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PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

July 31, 2016

Jason Day

Springfield, New Jersey

JOHN DEVER: Good afternoon. Welcome back to the 98th PGA Championship. Happy to be joined by Jason Day with a post of 3 under 67 today, birdies on 6, 9 and 18.

Jason, obviously the weather conditions are an overriding factor here. Could you just talk about what it's like to play in a steady rain right now.

JASON DAY: For the most part, it wasn't too bad out there. Just trying to think; we had a little bit on the front side, but then 17, 18, it started raining a little bit. But it wasn't too bad. Umbrellas up and down is not always a bad thing. It's better than having umbrellas up the whole time.

The only main kind of thing you have to worry about when it rains is the moisture of the the water that gets in between the clubface and the ball can kind of shoot it off in different directions. That obviously makes it a little bit tougher to control the shot.

But I think I played pretty good today. I mean, for the third round, coming out early, gave myself some opportunities out there to really shoot a low one, but unfortunately didn't really take them. Even though I wasn't hitting it all that close, but I was giving myself the right opportunities for the most part and not giving myself downhill putts where you're playing kind of defense on the putting. I was giving myself uphill putts, and I could be aggressive with it.

You know, out there today, you could be aggressive but once again, you can't overdo it because even if you do short side yourself, with how soft the conditions are, you can't get up and down if you short side yourself. So you've got to be patient, but try and take the birdies when they come and get yourself up the top of the leaderboard.

Now we've got one round to go, so there's still a lot of golf to be played. I think Jimmy got in at 11, so you know, we're all chasing him. It would be nice to go back to back, but I'm really trying to focus on just to get that one foot in front of the other and go from there.

JOHN DEVER: As you look back at your career, have you been a player that's been able to persevere; have any of your wins happened in challenging weather conditions as you look back?

JASON DAY: I can't recall, mate. I said earlier in the presser earlier this week, I've got a bad memory, so I can't really remember any of the weather. So yeah, I'm going to say, yes, maybe. I don't know (laughs).

Q. 65 wasn't enough for Phil Mickelson at Troon. What number do you have in your head? And second part, is there a 62 out there?
JASON DAY: I don't think if you're striking the golf ball I think Emiliano Grillo, he struck it very well on the front side but couldn't quite get the putts going in. He certainly gave himself the opportunity to shoot a really low one on the front side, and then obviously made the turn on the back side, and things don't necessarily get easier, but it's an easier nine.

I don't have a score in my head as of now. I just got off the golf course and haven't really thought about going into the fourth round yet. If you shoot 65, that would be a pretty good number. I think that would be a decent number to I'd be signing my scorecard and trying to think, what am I going to say.

But again, these guys are so good; you look at what Phil did at The Open Championship and how Henrik played, sometimes one score is not good enough. So I've just got to go out there and try and get myself in contention with nine holes to play, see how it goes, and try and do my best.

But yeah, it's exciting to be in this position. It always is, and I'm looking forward to the challenge of trying to go out there and win my second major.

Q. You indicated, of course you played really well today; were there two or three more birdies out there for you today? And how significant was that birdie on 18, considering the par 5s are your normal
JASON DAY: I made a little bit of a mess on 17, but got a way with a nice par there in the end.

18, I was going to try and sneak a 3 wood down a little bit further, but I knew that with the rain, if I got anything turning over and turning over too much, it was going to go in the water. So I just kind of laid back and said, you know, if I hit 3 wood, for my second shot, I might be able to get there. If not, it will just go in that front part, which it did, and ended up making a great birdie, which was good. Because I went on a stretch there for eight holes without a birdie and I needed one to finish on to keep that momentum going to the fourth round.

There were some that I left out there. I wouldn't say you would have left them out there, but there were like 15 to 20 footers that I'm kind of licking my chops and going, I really feel good about this putt. And then kind of baffled me a little bit with the read. I think it's that mountain effect that everyone is talking about that you just kind of look one direction and you see it going that way, and it goes the exact opposite.

I'm interested to see where they set the pins up in the fourth round. I'm obviously going to go sit down after the presser here and have a look and try and study them and see where I need to place my ball out there.

Yeah, I played some nice golf. 18 was a good birdie, and really pretty solid golf today without having a bogey.

Q. Last year obviously you had the benefit of almost going head to head with Jordan in the final group. You won't get the benefit of a re pair here; he'll be behind you. How will you impose your will, if you will, from a different group?
JASON DAY: It can work both ways. I enjoy playing in the final group with a guy that's at the top of the leaderboard, or if I'm leading, that's great. But once again, I get in a hole earlier than him, so if I can maybe get a couple of birdies on the par 5, that may put a bit of pressure on him to actually hit a shot coming in or down the stretch.

It's really unfortunate what we've had with the weather, because obviously everyone wants dry weather. Everyone wants to play. The way they set the PGA golf courses up, I think it's pretty fair, but everyone wants a good test. It's just a little unfortunate with the weather. But, you know, we've got to just take it as it is right now and just kind of hopefully I'm the last man standing.

Q. How do you plan to spend the next few hours here as you're waiting to see if and when you guys will get back out again, and how different is that mentally than the typical going into the last round of a major?
JASON DAY: Yeah, it's a little different. If we get through today, I'm going to be playing 36 holes, which is a very long day. I woke up at 5:00.

The good thing about it is that I've got three hours, three hours and 20 minutes or so, until my next tee time. So I get to go back; I'll probably have a shower, relax a little bit with the family, have lunch, and then probably put a new outfit on and feel fresh again for the next round.

I'll hopefully be able to watch some golf, see how it's reacting out there, as well. That obviously gives me a good indication on what I can do on certain holes. It's a plus; I can relax. Usually when we are playing 36 holes one day, we get 30 minutes or 20 minutes and we're off again, so we don't really get much of a rest and we're straight off.

Hopefully no delays, because if we get delayed, then we have to come back tomorrow regardless, because we're teeing off at 3:07. I think it get dark at like 8:00, 8:15. It would be really nice to get this tournament in.

Q. What is the most number of holes you've played in a single day?
JASON DAY: I think 36. I'm going to say it's in the 30s. I think I played recent memory, I was playing Zurich Classic and I think I played like 32 holes or 33 holes, and that was in scorching heat. That was more exhausting, I would say, because it's hot and you're walking around and there was hardly a breath of wind.

At least it's cooler and there's a little bit of moisture in the air, so it makes it a little bit easier to walk around. Obviously the only hard thing is walking through the soft spots because that can be taxing on the energy. But for the most part I used to do this as a kid. We would play tournaments and you would play Friday, Saturday, and play 36 holes on Sunday. I feel like I'm still pretty young and I'm fit enough to be able to get through 36 holes.

JOHN DEVER: You qualify.

Q. Nice round today. I know Mark Kuhns, the director of grounds here, his staff, they have been working around the clock to make this course playable. Can you talk about the conditions from the bunkers to the greens to the fairways?
JASON DAY: Mark and his crew, the volunteers, everyone that's kind of made this tournament what it is, definitely needs more than a pat on the back. Because with the amount of rain, I'm not sure if these guys have had any time off at all. To be able to get the course ready, playable for us, is pretty special.

I know how much time they actually put into it before the tournament comes into; and then as the tournament comes around, it's more hours than you can even imagine. These guys don't get a lot of time off, and we're very thankful to have hard working fellas, men and women, getting our course prepared, because it can be a very, very long and taxing week for these guys. Hands up for the volunteers, as well, because it's a long week. These guys are here at the crack of dawn and here until the end of the day, and they are doing that every single day.

You know, hats off because we've just got to go out there and chase a white golf ball, and these guys are working very, very hard.

Q. I know you want this trophy a lot. How do you trick yourself into not thinking about it and just staying shot by shot?
JASON DAY: Yeah, it's very difficult to not try and get ahead of yourself. I think I always talk about fear and stuff like that, where you get uncomfortable and it's good to be in uncomfortable situations. But really fear is not knowing what the future is going to hold, and your mind playing tricks on you.

So I feel good about how I'm playing. I want to try and focus on what I need to do now to get prepared for the next round and try and be very thorough with Col over what shots we're trying to hit to give us the best chance.

At the end of the day, if I go out there and play well, great. If that means I get beat, that's not what I wanted, but someone's obviously played better than me. I'm just going to give it 100 percent regardless of what happens today. If we have to go into tomorrow, it's still the same thing, because that's all I can really do is just give it 100 percent. It would be really nice to get the second major under my belt, because I don't want to just win one and have one through my career.

I've put myself in the position. I've just got to be able to take those chances and hopefully capitalize on those opportunities that I give myself.

JOHN DEVER: Jason Day, thank you, sir, for your time, and have a great afternoon.

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