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THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

May 7, 2015

Jason Day

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA

JASON DAY: Obviously to make the double there was pretty good, as well. How hard was that 18th hole. You're hitting driver -- if you hit 3-wood, driver is going to definitely run out if you hit the right side, but if you hit 3-wood, that wind was at least 10 to 15 when we were hitting, and you're hitting 3-wood, you've got like a 3-iron in. I don't want to leave myself that far, so I saw Rory kind of sneak down that left side. I mean, I was trying to miss it right, and I missed a few left early and just was kind of fighting myself out there a little bit early, but it was a great 6 in the end. As I said, 6s are better than 7s. To be able to come back on 1 and 2 and birdie those, and then obviously on 8 and 9 to finish the way I did was good, because like I said, it turned an average round into a great round today.

Q. So if they'd have given you 3-under at the start, you would have taken it?
JASON DAY: Oh, yeah, definitely. I just knew how -- I've been playing the practice rounds from Monday on and we've had northerly winds, and I've been sitting there like, oh, man -- especially today was kind of a north, kind of northwest wind which is in off the left on 18, and if you're hitting a draw -- that's one of the harsh winds because it's a dogleg right to left, and you don't want to kind of shave the edge there. But the majority of the week it's been northeasterly, and it's been kind of in off the right there on 18. 69 is a good score. I mean, if you said that, I'd definitely take it. I'd take it all four days, really.

Q. You seemed like you were more jacked up for this rounds than those other two guys in the pairing.
JASON DAY: Is there a rivalry?

Q. I don't know, I've been reading it so it must be --
JASON DAY: I guess you guys want to start one. Yeah, it's great.

Q. You kind of went in there with a little bounce in your step, got up on the tee and were ready to rock and roll.
JASON DAY: Well, I didn't know if they were going to show up, if it was going to be a one-ball off the 10th tee today because they had a couple minutes left and they were running a little bit late. You know what, it's good because, I mean, I get to play with the world No. 1 and No. 2 today. It's always good to play with guys like that, and we had a phenomenal crowd out there following us, which was fantastic. Thursday early at THE PLAYERS, and there were a lot of people out. It's hard not to get jacked up when you have a lot of people out.

Q. Do you get a level of satisfaction out of just reinforcing to the people that don't pay attention that you can still play with any of these guys?
JASON DAY: Well, I was just saying I was a third wheel. Everyone is going, who's that guy, is that Andy Demaret (phonetic)? You know what, it was a lot of fun. To be able to come in and play obviously not the -- from tee to green not that great, but mixed in there with a lot of good shots with some kind of squirrelly shots, short game was sharp today, and like I said, it wasn't more so the swing, it was just me fighting myself upstairs, really not having a lot of trust and commitment in your swing, especially around a place like this with how the rough is. It's pretty thick in some parts. I mean, you just don't have a lot of trust, commitment. You start missing a few and just don't give yourself the opportunities, and hence kind of --

Q. Maybe you'll get that back tomorrow?
JASON DAY: Oh, man, it's something that you have to -- it's hard. Trust and commitment is huge when you're trying to play at the elite level. I've just got to get up there and -- I know it's going to be definitely different tomorrow. I felt good out there. I just -- every drive that I hit, I hit it down the middle, but it was just going left or going right. I mean, more left than right.

Q. How important is it for these two days to make a statement given the company you're keeping?
JASON DAY: To be honest it's great to play with these guys, but it's just a shot -- I mean, like I've got to beat those guys, but I think the biggest thing is not beating myself. Today was an easy way to get myself out of the tournament, especially the way I was hitting it, and you know, I'm just trying to get myself into contention and hopefully give myself a shot at the tournament on Sunday. But it definitely amplifies everything when you're playing with guys like that, so you're just trying to not get something like that -- today was a -- a big goal of mine today was just try and keep level and talk to the guys, enjoy myself. I knew I was going to get jacked, but just kind of relax and kind of sway around because it's definitely easy to get caught up in the moment.

Q. How do you think you handled the occasion?
JASON DAY: Yeah, I just kept thinking about Roger Federer, what would he do. I don't know if you guys notice, but every time after a point he's just kind of very level, got his -- doesn't keep his head down all the time, but he's kind of in his own little world, and then he's on to the next point. So that's kind of what I was trying to think of, just kind of mimic what he does. I've done that for a while now, but it obviously definitely helps a lot more when you're playing with a big group like that.

Q. The putt on 18, the double bogey, did that just settle you down for the next nine?
JASON DAY: Yeah, I mean, it was good. I was just saying earlier that 6 is better than 7, so to be able to knock in a 25-foot putt -- but I think the biggest thing was just to come back on 1 and 2 to birdie those, but you know, just to understand that it's okay. I holed it -- instead of going from even par, from 2-under to 1-over, I went from 2-under to even par, so I'm like, okay, this is all right, I can get like 2- or 3-under on the back nine.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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