|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
RBC CANADIAN OPENJuly 26, 2015Jason DayOAKVILLE, ONTARIO DOUG MILNE: All right. We'll get started. Like to welcome the 2015 RBC Canadian Open champion, Jason Day. Congratulations on your fourth career PGA TOUR title. Unlike last week, you did move up in the FedExCup standings this week. You moved up to number 4. I know it's a special week for you coming off last week's near miss, and the one thing I picked up on outside was you got the about ball to the hole. So with that, I'll turn it over to you for some comments. JASON DAY: Yeah, just to be able to put yourself in contention so many times, especially in major events and just fall short, even going back to last week leaving the putt short and not being able to get into the playoff really kind of was disappointing. It was frustrate asking disappointing at the same time. Even though I knew that I played great, I knew that this week I had to focus on this week. As soon as that finished, I had to focus on this week. So when I actually had the same putt, it was a very similar putt on the 72nd hole today. Same things were going through my mind. Make sure you get it to the hole, and fortunately enough for me it was quick enough to where I just needed to get it on the line. If I got it on the line, it was perfect. I just knew as soon as I hit the putt about six feet out, I knew it was going to come back and go in the hole. This is why we practice. This is why we work so hard and put the hours in not only on the golf course, but off the golf course with the body and mind. Just to have this one little moment where you can somehow just freeze it, and on top of it to be the Canadian Open champion, there is no better feeling. It's just amazing. I'm so happy to be the champion. Q. The course kind of gets mixed reviews sometimes, but it sure is built for excitement coming down the stretch. Do you enjoy it? JASON DAY: Oh, I loved it. You're going off what happened to me on 10 and 11 yesterday and birdieing six of the seven holes coming home, and then bogeying 8 and 9 today, and having a great crucial par save on 12 and then being able to birdie 16, 17, and 18 the way I did. I mean, it's exciting. Even Bubba and David had a chance to get into a playoff. Obviously when I was watching I was obviously nervous at the same time, but I know it's hard to be in their position trying to chase down a lead. I needed that putt on 18, and that's what made it so exciting. It was a really fun finish. I said to my team last night, this is going to be a fun day today just because it's perfect scoring conditions. We know that the pins -- as soon as I woke up this morning, I knew the pins were accessible, but still it played tough in parts of the golf course. So it was a good, fair test with regards to that. I couldn't think of a better place to finish and how exciting it was. Q. You mentioned the close calls in your career, especially in majors. What do you think it is that gives you that resilience to keep bouncing back the way you do? JASON DAY: I think it's just trying to obviously my goal -- my life long goal is to get to No. 1 in the world. I know that I can't do that without wins and big wins like this in major championships. All of those little hiccups along the way you would say with major championships just falling short or not doing enough or all of those things are just setting me up, hopefully later on down the road it becomes a lot easier for me to finish it off the way I need to. This was a good indication of where my game is at with regard to that. I feel like I've put myself in contention over the last two weeks. I fell short a little bit last week, but I knew my game was ready and I was focused on playing this week, playing good this week. To be able to do that on the 72nd hole was tremendous. I mean, I just want to be the best I can be while I'm on this Earth and while I have the opportunity to play golf. I want to show the people that I'm not going to quit and I'm not going to stop fighting until it's over, and that's probably the way I'm going to play the rest of my life. That's kind of the way I was raised. My dad used to say never say die all the time, and that's what I remember every time I play golf is I'm going to keep fighting. Even though I may be 72nd dead last coming up, I'm going to keep fighting because I know there is one bit of -- there is one little thing you can learn each and every day to try to get better at at your profession. Q. Spoke to Colin right after, and he said what he's most proud of this week with you, he says, was your will. I think you touched on it in the last 30 seconds or so. But coming off the Monday finish you told us on Wednesday was tough. But he said that you just refused to do anything. You wouldn't mail it in. He said he was going to go right down to the end. I'm assuming that's how you felt too? JASON DAY: Yeah. This is, if I could freeze this whole last two weeks, this is exactly what I need to do to play. This is what I need. This is the same -- the mental focus that I had this week and last week and the way I've prepared over the last two weeks, everything that I've done, is exactly the makeup that I need going into future tournaments. I wasn't going to stop. I wasn't going to quit. I knew that I had a good shot at winning today. I didn't know what the number was going to be, but it worked out to be the number at 17-under. We just -- no matter what, we just gave every bit of golf shot that we had out there. The golf shots we had out there gave it a hundred percent. This week we ended up being the winners, and it's just a good feeling that way. I know he works hard. He works very hard. Especially last week, he'd wake up at 7:00 o'clock and go walk the golf course before the British Open, before the guys or as the guys were playing. Even this week he'd be out earlier to the course, making sure that he knew where the pin locations were. Not obviously on the golf course, but getting the pins, writing them in the book, and knowing what we need to do to attack certain pins. Where we need to leave us. It helps a long way when you have a good caddie that cares a lot and that will do anything to win. Q. Jason, obviously a large portion of the gallery out here this week wanted to see David win. Wanted to see that Canadian history. But can you talk about the relationship you had with the gallery, beginning with that eagle that you sunk, I think it was on 10, early in the week and high-fiving the fans? JASON DAY: Yeah, it was special this week. I've never felt so much at home, and I'm not even from Canada. True golf fans, they understand what a good shot is and what a bad shot is. They know -- it was just amazing to play in front of the crowd that we had out there this week. Some of the nicest people you've ever met, and it goes to show the things that they say about Canadians. It's amazing. I'm looking forward to coming back and defending the title here next year because I know when I get here next year it's going to be the same. It's great to feel like a Canadian for a week. They did a good job out here, and I'm so glad to play in front of them. Q. Quickly, did you feel that roar on 18? JASON DAY: I was yelling. I felt like I nearly threw my throat out. I was yelling before it went in. Then I just can't even remember what I did. I don't know what I did. I was so pumped that it went in the hole, and I'm looking forward to watching the replay. Q. Speaking of coming back and defending next year, you spoke about how exhausting the last two weeks are. Have you considered at all or how intimidating is it that you'll be going British, Canadian, PGA, and then in all likelihood you'll fly to Rio for the Olympics the next week? JASON DAY: I understand that. I understand it's going to be a tough schedule for me next year, but it's just got to be done, and I'm going to do the best I can to make sure that I'm rested. I'm going to do the best job I can to make sure I give every tournament a hundred percent and give it a good shot at winning, and that goes from the British to the Canadian Open, to the PGA. It's kind of funky with how the Olympics has kind of messed around with the schedule, but first things first, I'm looking forward to celebrating and being able to hold the Canadian Open trophy is fantastic. I'm looking forward to coming back and defending here next year. Q. How aware were you when you were on 16, did you know your position in the tournament? JASON DAY: The only thing I thought was I need to birdie 16 and 18 to give myself a shot. Because 16 and 18 are very -- they're like four and a halves, really. You need to make sure you birdie those. If you don't birdie those two par-5s you're pretty much kind of behind the eight-ball and you're struggling to win the golf tournament. I didn't know where I was on 16. I didn't know where I was on 17, and I didn't know where I was on 18 until the third shot, after the third shot. So when I walked up there, I had, I think I had a one-shot lead at the time. I knew that when I hit my wedge in there, I knew, okay, I need to hole this. Because I looked back and saw Bubba's ball down there, and he's only got like a flick in there. I didn't know where David was. But regardless of that, he was going to give himself a good shot at making a birdie. I knew that I needed to hole that putt. It was crucial. Q. What did you have left on 17? JASON DAY: I had 69 yards. It was like 28 yards to the front. When I hit it, I did a great job, I said that's big. I hit a big one there. I was walking down, and I'm like, is it on the fairway, to Wayne, the CBS guy. He's like, oh, yeah. You're ten yards before the bunker. I've never hit a drive that long. I was timing my drives really well this week. I was hitting it very straight and very long. It was just for some reason it was just one of those freak kind of drives where it just popped off really nice. It was great to get it down there. I mean, it was a perfect angle as well, but it was a good drive. Q. You had a strong performance five years ago at Whistling Straits. Considering what you've done the last two weeks, what are your thoughts about going back there in the next couple weeks for the PGA? JASON DAY: Yeah, I'm looking forward to getting back there. I haven't -- I can remember the course. I know that I doubled nine to kind of put myself out of the championship. I was in contention on the last day, and I doubled nine, unfortunately. I played with Martin Kaymer the last day, so I understood what needed to happen to win that tournament. So a lot of those memories are coming back. I'm looking forward to getting back there and really trying to win my first major. It's been, like I said before, it's been close. Finishing fourth last week at the British, and T9 at the U.S. Open and having multiple second place finishes and being around there, it's very difficult. It's tough to win. It really is tough to win. Jordan, Tiger, Rory, they make it look easy, but it's not easy. It's just something where I'm going to head in with the same kind of preparation. It's going to be a little harder with the WGC Bridgestone first, but I'm going in and going to try to prepare the best I can and give it a hundred percent. Right now I'm not thinking too far ahead because I've just won this thing, and I'm looking forward to celebrating with the team and having a good time tonight. Q. Of course everyone knows golf is a game of highs and lows. There are a lot of young Canadians here this week trying to get to that next level similar to you. What would your advice be to some of those young Canadians trying to breakthrough to that next level? JASON DAY: Yeah, you said highs and lows. You want to try to keep it as neutral as possible. Even yesterday when I doubled 11, I didn't -- I mean, that's an easy way to kind of kick yourself out of the tournament, get frustrated, and start throwing clubs and all that stuff. I knew that it wasn't the time. It's never the time to do anything like that because you're never out of the fight. Make sure, if I was a kid and I was giving them advice, just never stop. Don't quit. Just never stop. Even though it can be tough at times, give it a hundred percent. At the end of the day, at the end of your career, you've come so far and learned so much. But never get frustrated with yourself. Always learn from the frustrations. Always learn from the downtimes. Enjoy the hard times and really learn the best you can from the hard times. Q. Jason, you came into this event as maybe the top draw along with the Canadians and Bubba. It's been six years since you were last in the Canadian Open, and in that time you've become one of the top players in the world. How satisfying is it to come to the tournament as the guy and leave as the winner? JASON DAY: Yeah, that's awesome to hear. I heard that I was the favorite to win or one of the favorites. In the past it's been kind of nerve-racking for me to be one of the favorites because you have so much expectation on your shoulders to perform. And it shouldn't be like that. The media holds that on you and the fans hold that on you, and it's just yourself playing these games. Luckily for me this week I didn't look at anything. I didn't hear about anything. It was a quick week for me because we finished Monday and got here, and I didn't see anyone until Wednesday when I played the Pro-Am and then I spoke to you guys Wednesday. But, I mean, this must feel like what Tiger did for so many times, and it feels good. I'm going to try to do as much as I can and keep it the same and try to win -- I'm not going to win as many as him, but I'd like to. But it just feels so good, so rewarding when you put in the work and you play golf the way you did and perform the way you did. It feels good. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|