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THE 145TH OPEN

July 16, 2016

Jason Day

Troon, South Ayrshire, Scotland

Q. Off to a good start, and tough on the back nine.
JASON DAY: Yeah, the back is tough. I've got sand in my eyes still from the 18th hole, so that's a nice one. Yeah, it was good. I mean, I played great. I could have been 6 or 7-under on the front side. Then turned the back side, and the 10th hole with the bogey kind of stopped my momentum. It's obviously very hard to get momentum back up when you're playing that back side. Haven't had a birdie on the back side this week. Played it, I don't know how many over I've played; it's been terrible. That's why I'm not in the tournament right now.

So if I would have played the back side a little bit better this week, I think I would be right around the lead.

Q. It looked like you had an approach on that front nine in particular to really attack it and go for a nice run here?
JASON DAY: Yeah, yeah. And that's kind of what you need to do there, especially being so far back. I was thinking if I could get to 4 or 5-under for the day, that would definitely be closer to the lead depending on how Phil and Henrik and all those guys play. I was thinking if I get four or five, that would be very close, and then that gives me an opportunity for tomorrow.

Unfortunately four bogies on the back side, I mean, you're playing golf like that, you don't deserve to win. Looking forward to tomorrow's round to try and improve on the back side and just get a little bit of a better taste going back home.

Q. (Inaudible) Yourself, Rory, Jordan and Dustin, the big four. Why do you think some of the young ones are struggling a little bit?
JASON DAY: Well, Rory Jordan and myself are in the other wave, so that has a lot to do with it because I think the best score out of our wave was 2-under with Patrick Reed and Rory, and obviously the rest of the wave has played great golf, and that's why they're at the top of the leaderboard.

So there's obviously a little bit of luck that is involved with getting to the top as well as playing good golf. But once again, you get what you take and unfortunately that's just the way it is. You've just got to try and get yourself into contention.

It's tough. It's a tough golf course. But, yeah, I mean, I think Dustin was on the other side. But there's definitely a lot of opportunities out there. If you're playing well, you can give yourself the opportunities. But I think with Jordan and myself and Rory, we were on the other side and we didn't really have the opportunities or we didn't give ourselves the opportunities just because of the draw.

Q. Do you think you were a little cautious (inaudible)?
JASON DAY: I can understand where their heads at. Because I was laying in the hotel room last night and the wind was whipping across. I think it's a good move. I mean, it wasn't too crazy. I think it was 9.11 yesterday and it's 9.5 today. So it's not overly slow. I think it's still very playable, obviously. I think it's pretty nice. I think they're doing a good job with how they're running the tournament with how, obviously, the conditions are. We've had a lot of everything this week. Obviously the R&A, they always do a wonderful job.

Q. It must be a huge transition for you though?
JASON DAY: Obviously the Canadian Open next week is going to feel like Oakmont with how quick the greens are. I haven't putted -- there's only one week a year where we putt on greens this slow, but it's obviously understandable with how much wind and conditions we have over here. Yeah, you don't get used to it. That's why I come in early to try to get used to the putting surfaces.

Yeah, I think they're doing a good job, because if they'd had them any quicker, then obviously balls would start rolling and moving.

Q. How much is tomorrow about going (Indiscernible)?
JASON DAY: Well, yeah. I'm going to try to do my best to finish as good as I can. I'd really like to have a good front nine, like I did today. I think if I can do that and play hopefully even par on the back side would be nice. At least get one birdie; that would be good. That would be a good confidence booster going into the Canadian Open and obviously on to the PGA.

Yeah, you learn a lot about the mental side of things when you come to tournaments like this knowing what you have to do to trust a golf swing and really handle yourself out there, especially with what kind of shots that you need to hit and commit to. So I think if I can just have a good one tomorrow, that should give me a bit of a confidence boost going into the next two tournaments and hopefully I'm there.

Q. David Howell said he (inaudible) what did you think of his game?
JASON DAY: I can tell why David Howell has been out here for a long time now. He keeps the ball out in front of him. He has a tremendous short game and he can putt well. So obviously he doesn't overpower golf courses, but he keeps it out in front of him. He does the smart thing and that's why he's been out on the European Tour and playing in the world and playing overseas a lot. That's why he's here because he's smart and knows what to do out there. He understands what his game is and I don't think there's any -- there's no ego in his game. He understands what he needs to do when he goes out there and tries to play well. He obviously did well today, like I did. But for me, personally, I just had a bit of a sour taste in my mouth just because of the back side. But tremendous, obviously a lovely bloke.

Q. (Indiscernible) why you do so well in America?
JASON DAY: Yeah, yeah, I mean, the front side I drove it well and I think some of the lines I was taking kind of took him off guard a little bit. The one on 1 I aimed it way out into the beach and caught a drift and drew it back and he just started laughing at it. So some of the different lines that he's not used to seeing.

Q. On the 13th hole, when is the last time you remember shanking a shot?
JASON DAY: I can't remember. I mean, I guess I can't remember. Actually the 8th hole at Augusta I shanked one. It was a flop shot there. I mean, everyone talks but it's not that bad (laughter). It was a bad shot, but it's not that bad. I can understand why; we've got three layers on. We've got wind we're dealing with and hitting it out of the rough. It would have been nice to actually hit it straight there because I think I would have made par. It was kind of an easy shot and I just shanked it straight right. But, yeah, anyways, it happens.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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