Day was in superlative form last time around at TPC Sawgrass, firing a course record nine-under 63 in the opening round to set up what would be a wire-to-wire win, stamping his authority on the world No 1 position.
But unfortunately that was the last piece of silverware for Day, who has slipped to third in the world rankings after just one top 10 in his last 10 starts.
"I would do anything in the world to get back there," the 2015 PGA Championship winner said about the No 1 ranking.
"There's no other, no better feeling than being the best. That's what I'm trying to focus on, getting back to that winning form, getting back to the workload that I was doing and the practice and the work ethic, and hopefully, the results will come after that."
Day has had to deal with much emotional turmoil of late after his mother was diagnosed with lung cancer earlier this year, making it difficult to deal with the pressures on the course.
"As you go through your career, priorities kind of change back and forth and with what had happened earlier this year with some off-course stuff, my mind was kind of elsewhere, as you probably could imagine," confirmed the Queenslander.
Day will attempt to defend his title when the Players Championship tees off on Thursday at TPC Sawgrass with many of the best golfers in the world in attendance.