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RBC CANADIAN OPENJuly 24, 2015Jason DayOAKVILLE, ONTARIO Q. Obviously off to a great start to the tournament and great start to the day with three straight birdies. JASON DAY: It was nice to start off. I mean the one on 12 was just outside the 49-foot range, and I didn't expect to hole it, but luckily enough for me I sort of putted (Indiscernible). But I think I was very happy with my play. Just three blemishes on the scorecard. It was a little sloppy, but overall, I made up with some birdies and a nice eagle on 18. Q. The golf course was playing very firm and fast out there. JASON DAY: Yeah, for us, it was probably very similar for the guys in the morning yesterday. It was very tactical. You get out early, the ball wasn't bouncing as much. But as the sun heats up the ground, it's going to start bouncing a lot more, not only the fairway, but the greens, which will make scoring conditions a little harder in the afternoon. But I still think with the winds that we have going on, if we hit it anywhere near the pin, the greens are so pure that you can just roll them in. Q. It says a lot where your game is at coming off a good performance last week. JASON DAY: Yeah, it's great. The biggest thing for me was to try to get as much rest as possible and try to stay mentally sharp. Overall, I'm very happy with how I'm driving it off the tee. My irons are pretty solid. Would like to just tighten up some of the wedges into the green so I don't miss them and make them very hard on myself. But I'm not complaining about it. I'm in contention going into the weekend, so hopefully I can be around. Q. Graham DeLaet had to withdraw. You've been in a situation where you've had to withdraw. Obviously playing in front of his home country, how tough a decision is that for a player? JASON DAY: Yeah, I talked to him early before the round. He said he was going to give it a go, but it's just hard. He said if it was any other tournament he'd try to just rest up and take it easy, but he wanted to try to get out for the crowd. It's hard for him. I know exactly what injuries are like. I know exactly what he's feeling when he walked into the locker room after and he had to pull out. Did I do enough? Could I have done enough? The biggest thing, if this is the first time it's ever happened to him, go and check it out, make sure there is nothing lingering there so you're healthy for the rest of the season. That is the biggest thing. You can play in ten, 20 more Canadian Opens. One this year is not going to hurt the next 20 years you're going to be out here. So just be smart with it. Q. Solid round of golf. You started out with three birdies in a row. Little blip there. Couple bogeys, but another strong finish as well. JASON DAY: Yeah, it was nice to get off to a good start. Obviously wanted to get off to a good start but I didn't expect to birdie the first three holes. It could have been -- it felt strange because it could have been very low. But on top of it, I also saved a couple coming in which was nice. The eagle on 18 helped out a lot getting my round going, and then the birdie on 1, the birdie on 2, and then just coming in and birdie on 6 as well which was nice after the bogey on 5 with the 60-degree wedge in my hand. So overall very happy with how I'm playing. Tee to green it was pretty solid. Would like to tighten up a little tee shots here and there with my wedges, but overall I'm very happy. Q. Putted really well. Including was it 49 feet to 12? JASON DAY: Yeah, right before me, because Luke hit it just behind me about a foot. So I ran in with the putt just trying to see the line. Once I found that line and the green was reading so true that they're not going to jump off. So hit a good putt. The line and the speed was perfect, so I had enough to get that one in. Q. Thoughts going into the weekend? Because I know when you get over here and you go through the jet lag and all that, but you had a good start yesterday. Built on that today. Your thoughts going into Saturday? JASON DAY: I think we're going to get similar temperatures, similar wind tomorrow. I think the weekend is going to be exactly what we've had the last two days. So with that said, I think the fairways should bake out a little bit, the greens should bake out a little bit and make it a little tougher scoring-wise. But it was a tackle this morning. I think the guys are still going to go low, but you've just got to be careful because you get around the greens in the wrong spots with fast greens and leave yourself with a downhill chip that's very difficult. You've got to be patient. Obviously, over the weekend they tighten up over the weekend, so I've just got to be patient with myself. I just feel like what I did at the British Open coming into this week I've been very patient with myself trying to replicate that as much as possible. Q. A 66, how would you describe that round today? JASON DAY: It was great to get the three birdies early. Get that buffer going pretty quick. Two bogeys were just -- the two bogeys on the backside wasn't the greatest bogeys (Indiscernible). But getting an eagle on 18 helped a lot. Birdieing 1, 2, and 6 on the back side definitely got the round going. It was a little strange, because I felt like I could have shot 8- to 10-under, and if I let it go after the shot, 2- to 3-under par. So I did everything I possibly could. Q. It seems like your energy is back. You said you hit a wall on Wednesday. How are you feeling as far as that? JASON DAY: I feel good. I'm driving it great. I'd like to tune-up the iron shots, but overall I'm hitting it good. Biggest thing for me is still trying to get as much rest as possible, especially coming off last week so that I can stay mentally sharp. That is the biggest thing is trying to stay mentally sharp so I don't have any mental errors like I did today. Missing a green with a 60-degree wedge and making bogeys is a mental error that we shouldn't do. I've got to tighten that up. Q. What did Graham DeLaet say to you? Any interaction on the golf course? JASON DAY: I know that he wanted to give it a go today. This is kind of new to him. This is the first time this has ever happened to him on the left side of his hand. I know exactly what he's feeling. (Indiscernible) could he have played more and given it a go? Unfortunately, when it comes to careers and injuries, you've got to be careful with it. Especially in front of the home crowd, it's tough to pull out. But as I said earlier, if he's around, he'll play 10 to 20 Canadian Opens. This is not going to be the last one he's going to play. It's unfortunate that happened to him, but he's just got to make sure that everything's checked out and he's healthy for the rest of the season. Q. Finally, what do you expect for the weekend? JASON DAY: Similar conditions with the weather. Obviously the course, but I think everything's going to tighten up over the weekend. I think the scoring conditions will be a little bit hart harder, but I think there are many scores to be had out there. If you give yourself the opportunities, the greens are so true (Inaudible). If you're putting good this week, it's definitely a good week to have it. Q. A pretty good solid round of golf out there, what do you owe it to? JASON DAY: The three birdies out there on my back side, which my front side helped. A few blemishes on the scorecard, but the eagle on 18 definitely helped to get back into the momentum that I had earlier. Birdieing 1 and 2, and then birdieing 6 helps coming in. I just said earlier that it was a strange round. I could have shot 8- to 10-under, and then again I could have shot 2- to 3-under, which is weird. I saved a lot of good par saves out there on top of missed a few opportunities as well. Q. You said yesterday you were kind of a little bit flat coming in and maybe a little tired. Are you back to your normal self? JASON DAY: I think physically I am. It's just the mind is slowly getting back here. When you're not quite mentally sharp, you don't hit the right shots. Unfortunately for me on 5 today I had a lob wedge in my hand. It's a perfect scoring club and I missed the green. I just can't do that. That's a mental error that I shouldn't have. If I birdie that instead of bogeying, that's a two-shot swing, and unfortunately I bogeyed it, and luckily enough for me I came back and birdied the next hole. Would have liked to have just tightened up a few of the wedges and shorter irons into the greens. But for me personally, I'm just going to try to get as much rest as possible and try to get the mind freshened up and stay sharp. Q. After the disappointment of Monday, is this the best thing for you to get right back into the battle on the leaderboard? JASON DAY: I don't think it was a disappointment, because last week I played three rounds and didn't have a bogey in those three rounds. I had three bogeys last week. I mean, it was frustrating to not finish the way I did. But to be back in contention, I'm learning from each and every experience that I have. Hopefully over time it becomes a lot easier, and then just the last two days have been great. The crowds have been out, it's been fun. They've been supporting me, which is fantastic. I'm looking forward to some more scoring conditions over the next two days. Q. Do you feel as much love for the crowds in every event you go to? JASON DAY: No, this is pretty neat. There are a lot of people here, and I mean just I get claps on the tee boxes. It's been amazing support for me. I think the Canadian people are so nice. You just come up here and they're so polite. They're really good golf fans, very courteous of what you're doing, and they understand golf as well. So to be able to be here and play, I mean, 2009 was the last time I've been here and being back here makes you want to come back every year. Q. You say you wanted to get sharper for the weekend. But do you worry you might hit a wall mentally or physically? JASON DAY: I've got five hours to play and 19 hours to rest. So I've just got to suck it up. I've got two days left and I can have a week off. So I'm just going to keep fighting until it's over. Q. Is it tough to focus out there after a long week at St. Andrews? JASON DAY: It can be. That is the thing. Where I'm talking about trying to stay mentally sharp, you miss a few greens with wedges, you don't get up and down. Start getting frustrated, and that's where it happens. You have normal tournaments where you come in fresh and you're a lot more positive, where you start making a few soft bogeys here and there and start getting frustrated with yourself, start forcing the issues, make a few more mistakes. Then instead of being 10 under par, you're fighting just to make the cut. So it can be tough, but I've got to understand that there is plenty of golf. I've just got to -- whether I make mistakes, it's okay. There are plenty of scoring opportunities later on in the rounds. Q. You can imagine what this event means to Graham DeLaet. Are you disappointed with him having to withdraw today? JASON DAY: Yeah, it's tough. I've had injuries before so I know what he's going through. He's had injuries. I know that he wanted to play in front of the home crowd. I know exactly what he's going through and exactly what he's thinking about when he walks into that locker room. He's frustrated and disappointed in himself because you're thinking like I've had the same thoughts where I'm thinking could I have done more? Could I have stayed out there an extra hole or gotten something going where it's starting to feel better? And unfortunately, when you have injuries, this is new to him with his hand, you just can't take chances. I explained earlier that he may play, if he's lucky, 10 to 20 Canadian Opens, so this is not last one for him. It would be disappointing if it was his last Canadian Open and he had to pull out because of an injury. He's going to be back and he'll be healthy. But obviously it's a little frustrating for him because he's struggled with injuries in the past. For this to happen at home in front of the family and home crowd, it sucks. I know exactly how he feels. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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