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U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 19, 2016

Jason Day

Oakmont, Pennsylvania

Q. So obviously, you finished out here. You had it going with five holes to go. How disappointing was it down the stretch?
JASON DAY: It wasn't too disappointing, really. Obviously, 14 -- I eagled 12, birdied 13. 14, I just kind of left it out there to the right, made a good two-putt. 15, if it went five more yards would have landed on the front and kicked up. That would have been maybe -- it would have given me a good shot at birdie. Same with 16, if it went five more yards, would have kind of caught the top and rolled towards the flag. I hit a great shot there.

17 is just, I mean, I'm standing -- I'm sitting there at 1 under. Dustin Johnson is 4 under. I know I've got to push. You've got a 3 wood and may have, if I hit a great one, it may have just kind of been a little short. But I had to hit a really good one to get, because, obviously, it's a long way up that hill to the front of the green.

I hit a great drive. I honestly did. We were aiming just left of the towers and hit it right on my target and kind of sort of kicked right and then down the bottom of the bunker, just a little bit on the down slope.

Though it looked flat, it was down sloped towards it and you've got to get underneath it with speed and to try and get it high and soft. Unfortunately, just hit it fat and obviously, the rest was history from there. Kind of took the wind out of my sails.

I had to push. You can't win tournaments just, you know, really laying up there. I mean, I had the opportunity to go out there and give myself the shot at winning the tournament. Tried to hit a good shot there. Hit a great drive. Unfortunately, didn't work out.

But, I mean, it is what it is. I've got to understand that these things happen for a reason. I just said earlier that I've just got to understand that and not be too disappointed, because where I was hitting after my first round, shooting 6 over par, to where I am now, trying to fight my way back in and giving myself an opportunity at winning, especially on a U.S. Open course, it takes a lot of grit and a lot of oomph to get there. Fortunately, but unfortunately, I didn't quite make it.

Q. Jason, did the rules official inform you what was going on with D.J.?
JASON DAY: Yeah.

Q. What was your reaction?
JASON DAY: Didn't care. They said there may be an infraction of him moving a ball or something. I really wasn't listening, because I honestly said to myself, well, let's just plan that he's not going to get a penalty. You've got to plan that, and he's in front and I've got to keep pushing.

So no, I understood that. They told me. But, you know, at that time, I was 1 under. I still had to keep pushing towards that score. That was my mindset going in.

Q. You're the player out there, having it hang over your head and not knowing, have you ever been in a situation like that?
JASON DAY: No. Well, if I was that, I would go, okay, I'm one shot more now, and that would try and get -- if I was in that situation, I would plan that I was going to get the penalty so that it kept on pushing me. And hopefully, that I had a two-shot lead instead of just a one-shot lead, and then they'd come back and would give me the penalty and you'd go play 18 holes the next day. That would suck.

But, you know, it is what it is.

Q. What do you think changed for you, Jason, these past couple days compared to where you were after the first couple rounds?
JASON DAY: Just mindset was a little bit different. I was a lot fresher. I was a lot sharp over the ball with regards to being more deliberate in what I had to do out there.

Yeah, I played some good golf out there the last three rounds, and very happy with how I played. Not so happy with the finish. Obviously, I'm here to win a tournament and, unfortunately, I didn't win.

But all good stuff to learn from and just try and get better for the next time.

I mean, I keep having a lot of top 10s in U.S. Opens. So one of these years -- I mean, I've had two second place finishes already. Now a fourth and a ninth and an eighth now. I've just got to keep doing what I'm doing because obviously I'm putting myself in contention to give myself a shot at winning.

So one of these years, it's going to fall my way. But, you know, until then I've got to keep working hard and keep being focused on the process and trying to get better each and every week.

Q. Is this the toughest one to win of the Majors?
JASON DAY: They're all hard. They're all hard, but yeah. I would say so, yeah, this one's hard. I mean, obviously, if you have good conditions, hot, dry conditions which U.S. Opens typically have. Well, that's what they want, fast, firm conditions, testing not only the physical aspect of your game, but also the mental aspect of the game as well.

It's very stressful, pretty much from Thursday on. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday is like a breeze. Thursday comes around and it's very stressful from there on.

But yeah, this one's probably the toughest.

Q. Mission accomplished here, right?
JASON DAY: Yeah.

Q. Hey, Jason, if you were in the situation where Dustin was, where a ball supposedly moved and they go to 12 and they come to you, would you rather know when you have six holes to go about the situation or would you rather wait until the end of the round?
JASON DAY: I'd probably rather know. I like to know where I'm at on the leaderboard. I like to know what's going on around me because if I was standing there on 17 or, you know, had an opportunity to be a little bit more aggressive on, like, another hole and I took a less aggressive line and ended up making par and I could have made birdie or something like that, that would be disappointing if I didn't know it.

So I'd much rather know than not know.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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