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WGC DELL MATCH PLAYMarch 22, 2016Jason DayAustin, Texas MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome Jason Day to the media room. Jason, this is your sixth time playing match play. You've obviously done well here in the past, having been a past champion in 2014. You're coming off of a fresh win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week. Tell us your thoughts heading into this week, and especially with this being a new course. JASON DAY: Yeah, it was great to get the win last week. And then coming into this week, it can be a bit of a hit and miss kind of a week, especially with performance, just strictly because you could be going home after three days. You could play great for the three days and still go home, which is, you know, that's just match play. And that's how it is. But first time here in Austin, Texas. Even though I did live in Fort Worth, Texas a while, I never had an opportunity to come down to Austin and actually see the place. Got in late last night, so I haven't actually had the opportunity to go down and see the restaurants and meet all the people, but I'm sure I'll be able to do that later on in week. I haven't seen the golf course yet. I'll probably go and walk it this afternoon. It is quite breezy out there, so I don't want to create any bad habits with my swing. I'm going to go out and probably walk around and try to conserve as much energy as I can, because this week is a very long week and it can be very taxing, not only physically, but mentally, as well, on the body. I feel like I've got a pretty tough group with Paul Casey, Graeme McDowell and Thongchai Jaidee. You can't underestimate any playing in the field here. But Paul's got an outstanding match play record. Graeme, who is a Ryder Cup player, and has won I think the Volvo Match Play over in Europe. And then Thongchai, like I said, you can't underestimate guys like that, because they're here for a reason, they're playing good golf. Again, I'm excited to be here in Austin, Texas, and obviously excited to play the Country Club and play in front of the crowds here. Q. Have you ever played a professional golf tournament without ever having any kind of practice round at all? JASON DAY: Yeah, at Pebble Beach. My first year I finished 6th. It's one of those courses where it's just really difficult because you have to get to know all three courses. If I play Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, then you're playing seven straight days. So same thing here, I had to do a sponsor outing for RBC yesterday in Houston. So once I committed to that, I had to go to that and I played at the National Golf Club of Houston, and I was down there playing with the guys down there. But I got in late last night. Yeah, so I'm going to go out today and have a look. I heard the green complexes are very difficult, so I've got to get on the greens and make sure that obviously where the places are to miss and to where to hit. But I think the biggest thing is it's going to be very difficult conditions over the next couple of days, even throughout the week, I guess, with the wind. It obviously plays a big factor in what you're trying to accomplish with regards to a game plan and obviously how your opponent is playing that day, as well. Q. With the Masters only two weeks away, how much stock do you put into your performance this week? JASON DAY: I just kind of I guess alluded to it a bit earlier. It's hard because, once again, you could come and play fantastic golf for three straight days and the guys that you're playing may play a little bit better you and you're going home Friday night. So it can't hurt your confidence coming here, but it can definitely give you confidence the longer you stay around this week. Obviously everyone is here to win the golf tournament, and it's probably -- I shouldn't say it's the easiest one to win, but it's easier because you're only playing, what, six opponents or five opponents, whatever it is, you could play six rounds. It's not like you're playing the whole field at a normal TOUR event. So you've just got to get through those. They are stressful and taxing, but you've just got to suck it up and get through those rounds. Q. I'm not suggesting that you were complacent last year against Charley, but is it better for you that your first opponent is G-Mac, and it might energize you coming into that? JASON DAY: I think it's good that I have really tough opponents. I'm not saying that anyone else is good or bad in this field, because everyone is good and they deserve to be here. And anyone can play well on any given day. But knowing they have a record, especially with Paul and Graeme, I'm not too sure what Thongchai's record is, but once again you can't underestimate anyone. I know that I have to be on. And I know that I have to be on with my game as well starting to tomorrow, because the conditions are going to be tough, the weather, the wind is going to be up. And it's something where you've got -- I always talk about being patient, it's kind of different story this week, you can't really be as patient. You've got 18 holes, you've got to go out there and beat them. You're playing the guy across the tee from you, and you have to go out and be aggressive and try to beat them. Obviously, it depends on how their playing, as well. If they're hitting it in the trees or having a bad hole, then you play smart. But for the most part, you're playing that opponent and you've got to feed off what he's doing. Q. Are you looking forward specifically to the Casey rematch. Obviously your first match play in 2011. That was the story for you out of it, you beat him and he was a little bit upset with you. JASON DAY: I feel like everyone gets upset at me when they play match play against me. I don't give away too many putts. I think over time I've become a lot softer, a lot softer in my match play. So, yeah, last time I didn't give Casey a one-foot putt and he got angry at me. Well, I could tell that he was angry because he gave me a death stare from across the putting green. What that ended up doing, I think I won the next couple of holes and closed him out, which was great. Obviously people talk about certain tricks here and there. I just assume that I'm going out and holing every single putt and putting in every single putt. Not that people are going to give you a foot putt. If it's in the rules where you don't have to give them a putt, then you don't have to. So I'm assuming that I'm going to go out there and hole every single putt. And I'm not going to be surprised by someone going, okay, you have to putt that, you know that I mean? It's going to be fun playing against Paul because, once again, I think he's had four top 5 finishes in match play. This format brings the best out in him and he's going to be a very tough opponent. So nothing like competing against good players in tough formats. Q. The things that your mom had to sacrifice to help you succeed, do you look at them differently now that you're a parent? JASON DAY: Yes. Dash and Lucy have all the opportunity in the world to go wherever they want to. My mom, obviously, when we were growing up, we didn't have the opportunities, but we had that one little opportunity that my mom took and that was sending me to a golf academy, which changed my life forever. And now I'm sitting here in front of everyone. With Dash and Lucy, they have all the opportunities they need. They're going to be able to go to college. And they're going to be able to do fun things. And they're going to be able to see places and do stuff. So I think the biggest challenge for me is to really try and be a good parent and let them know that they have to be -- they have to be thankful for what they have in their life. Because when I was growing up, I never had any of this stuff and wasn't surrounded by it, so I didn't know any better. But they're surrounded by all this stuff and it's very easy to feel like they're entitled to it. They have to be thankful for being in a position, and once again I'm thankful to be in this position to be able to give that to them. So me as a parent and Ellie as a mom, we have to sit down and know that giving time back to people is the way to counteract entitlement. It's the lessons that I've learned over my life, even from my mom and from Cole that have given me certain things that I need to teach Dash and Lucy as they grow up. Q. Your mother sends you out into the world and you've been so successful. She feels in some way she's lost you, she's set you free. And what has that process been like for you and for her, just the physical separation and distance that your success has brought? JASON DAY: It's tough. Obviously it's difficult because my mom is back home in Australia, and we don't get to see them as much. Either I go there for once a year -- I haven't been back home to Australia for two years. I'm going to go back home at the end of this year. They come over at least once a year if I'm not back there. It can be difficult. But technology has helped that with FaceTime and Skype. You can be a lot closer to your parents in these days than you could back when I was growing up. I can remember when I was at boarding school, we had prepaid bloody telephone on the side of the wall and everyone lined in. It was like jail. Everyone kind of lined up. And then we was waiting to call our loved ones. Q. And no private conversations? JASON DAY: No private conversations. Everyone sitting around, like waiting. So you couldn't say I love you, because obviously you'd sound like a girl (laughter). She's busy now, because my sister had another son. She's busy with that. As you know, she's a workaholic. And a lot of her work ethic has kind of run into me. I do miss my mom a lot. But there has been a bit of a separation between us -- us as a family, me, Dash, Lucy and Ellie and my family back home, because of the distance. And then on top of it what I have to do each week and play tournaments. Once again, it's trying to find that balance to be able to call them. My sister called me twice yesterday and I couldn't pick it up because I was busy. We're a lot closer now than we were when my dad passed away, I can tell you that. Q. Just going back to the Casey thing, did that leave a lingering aftertaste between the two of you? JASON DAY: No. Everyone knows that when you're out there -- when you're out there, you're fighting and you're trying to compete against each other. As long as you both know that you're there to compete, then after the tournament is done -- even if they beat me, I'm not happy but I'm fine with it. Because if someone goes out and plays better than you or vice versa, whatever it is, you've got to know that they're probably just better than you that day. There was never anything like that between me and Paul. Maybe a little bit with Russell Henley. I kind of peeved him off and he was the wrong person to peeve off, because he actually came back and nearly beat me in one of the matches. So once again, you've just got to kind of watch, because some guys play better when they're angry. They start to focus a lot better and you've got to watch their personality, their character and how they play. Q. You mentioned you're a bit softer on the putts these days. If there's a 12-inch putt -- JASON DAY: 12 inches is stretching it (laughter). Q. When you have a shot like the bunker shot on 18 on Sunday, what is your process for handling that shot with the ramifications of it, the pressure, what's coming with it? It's a difficult shot, how do you make it kind of normal? JASON DAY: I'm either going to get up and down or I'm not, and that's two ways you've got to look at it. But you have to -- for me to be able to stay out there and hit the shot, you have to be involved into it. So you gather all the information. It's like my second shot. I knew that I wasn't going to hit the green. It was probably going to be a flier. And we said back bunker is where we need to be, because the mistake -- mistake short was going to take me out of the golf tournament. So the first step was to get there. And that was the part of the plan. Standing over that bunker shot, I feel like I'm a pretty good bunker player. It was a little bit on the downslope, so usually you're going to catch them pretty clean. Through my practice and the amount of hours, amount of shots I've hit out of bunkers, you just know what the lie is going to do, how much sand, when you dig your feet in how much sand there is, if it's fluffy or if it's not. It wasn't really fluffy, and it was kind of -- there wasn't anyone -- I didn't see any other rake marks in that bunker, so I felt like I was the only guy in there. It was kind of wet a little bit to the point where I could just get this nice little thump sound out. But just involving myself into the shot and really going this is where I need to land it, and go through the process of what I usually do on any other golf shot and not change it regardless. That it is a very important shot, but the bunker shot that I had on the 6th hole or whatever it was in the first round is just as important as the shot that I had there. When I hit it, it came out perfect and it made me look like a genius. But it was really no different to any other golf shot -- bunker shot that I hit that week. It was perfect timing at the right time. I think it's through the experience that I've had over the last couple of years being in those pressure situations where you know that you can pull shots off like that. And I've always enjoyed that, ever since I was a junior, amateur and a professional, enjoyed being in those times, being in those moments where there's high strung pressure, very stressful, where you have to get up and hit the clutch shot. I enjoy that moment. And some guys don't enjoy it, but you've got to embrace those moments and know that once you get the position like that where it is uncomfortable, you embrace it. If it doesn't come off then you learn from it and get better, which I have in the past, where I've hit certain shots in a golf tournament and they haven't turned out, and I lost a golf tournament. One was Augusta in 2013, when I had a lead, when Adam won. I had the lead on 16. I messed the last two, 16 and 17, up. But that's when you learn the most, get better and you're in a position to do great things and try to execute the best you can. Q. Austin fans appreciate great golf, but there's no secret one guy is going to get a roar like anyone else, Jordan. Is it fun to come into this environment, like his opponent is going to feel like the opposite country in a Ryder Cup match? JASON DAY: Yeah, I haven't -- if we all get through, I would love that. I think it would be great. We were both very competitive. And when we get in -- we were just talking about it. When two competitors are just fighting at it so much during a round, that's what we enjoy the most. Winning is great and we both love winning, but to be able to go one-on-one against each other in a format like this would be really special, especially since he went to UT and he's pretty big down here and everyone loves him here. It would be good to have those odds stacked against me to see how I could come out. Q. When you first heard that the tournament was moving to this state, what was your reaction? And now that it's here, two weeks before the Masters, how do you feel about it, how does it set up for you? JASON DAY: To be honest, I like where it was before, not TPC Harding Park, but Dove Mountain, that was a great course for me. It is what it is. It's in the schedule. I played the format last year at TPC Harding Park, didn't quite have my head into it as much. I think I'm a little bit of a different player this year coming into this event because of last week and how motivated I am to keep playing well. But the schedule change, it is what it is. Guys are going to come and play. Some guys are going to miss. Henrik is on vacation right now, and I'm sure he planned that far out in advance. But I don't think I was going to miss it, I was always going to play it. That's why you've got to try to plan your schedule accordingly. I usually play 20 events, and I look at what events I wanted to play and this one was on it. So there was no change of plan for coming here. Q. No. 1 is right there again, obviously another motivating factor this week. You could be No. 1 heading to the The Masters? JASON DAY: What do I need to do? Q. Beat Spieth, basically. JASON DAY: All right. That's fair enough. At the end of the day, if you've got to win, you've got to win. And if he's playing well, which he probably moist likely will, and I'm sure he played here before, especially in college and knowing this place, he's got obviously a better advantage over me. But the good thing about it is that I'm not playing against him until the last match if I get through all my matches. He's still got a lot of tough opponents coming up, like we all do. That would be great to be able to go to Augusta with that No. 1 tag, and it would be great to get through this week and win it and really go into Augusta with a lot of confidence knowing that my game is in the right shape and trending towards hopefully putting on that green jacket. Q. You talked about expectations a little bit. Did yours change after winning a major last year? And as far as Jordan goes, the year he had, I wonder if maybe he might be pressing a little bit to live up to last year? JASON DAY: We both had kind of a dream run. He had a really fantastic run through the first part of his season and capped it off with a nice win at Tour Championship and won the FedEx Cup. He not only won a lot of tournaments, he earned a lot of money last year. The biggest thing for us is not look back on what we did last year. It's great to look back on it and see what we've done and the success we've had, but now we've got to focus on what we're doing today. Everyone was asking, I said last week, I said pretty much last week, everyone is asking what was going on, why haven't you played as well as you need to be or are expecting to be. And it's just a process. It happens. For me, personally, I took three months off and that's usually a momentum killer with the second half of last year to this year. It happens. My expectation is, every week, as long as I give it 100 percent every day, then I can't think of anything else that I need to do. I'm going to try to do the best I can to win each and every week. But sometimes, especially at the start of the year, sometimes it's just hard. Your expectation level is so high and, with having three months off, it's tough to come out and win tournaments when you take that time off. But Jordan, in his case, he didn't take so much time off. I said it last week, you've just got to -- I said I was worried about him, and I really am. I just don't want him to be burned out, because he is so much a big part of the game. He's a young kid that is a dominant player in the game. He's important to golf. Him and Rory are kind of the face of our next generation, and we need players like that, especially to grow the game and especially for future generations. And sometimes if you've got too many obligations or you're playing too many things, you can kind of get burned out and really just need some time off. Who knows, he might like playing that much. I don't know, I haven't really talked to him about it. And if that's his schedule, that's his schedule and he's happy with it, that's fine. Ultimately he does what he needs to do to win golf tournaments. Right now I'm just trying to focus on what I need to do to try to win the next one. MODERATOR: Jason, thank you and best of luck this week. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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