday,-Feb.-9,-2017,-in-Pebble-Beach,-Calif.-(Eric-Risberg/AP)

Jason Day hopes to play at Augusta. (Eric Risberg/AP)

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Jason Day has withdrawn from the Mexico Championship because of an infection in both ears and the flu.

The World Golf Championship, to be held in Mexico City this week for the first time and featuring the highest altitude for a PGA Tour event, was poised to have all the top 50 golfers in the world. Day is No. 2 in the world. He lost his top ranking last week to Dustin Johnson, who won at Riviera.

Day says the ear infections and flu have kept him from preparing properly.

This will be the first World Golf Championships event that the 29-year-old Australian has missed since the Cadillac Championship at Doral three years ago. He was coping with a thumb injury that year.

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