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PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

July 27, 2016

Jason Day

Springfield, New Jersey

JOHN DEVER: Jason, thank you for your time and welcome to your seventh PGA Championship. Can you tell us a little bit about the champion's dinner last night and that experience and being in that environment for the first time?

JASON DAY: Yeah, it was very unique. Because obviously it was my first time. Hopefully not my last. Those things are very special. Some of those memories that you get from those dinners are something that you can hold on for the rest of your life. I had a really good time.

I got up and spoke about the past year and what the PGA, winning the PGA meant to me. Yeah, it's been kind of a whirlwind since then, and I think everyone had a good time eating the food and hopefully the gift is well received and local forward to a good week this week. Looking forward to getting out and having a practice round today.

JOHN DEVER: Now you're in a different scenario. You've been a defending champion so many times in your career, but do you anticipate anything different being a defending champion as a major championship -- at a major?

JASON DAY: I said a couple weeks ago, this is all kind of new to me, even though I have defended before. Last night obviously with the champion's dinner, it's my first major title defense. And I really don't look at it as a title defense. I really look at it as I need to come back in and try and execute a game plan that we come up with and try and win the tournament.

I won it last year. That was fantastic, and I need to focus on what I need to do this year to win the Wanamaker Trophy again.

Q. How has life changed? You've had a few months to take stock since you won your first major. How has life in general changed for you and the people out there that want to beat you; just talk about that.
JASON DAY: It hasn't changed too much. I guess in regards to the World Ranking, has definitely changed. I think a lot more people know who I am, which is great, and so people want more autographs, they want more time.

So there's more of a balancing act that you have to really go about your actually daily life when you come out on Tour. It's not too bad when you're back home, but yeah, it's changed a little bit but not too much. I'm still the same person as I was before I won a major, but I just need to work harder now.

Obviously goals and things have changed since winning the major championship, and yeah, I need to kind of re-evaluate things and go from there.

Q. Obviously usually you come to majors well in advance. You do your prep over the weekend in the days before. How is it going to be different for you coming in with just sort of today to see the course?
JASON DAY: Yeah, I haven't played a practice round. I haven't seen the course. I don't know what it looks like. I was with Doug Steffen, the head pro, last night at the champion's dinner. I went through pretty much every hole with him for about 20, 30 minutes, kind of going over all the holes.

I'm going to try and touch them all today, but obviously the prep's been a little on the lighter side. So I need to come in and try to get a good, solid 18 holes in today so I kind of know where I'm going.

Q. With you shooting 20-under last year, Henrik shoots 20-under at the British Open, is the bar being raised for what the expectations are for what you guys are going to score now in majors?
JASON DAY: Well, I think the bar's been raised ever since Tiger Woods kind of came around. I think everyone expects if you're in the lead or if you're a favorite to win, they expect you to win, and if you don't, then you're in a slump.

And unfortunately, it's not the case. It's very, very difficult to win golf tournaments. And like you said, I think the bar has been raised. Everyone just has seen it all before and expects it to happen every single time. It just doesn't work out that way sometimes. Golf is a very difficult game, on top of trying to manage all the mental part of the game, as well.

It has, but once again, the competition has got tougher. When I first came out in 2006, I remember some of the cut lines were plus one and plus two, and now most of the cut lines are under par.

So it just goes to show how stiff the competition has gotten over the years that I've been out here. And then on top of it, the guys are just younger and stronger and fitter and faster, and they are just long out there. So just the competition is really, really tough right now.

If you don't stay one step ahead of the young guys, it's easy to get left behind. So I'm kind of coming into my prime now, and I'm hoping to stay there for awhile.

Q. Those discussions you had last night with Doug, when you broke down the 18 holes, based on that, where do you anticipate you'll be able to attack this golf course and where did he warn you to be the most careful?
JASON DAY: Well, he said if you can get your drives away -- depending on what conditions you have. And once again, I don't think he kind of knows what kind of game I play or how I feel, because things can change over the course of the week. If you feel not so confident at the start of the week, and you gain more confidence during the week you might take on a few more shots.

Just certain shots, making sure that I miss it in the right spots, either right or left, if I'm going to miss a fairway. There's some greens out here that you can run them up to, if you hit in the rough, making sure -- like 4, for instance, the par 3. He said that when the pin location is on the right-hand side, the water kind of cuts in a little bit more. You have to hit it five more yards, and it swales down through there because there's a chute coming over the mountain here apparently. From what he said, everything breaks away from the mountain just over the clubhouse.

So all that said, I'm going to try and go out there and digest it all, and if that helps, great. I really have to go out there and try and find a game plan that works for me and making sure that on the tough holes, I feel comfortable, and the easy holes, I can take advantage of. And if I can do that, hopefully I'm there by Sunday.

Q. You mentioned the outside expectations that you guys deal with, in part because of what Tiger did in his prime. Is it just the public's expectations, or is there a danger, also, of you expecting too much from yourself, if that's the standard?
JASON DAY: Yeah, I always have high expectations of myself. I guess that's why when I play a round that I don't play too well, I'm in the back nearly crying myself to sleep. Yeah, I get really, really frustrated when I don't play good golf. That's the biggest thing for me is to make sure that I'm always on top of it.

And yeah, the expectation, I think not only from everyone, but more so yourself; you look at it this way. I was saying that I've never been more stressed at being No. 1 in the world. And then Rory came out and said it wasn't very stressful for him. It just depends on how you take things. You know, people deal with stress differently.

Yeah, it's all in what kind of person you are, and for me, I feel like I get stressed out a little bit more. I think it's a good thing, because it makes me want to work harder. Make sure that I'm not leaving anything unturned. With that said, I'm here in the position that I am today, because of what I've done in the past, because of those expectations. I expected that I should be winning nearly every week, and there I went on a stretch there where I felt like I was winning every week.

Over the last four tournaments or so, hasn't turned out the way I wanted to, but I haven't been able to practice as much as I'd like to just because of the schedule change and all the tournaments kind of jumbled in amongst each other.

But I get three weeks off coming up and I should be able to get back on top of my game and get back to what I need to do and hopefully finish strong with the FedEx.

Q. What does the No. 1 ranking mean to you and how important is it for you to finish where you are now this year?
JASON DAY: It's definitely important. I really want to obviously finish No. 1 in the world at the end of the year. But I think the biggest thing for me is to really understand what I need to do to win each week or get myself into contention.

Because the hardest part is obviously trying to stay consistent for so many years; it's very, very difficult. I think the last guy we had was Tiger Woods that was very consistent. Each week that he played, he was pretty much in contention.

Now granted there's a few things that needs to go into that. Obviously scheduling is huge, not trying to overdo yourself with scheduling. Making sure you take the proper time off, rest, recover, practice. All these little things come into effect when you're trying to either obtain or keep the World Ranking, the No. 1 spot in the world.

And then on top of it, if you can just win. Winning takes care of everything. And if you can do that; I think that's probably more concerning for me is I just need to feel, even though I'm comfortable with winning, I need to get back to the point where I feel like I go out there and win every single week.

Currently, like I was just saying earlier with the tournaments and how they are mixed up, I really haven't had time to practice. Haven't had any time off. Pretty much week off and straight back into it. Leaving Sunday and you're back on Tour again.

It's important. I really enjoy being up at the top of the World Rankings and I really want to see how far I can take myself in my career to see how long I can hold it there.

Q. Can you talk about how you allocated your time prior to winning a major, and to how you do it now, and how much of an emphasis is rest and the wherewithal to say no to people, given your affable personality and how does that play out for you to get to where you want to be in professional golf?
JASON DAY: It can be difficult at times, because it's hard to, sometimes it's hard to say no. Yeah, I guess I feel like I'm more approachable to fans, to media, to players. And you think about it, when I'm at home practicing and a member comes by and talks for five minutes; and then another member comes by and talks for five minutes. You have ten members walk by and talk and 50 minutes is gone; and when time is valuable and you've talked to ten people and 50 minutes is gone, that time adds up.

It's really trying to stay focused and be nice and do all the things you can do for media, fans and people, but also making sure that you're kind of selfish in a way to understand that, you know, I did X to get to No. 1 in the world, I did X to win these tournaments. I need to keep doing that. If I don't do that, then obviously I'm not going to get those results.

And all this was a process to get to that position. And if I don't understand that, then obviously you'll see a slight decline in the way that I'm performing.

I understand all that. It's very, very hard to -- I think the hardest thing for me is to manage it. Like I said, this year's kind of been a little weird with the schedule because of the Olympics. But then on top of it, it's not an excuse. I have to manage my time a little bit better.

I feel like over the years that I've been professional, it's slowly gotten a lot better with the allocation of time and what I need to do. Yeah, today's going to be a little bit of a rush because I haven't played the golf course and I'm going out today and this is the first time I've actually seen the golf course. So it's going to be very difficult for me to sign autographs until after the round.

Yeah, it's all good things. I mean, I'm happy to be in this position, because it would be bad if the members at my club didn't want to talk to me, if the fans didn't want me to sign autographs. It would be bad because I wouldn't be playing good golf.

The rest, a lot of people underestimate the rest, especially sleeping and recovery time. And especially if you're hitting the gym, making sure you get the right protein in your body to recover well. And obviously peaking and timing for major championships is key, as well.

Yeah, rest is huge, because if you don't have rest, you can obviously -- if you're sleep-deprived, that can definitely run into the mental side of the game. That can definitely hurt your game if you're playing tournament golf.

Yeah, if you can find ways to catch up on sleep, that's the best way.

Q. What advice would you give to kids who want to play golf? Do you think that they should try to focus on that one sport of golf, or play other sports and use those skills to improve their golf?
JASON DAY: So when I was a kid, I played other sports. I played cricket and other school sports, like school yard football and all that stuff, too.

I always knew that I was -- I loved golf. I had a group of friends at the golf course that I enjoyed. I would tell kids to just go to the golf course, play golf, have fun. And then, you know, if you slowly start to even like it even more, then just get a PGA professional at the golf course and just kind of slowly work with him and try and improve your game from there. And always make it fun, because you don't want to be burnt out.

Because the hardest thing about being a kid, especially these days, is that everyone is expecting children to be a certain way or practice a certain way. They just need to go out and have fun like I did back in the day. I played a lot of golf when I was growing up. I didn't really practice much until I was 14 or so, and that's when I really knew that I really wanted to become a professional golfer.

For children, just go have fun, play a lot of golf and enjoy it.

Q. Was the light prep always part of the plan or a reaction to how you were feeling? And can you explain what happened with Ellie last night?
JASON DAY: Word travels quick, doesn't it. We didn't say anything about it, either.

Yeah, so I was always going to take Monday off. Yeah, Dash and Lucy are sick right now, and kind of Dash passed that on to me a little bit. Like, I'm okay. I'm fine. I'm just a little bit under the weather. Ellie had an allergic reaction last night and had to go to the hospital. We were there until two o'clock or something like that. So I'm kind of running on E right now.

Yeah, she's fine. Everything was great. I had to call the paramedics over. She was kind of freaking out in the back of the bus, which is understandable, because she got all red. I've been in that situation before when I first ate seafood. That's why I don't eat seafood anymore. I started swelling up and I looked like Hitch on that movie (laughter).

Yeah, so like I was kind of calm about it, and she's like freaking out in the back on the bus, and she's like, "Call 911, call 911." So I'm trying to look for Benadryl, and we didn't have any, so we ended up calling 911 and the paramedics came and they looked after her which is great. She's fine now. We got a little bit of loss of sleep but we're fine.

Q. Just when you talk about scheduling, etc., do you think this year this tournament has lost a bit of its appeal or been de valued by how close it is to The Open and how this run of golf has gone?
JASON DAY: I don't think so, no. I wouldn't think at all. Just from what I've heard, how many people are going to be here, with the crowds and 40,000 plus I think. I mean, it is quick. But I don't think so. Everyone expects to come into major championships and try and win. Obviously Henrik won only a couple weeks ago. But that's golf. When someone wins, they kind of move on to the next week and what's happening that week.

This week is in a different time slot, but it's still the last major and everyone views it that way. Everyone's trying to win the last major of the calendar year. Yeah, it's our last shot at glory, but I don't think there's any lost there.

Q. You won this tournament last year in part because you were so successful off the tee, really moving it out there. How much of your aggressiveness, whether you're pulling driver or whatever it is, is based on the course, and how much is how you feel about the way you're driving the ball, and then how does that calculation change on a course like this that you've never played?
JASON DAY: Yeah, driving and putting were the sole keys why I won last year at Whistling Straits. I putted the best I feel like and I drove it long and straight.

And from what I hear, you need that here, as well. There's certain holes that you don't need it where you can hit 2-irons and 3-woods, but this course can be long. It can be stretched out to I think 7,500 yards. Right now it's 7,400.

If you're driving it -- I've seen what they are doing with the rough out there. Obviously it's a gradual rough. But it's key on golf courses, long golf courses, to drive it straight to be able to give yourself the opportunities.

But yeah, with that said, not seeing the golf course, coming out -- I just want to be able to feel comfortable on the golf course. Whether that's hitting a 2-iron on a driver hole or a driver on a 2-iron hole, because when I go and look at holes. Because when I go and play today, I might look at it, and Col goes, this is a 2-iron. But I may feel like, no, this is a driver, because I feel so comfortable with the way it looks. Or vice versa where it may be a wide open fairway and he's going driver and I'm like, for some reason, it's making me feel uncomfortable.

So the biggest thing is to really manage my ego in that way in a sense to sometimes pull back, or when I do feel comfortable be able to attack it, but know that there's consequence and know exactly where I need to miss it, and obviously from there, try to get it up around the green and get it in the hole with the least amount of strokes.

Q. The first three majors, you were behind after the first round. Augusta wasn't bad. I think you stumbled late in the round but after the opening day, you had to make up a pretty good gap. How conscious are you of that and is any of it related to the stress of being No. 1?
JASON DAY: No, I think it was just bad golf to be honest.

Yeah, looking back at it, I think -- I can't remember what I shot at The Open Championship. I've got a really bad memory. I can't really remember anything. I can't even remember your question right now -- I'm just joking (laughter).

No, to be honest, I don't know. I think there's a little bit of expectation obviously on my shoulders; that I've got off to a great start this year. You've got to come out and fire on all cylinders and get yourself up the leaderboard and show people that you're there and you're ready to win.

I think if you try a little bit too hard sometimes, you can kind of shoot yourself in the foot. I think that's what I did in the first two majors.

The Open Championship has always kind of been a difficult one for me. But yeah, I mean, maybe just try a little bit too hard and expecting a little bit more, and then obviously coming out and not playing the way I did kind of, you know, I guess in a sense, it took the pressure off me, as well, I guess, for me to come back and have two Top-10s in the first two majors.

But yeah, I've got to, with the limited practice and limited prep that I've had this week, I'm not coming into this week expecting a lot. I mean, obviously I'm expecting to win, but like I'm not really going, all right, you need to go out and force things straightaway.

I've got to really try and manage my patience out there, because I have very little patience right now. Just for some reason, every time I get a little bit under the weather, I've got zero patience. Yeah, I've got to try and manage that the best I can.

Q. How well do you know Beef, and can you just talk a little about his unique personality?
JASON DAY: Beef, I've met him once. He looks like a top bloke. Looks like a guy you want to go down to the pub and have a beer with, even if you don't drink.

He came up to me, I think it was at Oakmont, and I think I signed a flag for him and stuff. We sat there and talked a little bit. He's definitely become a personality, especially over her, and obviously back home, as well.

It's going to be interesting to see how his career goes, because he sounds like he's come from humble beginnings and he's done a lot of work to get to the position that he's in today. It's good to see stories like that and I'm hoping that he keeps the good play up, because I think we need more personalities in this game.

JOHN DEVER: Defending champion, Jason Day. Thank you for your time, sir. Have a great week.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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