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WGC BRIDGESTONE INVITATIONAL

June 30, 2016

Jason Day

Akron, Ohio

Q. You've played better to be in second position before.
JASON DAY: I can't really -- I'm just trying to think. I felt like I played okay. Obviously I played good to shoot 67. But the save on 9 was -- I probably shouldn't have saved par there. But the bunker shot on 9 was great, and then obviously the save on 16, the par-5, which has giving me fits the last few years, but the short game, like I said earlier, short game kind of overshadowed the great iron shots that I did hit out there and giving myself the opportunity to make birdie. Even though I only made four birdies, it was very difficult to try and make birdies out there today, especially with the conditions of the golf course. Obviously we don't have quite a lot of wind out there. The course is firming up, which is going to make it harder to hit fairways, and from there, it's going to be very difficult to hold the greens or get up around the greens because they're so small.

As the week goes on, it's going to gradually get faster if we have nice weather, and it should make it a little bit tougher, which I like.

Q. Is there any correlation to making your Olympic announcement and your decision earlier this week and then maybe freeing you up to play better golf?
JASON DAY: No, you know, obviously I still think about it, the decision, but that -- I think there's a lot of weight that came off my shoulders because I have been thinking about it for a long time.

I think I definitely made the correct decision, especially for me and my family. Obviously family is first for me, and it always has been. But to be honest, I really wanted to come into this week -- I felt mentally and physically prepared. I got in Sunday night. I've been practicing since last week, and I felt physically and mentally prepared for this tournament. I really wanted to come in and play well. Off to a good start now, we've got three more days, and I'm hoping I'm there by Sunday.

Q. Does that help your sort of mental preparation at all, just having one less thing to think about?
JASON DAY: Well, it was tough because I was still thinking about what I was going to do at the end of last week. Really the decision was end of last week, and coming into this week, and then you go, okay, I know exactly when I'm going to have my presser and talk about it and stuff like that, so I was kind of nervous and stuff like that for that. Obviously withdrawing from the Olympics is a hard decision.

But once that happened, then I kind of got past for me and I could really kind of just start thinking about the tournament.

Q. Did anything surprise you with your playing? As you said, you made some pars out there that could have put you on the back foot, but you come off second place.
JASON DAY: No, I mean, I don't know. It could be -- some days I go out there and I flush it and I shoot worse. It happens. Right now all I'm trying to do is just grind it out. I really want to get myself into contention Sunday and hopefully either have the lead Sunday or be around the lead. I've played here before, and I've finished -- I think my best finish is T4. I'd really like to win one of these because these are big events to win, and I just look at it this way, if I can win this one it extends that lead from 1 to 2, and that's what I'm most concerned about is just really trying to extend that lead.

Do I think about it? Today, I don't know, I just kind of went out and played, and it was just kind of a weird feeling of a day where I kind of made some good pars, kept the momentum going, and all of a sudden I shot 67 and left one in the heart for 66. Once again, I've just got to keep grinding until Sunday is over.

Q. When did you start feeling comfortable playing here at Firestone?
JASON DAY: I don't know. When did I finish tied fourth?

Q. 2011.
JASON DAY: That was a long time ago. Yeah, you know more than me --

Q. Well, you shot 63 to open in 2011.
JASON DAY: Yeah, that definitely helps.

I think as time goes on, like I played with Russell Knox today. There's some shots out there where he hit these like, oh, that's just a lack of knowledge, not being here. As time goes on, you learn, okay, this is where I'm going to hit it, this is where -- and I think with how I've been playing this year, just being comfortable kind of with how I'm hitting it and how I'm chipping and putting and all that stuff, on top of having the experience of being here, it's definitely starting to feel a lot more comfortable as the years have gone on.

Q. I don't know if it was you or Ellie, but I saw somewhere on Twitter that you guys kind of consider this another home game for you.
JASON DAY: Yeah.

Q. The travel situation, did you drive over with the kids? Does it feel kind of like a home game?
JASON DAY: Well, we're an hour and 45 so we're stuck on the bus down here, but I walk across to the golf course, and we're going fishing tonight, we went fishing last night, and I'll try and catch some bass out in the lake over here, which is nice. It's nice and relaxing, but also, I'm trying to stay mentally in it because this is an event where you come and there's no cut. You play for -- you're guaranteed four days, and you can come and relax and just get your money and walk off, but I don't want to do that. Obviously I want to -- these are kind of the weeks where I get to have some fun and go fish, and then obviously come in and not have to worry about making a cut or anything like that, even if you are playing bad. You can just focus on trying to win.

Q. Do you feel sometimes in these weeks that if you kind of grind a little bit and practice and kind of mentally get yourself --
JASON DAY: Yeah, you can kind of pick one up here. Do you know what I mean? Some guys -- I think obviously everyone is trying to go out there and win. Some guys are happy to be in the field and stuff like that, but if you just give it that extra little bit, you can kind of pick up a cheap one, you know, and obviously this is not cheap, it's just like there's less people here, you have less people to try and beat, and if you can just really focus down and mentally prepare for that, I think you can definitely pick one up.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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