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FARMERS INSURANCE OPENJanuary 27, 2016Jason DaySan Diego, California JASON DAY: I had a quick flight from Palm Springs. I'm here for this next week. Getting ready, gearing up for this coming week here at the Farmers Insurance Open, which is coming up in a couple weeks. But looking forward to getting back underway and trying to defend this tournament, which is very special to me. I came across from Australia when I was 16 and played the World Junior Championships here, so this place is very special to me. I won the championship that year and came back when I was 17 and ever since then as a professional, I've come back to play in San Diego at the Farmers Insurance Open. So, to be able to finish second in 2014 and then win it last year in the way that I did in the playoff against J.B. Holmes and the two other gentlemen that we were with, it was amazing. It was a very special moment. And that kind of catapulted my year to turning the way it did. Knowing that I won here and it kind of settled things for me. It took awhile, but the second half of the season kind of went nuts and ended up winning my first major championship at the PGA. And then going on to winning the BMW Championship, which catapulted me also to get to No. 1 in the world and it was kind of a dream run for me. I'm definitely looking forward to coming back here and defending. And I'm hoping that everyone is looking forward to coming back and watching the golf and enjoying a good week of good weather and a lot of people who are enjoying it as well. So I'm happy to be here at the media day and I'm pumped to defend and be a champion. THE MODERATOR: Questions, please? Q. Could you describe your relationship with both Jordan and Rory and whether you consider it a rivalry and how that works with the three of you trading No. 1 so often last year. JASON DAY: I think we're all good friends. Jordan is so far mature beyond his years with regards to his golf game. I won the Byron Nelson back in 2010 and he was playing that year as an Amateur. And he had an opportunity to win that week and it was just amazing to see, I think he was 16 at the time, it was amazing to see how mature he was at that age, with regards to how he conducted himself on and off the golf course and how he played the game. It's not surprising to me to see him follow through and go on as a professional and be the player that he is today. It's kind of scary how I never thought there would be another player that you could compare to Tiger Woods. Everyone's starting to slowly compare Jordan Spieth to Tiger Woods. I think it's good for the game. I think that the youth that we have in the game now is going to be here for the next 10 to 15, 20 years, because there's a lot of -- not only myself, Jordan and Rory, there are a lot of young players behind us or playing working towards the level that we're at now that are going to be world beaters. And they're great players. But getting back to the question. I've known Rory -- I played in a practice round with Rory at the Australian Masters way back when, when I was 15 or 16. Seeing him at that age and seeing him now, the amount of talent that Rory had was unbelievable. I mean, I was playing with him, Paul Casey and Ollie Fisher, who back then was going to be the next Nick Faldo. And I remember coming out of it and saying, to my coach, who is my caddie now, saying that you got to watch out for Rory, he's going to be better. I think five, six, seven years fast forward, he turned out to be a dominating No. 1 player in the world. Spent 95 weeks at No. 1. So trading back and forth, it's neat to see this rivalry, because there was -- in the era where there was a Tiger and Phil rivalry. Now there's three of us that are trading back and forth between No. 1. Jordan's kind of separated himself a little bit now with that win at Hyundai, but my season is just getting started, so I'm looking forward to getting things underway for myself. And also Rory's just getting started in Abu Dhabi as well. So, Rory and Jordan are playing this week in Abu Dhabi. That's going to be interesting to see how they play. It's a lot of fun to see where the game is and how much youth there is. Q. Have you been able to make any -- or is there a possibility to make any medical changes to deal with the vertigo. Change your training. Doctors talked to you about doing different things? JASON DAY: Not really. I'm on medication for another year, until the end of this coming year. It's just a virus that I've got in my ear that just for some reason is attacking one of the nerves. So, I'm on some antiviral medication which suppresses the virus from growing and getting larger. And I think the big thing for me is to really try and focus on what I put in my body and how I train. Also preparing for a tournament, not getting too run down before the event. Because things that trigger vertigo for me is having too much stress, which unfortunately I'm going to get regardless. And then obviously, being too run down, not having enough energy going through the week. So they are the two kind of main reasons of what triggers these spells that I have that is very difficult for me to play golf. But for now, I'm on the medication for another year and then after that I'm off. Q. Have you had another attack since the U.S. Open? JASON DAY: The British Open. I talked to you at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. I didn't say anything because I know -- it happened the third round at the British Open. And I didn't say anything because I knew that there was just going to be a lot of questions after the round, because I think I played well that day. It is just something I just didn't want to talk about and deal with, because it's just a distraction. So I just kind of kept my mouth shut. I was on cortisone, oral cortisone, that week, so that definitely helped going into Sunday's round. But, yeah, that was the last time it happened. So fingers crossed it doesn't happen in the next year. Q. You're in the desert working on things, what are you working on on getting ready for the season and are there any changes in your golf bag? JASON DAY: No changes as of yet. It's a rumor that TaylorMade is presenting this putter tomorrow, so I'll let you know if that happens. (Laughter.) But I played Hyundai and it was three months. So the last three months, after the Presidents Cup I took two and a half, three months off. We had a second child, Lucy, who is very healthy. Hates it when I hold her for some reason. I don't know why. (Laughter.) Which is kind of, I guess it's a nice thing for me, because I don't really have to look after her too much. But right now I went out to Hyundai and after having a few months off it was surprising to me how the game is still there, I wasn't as sharp as I would like to be, but it took me awhile. The wedges were the toughest, just like little shots, little half shots that when you're mid season form you got the touch, you got the speed in the swing, you've got the touch around the greens, kind of stuff like that. So I was missing greens from 70 yards out. I mean it was just pretty bad stuff there. You just don't make those. Soft bogeys, 3-putt you should never 3-putt, and that. And just missing greens with wedges is one thing that you shouldn't do. That's something that I've been trying to work on very hard over the last, you know, this past week and I'm going to be working on it very hard coming into this week as well is knowing I've got to kind of sharpen that game up, that part of my game up, make sure that I don't make silly errors and try and go from there. And then coming into this week I'm also trying to, my coaches sent me the stats on what holes I need to play good on, what holes I play bad on. How to make a plan of attack to really try and get better at those holes that I've struggled with. And from there I can make a game plan, what clubs I need to hit in. So when you start, it's when you're prepping for a tournament it's not just like I'm going out to the golf course and playing golf before the event. Or I'm just going to go hit balls on the range. You got to really kind of practice the specific shots you're going to try and hit for that golf course. It's a little harder here because we have a South and a North Course so we're playing two courses. But fortunately we only get to play the North Course once and the rest we're on the South Course. So with that said, this is a very demanding golf course, especially the South Course. There's a lot of -- you need to drive the ball well here, you need to have a lot of your mid to shorter irons on point. From there, you got to have a good short game. But usually the winning score is around 9-under or 10-under here. So it's not very low. But from there, that's what I'm trying to prep for. There's a lot of numbers that go into to preparing for a tournament, but I'm not trying to read too much into it, I'm not trying to give too much away, because I don't want any other players to know about it, but, yeah, it's just amazing to me that, as starting as a professional knowing what I need to do now to prepare for a tournament and what I do to prep for a tournament is I think by far beyond what I used to do. Q. Are you and LeBron James Facebook friends now? JASON DAY: No, no. You know what, I knew that was going to come up. (Laughter.) Does anyone think they could have stopped LeBron? (Laughter.) To be honest, like I didn't expect LeBron to come flying into the crowd. Everyone's expecting, like I said, everyone's expecting thinks to happen because it has happened before sitting court side. We weren't really paying attention, I was kind of sitting there talking to my buddy and Ellie and his wife, they were talking pretty much the whole time. And then you see a ball coming bouncing across the out of bounds and you're thinking, okay, I'm going to put my hand out to stop it. And then I put my hand out, because I thought it was going to go out of bounds. And then here comes a six foot, eight, 260 pound behemoth of a guy running in from the side. No one knew what to do so we just all froze. Because you're not really expecting it. And I'm just like this (Indicating) no idea. Then he kind of bowled over Ellie and I think that the biggest thing was is that, once I saw her shoes on the ground, she was freaking out. She's like, "my neck's hurt, my neck's hurt." And there was like three doctors immediately straight on her. When she started moving her arms, moving her hands, moving her legs then I'm like, okay, everything's okay. We just got to make sure we get to a hospital and get the scans done. And she ended up having a concussion and she had post-concussion symptoms. But he reached out to Ellie and texted her and he wanted to give us stuff, but we don't want anything. Some people expected us to get some stuff, but we didn't. We didn't need anything. We didn't want anything. He's doing his job. I mean, people take the same risk when they come out and unfortunately I've hit a lot of people. (Laughter.) They take it the same. When they walk through those gates coming in here, it's the same. I think I hit a 10 year old boy last year in the third round. And I was so freaked out because it was, it happened on 15. And I hit the drive and I crushed this drive, it was 300 yards, but it was going left, but it was 300 yards in the air and it was a bunch of people like this standing in a, standing right where the hitting area is. And it went through all the adults and hit this 10 year old kid, this tall, right on top of the head. He was bleeding, he was crying. I felt so bad, I was kind of shaking a little bit from it and we ended up getting him some stuff, because I think he deserved it. But, yeah, it's just amazing the risk -- there's some sort of risk that happens and sitting court side at a NBA game you take the risk getting run over by a six foot, eight, 260 pound guy. Q. This is the farewell tour of the current North Course this year. What's been your perspective on the North Course, do you feel like when you walked around there that you saw changes that needed to be made or and how much are you going to miss the old course? JASON DAY: Yeah I was just talking a little bit before, the North Course is where you makeup what you lose on the South Course. Usually that's kind of what you're trying to plan out. You're trying to go out and shoot 6-under, 7-under on the North Course and just kind of survive on the South Course. It's going to be a little sad to see the changes, but then on top of it, I think if we're going to keep utilizing the North Course as the tournament course, I think it needs some changes to it. There's some holes out there that can definitely use some change. But to be honest, I liked it. I didn't have any problem with it at all. I think it was fine. And most of the time everyone's kind of focused on this side anyway, but I think for the future tournament golf course it needs to have some change. Q. Did 6 always scare you a little bit, the slope of that green, the par-3? The downhill par-3? JASON DAY: Oh, it was fine. Usually that pin position's kind of at the front. It did, that did kind of scare you a little bit, but I think they can do some rerouting of that hole and make it a lot better. But that on the hole previous, usually they stick that pin way back on that par 4 and you're coming in there with, from 120 yards or so, if you get it down there, a hundred yards, you're coming in with pitching wedge or 9-iron so you don't spin too much. So there's a few things that definitely need change, but I think for the overall layout of the golf course, I think that it's pretty good. Q. My recollection of that game was that all the players came over to meet you. JASON DAY: No, like everyone's complaining that I was sitting there talking to a bunch of Cavs players, J.R. Smith is a buddy of mine. So he was behind me talking. And I was just talking to him. So, anyway. Q. What does it mean to have golf back in the Olympics again and what's it going to mean to the country that wins a gold medal first time in so many years? JASON DAY: Yeah, the only thing that I have a problem with is that it should be a team event. That's the only thing. If we're going to have players with maybe two or maybe more than two players, especially if you're inside the top 15, which there are a lot of Americans inside the top 15, can you go down and play in the Olympics. It's more of a, just kind of go there and first second, third, get a medal. I think it's obviously special, we need it in the Olympics, I'm looking forward to going down there, but if there was one thing that I would like to do, it's change it to a team format. I think that would be really special to do that. It's a lot -- it makes it hard for our schedule, but I'm willing to make that sacrifice and go down there with all the other players that are excited about it. I know Jordan's excited about it and I'm sure Rory is going to play there, too. So it's going to be a pretty big deal, the best players in the world trying to compete and play for a gold medal because I never -- I never even -- not in my wildest dreams did I ever think that I would have the chance of becoming an Olympian athlete and I'm not really an athlete, but. (Laughter.) And going down there and competing and playing to try and win a gold medal because at the end of your career it would be neat to look back and go, I played and won a medal at the Olympics when golf was kind of coming back. Q. Are you playing in the desert simply because of Torrey's this week or do you not mind desert golf. A lot of people skip it? JASON DAY: Yeah, I'm not playing the CareerBuilder. I'm not going to play this week. I'm just strictly there because it's perfect practice weather. You go to Palm Springs and it's usually 75 degrees and there's not a breath of wind. And I'm very picky about practicing in wind and when it comes to that we talked about a little earlier with trying to get speeds of swings down, the half shots down, wedges and mid shot, that's kind of the place that you need to be. I'm at the Vintage Club, which is a nice club, and their facility there is fantastic. So that's kind of where I'm there practicing. It's kind of where I base myself during the West Coast Swing and I kind of go back and forth between there before each and every tournament. Q. In your mind, what kind of clicked into gear for you last year to get all those victories and just on your hot streak and then how do you continue that into this year? JASON DAY: That's a very good question. The second part I'm not too sure, I just got to keep going. But I played the British Open, all week I felt pretty calm for some reason. I don't know how to explain it. It's a really weird how everything kind of happened for me. It's just, I made three bogeys that week and it was all in the second round at the Open Championship. I know it's a very difficult golf course with that wind, and even though I left that putt short on the last hole, I was disappointed and I was frustrated because I didn't get it done. I honestly thought that my first Major Championship was going to be at St. Andrews, winning the Claret Jug. But then we're flying back from there on a charter jet, going to Canada. We're flying to Canada and we're in a limo going back to the house we're staying at for the RBC and I talked, I turned to Bud and I said, who is my agent, I said, "I'm going to win this week." I just knew it. And for some reason that second half, as soon as the British Open finished, that second half of my season, I just knew that I was ready. I knew that all that hard work that I put into it, I was ready to go out and win for some reason. And it just happened. Everything clicked. I was driving the ball well, I was hitting my irons, hitting a lot of greens and I was putting great. To answer the second question, I kind of need to do that. I would love to say it's -- it's hard to win. It's he very hard to win. Jordan and Rory make it look very easy, I made it look very easy at the end of last year, but it's very, very difficult to win, to have everything clicking at the same time. So, it's a matter of working hard, the discipline, that dedication that I put into not only myself but also my game, and then the biggest part of winning is wanting it more than anyone else in that field. No matter how much hard work you put into the game, if you don't want it as much as, more than the other players, you won't win. So, that's a big thing for me is I got to want it more than anyone else. And I'm very motivated this year to get back to No. 1 and try and win as many as I can this year. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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