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THE BARCLAYS

August 30, 2015

Jason Day

Edison, New Jersey

ALEX URBAN: We'd like to welcome the 2015 champion of The Barclays, Jason Day. Jason, you finished at 19-under par and have won three of your last four tournaments. The win puts you at No. 1 in the FedExCup standings.

Talk about your week and your hot streak.

JASON DAY: Yeah, I mean, it's tough because coming into this year I never thought I'd have a four-season win up until this point. The way I've played over the summer, something really clicked for me at The Open Championship. From there it's not easy. I'm still grinding it out and trying to do the best job I possibly can.

But the control I have with my golf ball, the putts that I've been making, I've been working very, very hard on my whole game, just recently more so with putting. It's paying off with those long putts that I holed on the backside today.

ALEX URBAN: We'll open it up for questions.

Q. Jason, what clicked at The Open? (Indiscernible).
JASON DAY: It wasn't so much the frustration that I left that putt short, it was just the way that I felt calm, that no matter what happened, everything was going to be okay and you were just going to keep fighting and not give up, you were going to keep pushing.

Then, I don't know, ever since then I just felt a lot more calm on the golf course. I felt like it was my time. Like mentally I felt like, You paid your dues, now it's time to go out and win tournaments. That's kind of the way it felt for me, especially coming out in final rounds.

I'm not going to say in the future it's going to be like this all the time, because it's very difficult to win. I think the mentality of not being satisfied with a number, not being satisfied with the number that I was at there, just keep pushing forward, not being okay with okay. To be able to really get to a certain number, then go, Okay, I need to get one more. When you get to that number, just keep pushing and pushing and pushing.

Played very difficult over the first three days here. The last two days, you know, I hit a lot of greens, gave myself a lot of opportunities. On top of it I holed a lot of long putts. I don't know what the footage was on what I holed today.

Q. 6,000.
JASON DAY: It felt like it (smiling).

The back nine, those putts you're not expecting to hole. You're expecting to get it somewhere there. My mentality going into those putts is, You're going to make this. I kept telling myself, You're going to make this. When you're shooting to make it, you seem to hit a better putt.

Those three big ones that I holed on the backside definitely helped the score. Once I saw Henrik, I think it was a bogey on 16, that definitely eased off a lot of the pressure because going back two holes before 15, I had a 6-footer maybe for par, and he was only two shots back. At that time if I bogeyed, he would have been only one shot back going into a par 5, and that may have changed the game for me. That was a very crucial putt for me to hole.

Q. I know the final margin was six. You're in the trees on 13. He's two back. What are you thinking there? Talk about the shot at 13.
JASON DAY: Yeah, I'm sitting there going, Why is this going right? My drives, honestly, the whole week I never had it going right at all. It was always drawing with my drives. That kind of threw me off. Yesterday actually, the nerves about it, because you're so used to seeing one shot, one shot shake, then it starts going the other way. It keeps going the other way even though you're trying to trust the swing.

That's what gets you nervous. I got a little nervous during the middle to late part of my round. I didn't really have the control over the drives. Coming into that hole, I hit one right. Even though that fairway looks a mile wide, I hit it right in the trees. I got lucky that it finished where it finished. Obviously you need some luck when you're winning a golf tournament.

I think it was 153 yards to the hole. I knew that I could get 52 over the tree, it was a matter of getting the right angle of attack to get the flyer over the tree. Once I hit it up, I knew it was going to be over. It was a pretty good carry for a 52-degree wedge to get over that bunker. It ended up working all out. I made it a little hard on myself for the first putt. It was good to get that putt on 13.

Q. You mentioned feeling like it was your time to win after The Open. Were you aware of having a reputation coming into this year as a guy who would play really well, was talented, but wouldn't win? How does it feel to destroy that reputation and starred building a new one?
JASON DAY: It's just something that you have to fail. You fail and you learn. The moment that you start thinking about, I can't close, I can't close, that's when you start not believing in yourself. That's the worst thing you can possibly do.

My main thing is to try to stay as positive as I can on the weekends. Stay positive, keep moving forward regardless of what happens, and keep pushing. The way that I finished at the PGA Championship, obviously Canada Open, the PGA Championship, then this tournament here, The Barclays, it's an amazing feeling to finish that way.

We only dream of finishing golf tournaments that way. I had the opportunity to finish it that way three times this year. I mean, it feels good. The work is paying off. Obviously, no one likes to get dubbed that name where you can't close, you can't finish. But the hard work that I've put in, mix that with the mentality that I've kind of changed mentally with how I look at things, I think is helping, helping a lot.

Q. You were one of the more popular players long before you became one of the best players. Did you ever feel like in some warped way being nice was a competitive defect? Was that part of the mental maturation that you're talking about?
JASON DAY: You know, I guess it's just in my nature. I try and be as nice as I can. Don't worry, I've pissed off plenty of people. I'm going to publicly apologize to everyone that I've pissed off over the years (laughter).

But, you know, my dad said a phrase to me when I was a kid: Treat everyone the way you want to be treated. I just try and do that, regardless of who it is.

On top of it, just don't take yourself too serious. Don't take it too serious. People kind of take things a little bit too serious, sometimes even take themselves a little too serious. Sometimes even I do it.

But just being nice. Understanding that when people win, they do a good job. Like last week, you know, when people finish and win tournaments like that, it's hard. I know exactly how hard it is. So to be able to go up to people and congratulate them, make a comment on their play, it does wonders for their confidence as well. It's just a nice thing to do. I think that's just in human nature to do that.

Q. Henrik after the round talked about you making it look easy. You were something like 58-under over your last four starts. How would you describe how you've played over the last six weeks or so?
JASON DAY: It's not easy, I can tell you that. Even though it may look easy, it's not easy. I'm still nervous. I still had thoughts on the front nine, Am I going to win it?

Things pop in. I'm a human, just like everyone else. Things pop into my head, especially the front side. Although it may have looked different, I didn't come out with the most confident feeling today, that I was going to win. I had the lead, but I just knew that I needed to get off to a good start, just play my way through these kind of nerves and feeling of getting in front of myself.

Really trying to manage that has been tough. But over the years it's starting to become a lot easier. The last six weeks, they've been crazy. U.S. Open, The Open Championship, you mix that in with three other wins. The good thing about it is it's not over. I have this great momentum going into next week to a course I absolutely love. It's only positive stuff moving forward from here.

Currently ranked No. 1 in the FedExCup, which is fantastic. I'm looking forward to playing at East Lake. There's three more tournaments I would love to win, and I'd love to win the FedExCup.

Q. You've kind of stirred up talk again about the race for No. 1 in the world, almost reopened discussion about Player of the Year, when it looked like Jordan had sewed it up. How anxious are you to go out there and mix it up with Jordan and Rory over the next several weeks?
JASON DAY: I'm just excited about the competition. I think it's going to be a lot of fun. I love being in contention. I love playing against guys that are on fire. I think you got to kind of live for those moments.

Jordan coming off a week where he didn't play that good - I played with him the first two rounds - you could tell. Visually you could see that he was tired. He was kind of, you know, had a tough run with all the commitments he's had off the golf course.

With Rory missing this week, who knows what happened to his ankle, or if it was something where he really needed to rest it. So those guys are going to come in fresh for next week. There's plenty of good golfers. Henrik played well today. He's won the FedExCup before. So he knows what the feeling is to win the Cup.

I think I have the opportunity to get to No. 1 if I play some good golf over the next three or four weeks. It's been a goal of mine. But it's going to be tough to catch.

Right now I'm trying to focus on getting some rest and going into next week, trying to play that golf course, which I absolutely love. All positive stuff.

Q. (No microphone.)
JASON DAY: That comes after winning all the stuff. I need to handle myself. If I can handle myself, then that $10 million will be a lot sweeter.

Q. With the three wins in four events, would you say you're playing the best golf of your life? You talked about the mental aspects of it. Over this last month or so what, if anything, is different mechanically?
JASON DAY: I'm definitely by far playing the best golf of my life. Just the synergy between my golf swing right now and what I've done with my body is working. I'm hitting it a long, long way. I feel like the accuracy has pulled in. I hit a lot of greens over this week, gave myself a lot of opportunities. On top of it, the work I've put in on the practice putting green in the off weeks is paying off with the long putts that are going in right now. Obviously I feel like Jordan Spieth with how I'm putting. It's a good feeling because, I mean, it's great to roll those long putts in and get the momentum rolling your way.

Mechanically nothing has changed. I've been working hard on my body. As I said before, the synergy between my body and my golf swing is matching perfectly. That's where I can just get up there and I can rip at it, get the ball down as far as I can. The short game has been great.

I've got to thank Dave Williams from TaylorMade. I've got to thank him, because I put a new wedge in this week. The short game stats weren't that fantastic this year. It was the wrong bounce that I had on the golf club. That really has crept into the technique part of my chipping in bunkers and rough play. You can see it a lot in my rough game.

So to be able to put a new wedge in this week and get the right feeling certainly saved a lot of shots out there.

Q. Aussie question, mate: Apparently the first Aussie to win four tournaments on the U.S. Tour in more than 40 years. Something even Greg Norman couldn't do. How proud are you about that?
JASON DAY: You guys come up with these stats. No, thinking about it, I mean, it's just fantastic. I mean, I've always wanted to be one of the best Australian golfers. I didn't know I had the opportunity to win major championships, like I have just recently.

But to be able to put my name in the likes of Adam Scott, Greg Norman, not there with Peter Thompson yet, but it's just an amazing feeling.

Like I said, a couple weeks back, we're a small nation, not many people. Big bloody island. It's amazing the amount of golfers that they bring out, just sportsmen, sportswomen. We're a great sporting nation. It's kind of fun to be able to go down as one of the best.

I'm not done yet, so hopefully I can be if not one of the best but the best that has come out of Australia.

Q. Who would get your Player of the Year vote as of right now? Can anything happen in the next three weeks that would change your opinion?
JASON DAY: Right now, Jordan Spieth gets my vote. Winning two major championships at such a young age is big. Winning four tournaments overall is great.

I think winning the FedExCup and maybe one or two more tournaments, that could put my name in the mix for Player of the Year. I'm not sure. I'm going to leave that to the peers, to the people. That will definitely throw my name in the mix.

Right now my vote is Jordan Spieth, even though I've played great and had a great summer.

Q. As much as you've talked about wanting to be No. 1, you can get there next week.
JASON DAY: Is that right?

Q. You have a mathematical chance to do it. Could you have imagined that leaving St. Andrews?
JASON DAY: No. I mean, I could. I said that back in 2007. Once again, we were talking about Tiger Woods back then. It was a no-no to say that (smiling).

Looking at it now, I never thought I'd have the opportunity, mathematically, to get to No. 1. It's been a goal of mine. Right now I just can't focus on that. The moment you focus on things you can't really control... The only way I can control it is through playing good golf. That's what I need to focus on, I need to keep focusing on playing good golf, let the rest take care of itself and not say anything like I did in 2007. Just being honest.

ALEX URBAN: We'd like to congratulate Jason on his victory at The Barclays. Good luck the rest of the Playoffs.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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