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WGC DELL MATCH PLAY

March 24, 2016

Jason Day

Austin, Texas

Q. Jason, you kind of ran through it there with everything you've been through in the last day or so. Was there any concern about hurting yourself further or putting yourself in jeopardy for the Masters?
JASON DAY: We were going back and forth of actually getting an MRI yesterday, just to see if there's anything worse in there. I didn't end up going. If I came out today, I'm like, if I don't play, I will go back to Columbus and get an MRI. Fortunately for me, like I said earlier, I was very disciplined with doing my protocols and making sure I'm trying to citrate the disk and relax the muscles around that disk so that it's not in spasm anymore.

For the most part, I slept pretty good. The recovery was great. I was actually quite surprised that I got to go to the golf course and hit the shots without really protecting it.

Q. When did you know you could play?
JASON DAY: When I hit the first tee shot on the green. That one was a good indication of how the back was going. Once again, these things can pop up out of the blue. For me it happened yesterday on the 15th tee. I was just happy that I could get through the round and play solid golf. I actually drove it and hit a lot of good iron shots and putted good.

Q. I guess what I mean, your 382 drive notwithstanding, on the range was there any concern when you went out there?
JASON DAY: There is obviously concern. If I didn't play today, I was going to pull out of the tournament totally. I wasn't going to come back on Friday. I may as well get the rest and recovery and try to get ready for Augusta.

I was playing against Thongchai. I felt like if I went there and played some golf, I could get him. Fortunately for me, I played some good golf. There wasn't one shot where I felt it today, which was good.

It seems like what me and Brian Smith are doing with therapy is working and Cornell, who is my trainer, is over in South Africa right now. He's kind of a little bit far away. For the most part, everyone is kind of communicating well and we're all on board.

Q. Jason, you said you responded well on rest. Have you played through it like this before?
JASON DAY: No, I never played through it. I usually -- had it at the BMW and had to pull out in Colorado. I kind of thinking of some other places. I can' really remember. Usually I've had to pull out.

I was so disappointed and so angry last night that I was injured because I have been doing the right things. I have been doing the right things with my body. These things just pop out of the blue and you can't do anything about it. It's so frustrating because I am playing really good golf right now. I know that if I can keep playing this way, I can win.

Once again, I'm just trying to stay focused on the positive side of things, that I have recovered pretty good from it. Try and stay on top of it and be disciplined with the protocols and go from there.

Q. Do you expect this to be a day-by-day thing?
JASON DAY: I think so. I'm going to go in and see Brian now and I'll spend an hour with him. Every hour I have got to do the same thing and make sure I stay on top of my -- the hydration and nutrition. That stuff becomes a part of your body recovering.

Waking up tomorrow, I've got a later tee time as well. It was great that I had a late tee time today because I could relax a little bit more. For the most part, I've got pretty much a late tee time where I can recover again and go from there.

Q. (Inaudible)?
JASON DAY: The biggest hurdle for me was to get through the warmup without going, should I push it or should I not. That was the biggest hurdle for me.

Once I got out on the golf course and was focusing on hitting the right shots then I forgot about it, which was good. For me, when I was warming up, you were there, at the start it was kind of ginger. As I went through, it kind of stayed the same and didn't do anything else. It didn't go down my legs, didn't hurt through impact. I just said, you know what, we're going to go out and play and it worked out great from there.

Q. What is the protocol?
JASON DAY: The protocol, obviously I have got a bulged disk and the bulged disk is poking through the ligaments and there's a tear in it. My protocol is a different exercises to try and citrate the disk, to try to slowly push that back in and take the pressure off that disk and then also try and relax the muscles as much as possible. Because once the muscles relax the facet joints don't lock up and I can move freely. Once those facet joints lock up and everything goes into spasm, you can't get up.

There's been a couple times where I've been just crawling around on the ground for two days. That's the only way I can get around the place.

For me I was fortunate enough to have Brian here and be able to stay disciplined with it.

Q. Any texts exchanges with Tiger over this?
JASON DAY: No. I'm 28. I don't know how long he's had back issues, but I've had back issues since I was 13. So I think I've got him there.

Q. There was no sign before 15?
JASON DAY: No.

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