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THE BARCLAYS

August 24, 2016

Jason Day

Farmingdale, New York

ALEX URBAN: We'd like to welcome our defending champion, Jason Day, into the interview room here at The Barclays. You're also No. 1 entering the FedExCup entering the week. Talk about your season to this point and your mind-set heading into the Playoffs, and also defending this week.

JASON DAY: It's been a solid season. With regards to wins, obviously winning at THE PLAYERS was a huge one for me, because that course has never really set up for me. And then having two other wins at Bay Hill and then the Match Play was nice.

But the majors, obviously are tough to win. Three Top 10s in the major this is year, and played okay at The Open Championship. I just really couldn't get anything going. But it would have been nice to win another major. But I know that they are hard to come by and you've got to just be patient with yourself when it comes to majors.

But right now, we're just really trying to focus on getting these next three weeks underway. We've had a good three weeks off and it would be nice to get off to a good start here and get into the FedExCup Playoffs on a high note and hopefully finish strong with THE TOUR Champs.

Q. A year ago at this tournament, you were coming in on that massive high. This time around, you've had a good season but it's a little different. How is the approach going through the Playoffs, and do you feel you can obviously go two better than you did last year?
JASON DAY: Well, I think the ultimate goal for me is to stay in the top five, getting into TOUR Champ. If I can win THE TOUR Champs there, I guarantee myself a win in the FedExCup if I can win there.

We're playing a very difficult golf course, as everyone knows, U.S. Open-style golf course, very long. If you look out there, the greens staff have done a tremendous job this week with regard to the golf course. They have had some rain and then obviously with the pretty warm temperatures, things are going to grow and get obviously difficult as the week goes on.

It would be nice to win a couple, and that's why I'm saying, to get off to a good start, it would be good to get a win here and get off to a great start that way and really get the push that I had last year. I won The Barclays last year, and that gave me a good run through Deutsche Bank and then obviously on to the BMW where I won again.

I think by tour champs, I wasn't -- it was just a difficult week for me, because I couldn't really click, get anything clicked together. Hopefully with the week off that I have after the third one, I'll get some good rest and I'll be able to fire in for THE TOUR Champs.

Q. You said you watched one hole of the Olympics; Rory did, as well. Has your viewpoint -- or do you have any regrets about not going, or what's your stance on it looking ahead?
JASON DAY: No, I don't have any regrets. The decision was the decision. It was based on family and if -- you don't have any regrets whenever you base obviously your stance on something bigger than yourself, and it was for me and my family.

I only watched one hole. I didn't really watch much of the Olympics at all to be honest. I think I watched Usain Bolt win, and I watched one swimming, which was a four-by relay or whatever it was. I can't remember what it was. That's how much I know about the Olympics.

But to be able to watch, just how close it was between Henrik and Rosey coming down the stretch; good to see Fras (Marcus Fraser) play well early in the week and then obviously Kuch having a good last day to get that bronze.

I think after seeing how everything kind of unfolded in Rio with how the golf was played, I think it was well received amongst the world, actually. I was walking to Rosey, I was at a Zurich outing on Monday and he was there, and he goes: Just for future reference, I want you to know that people that aren't golf fans who have never watched golf before, now that it's in the Olympics, received is very well.

I guess there's a lot more fans that can actually watch golf now that have never really watched it before, just because it's in the Olympics. Like I said, from what he said, it was very well received.

I'm looking forward to Tokyo. If I can play my way on to that team, that would be great. It's four years away obviously. There's a lot of golf to be played from now until then. If I can play my way on to that team, that would be fantastic and look forward to representing Australia in Tokyo if I can.

Q. You touched on the majors when you came in here this afternoon, but when you look back on the four majors this year, what report card would you give yourself?
JASON DAY: It's hard. I never like putting a grade on anything. Obviously I'm a little disappointed. I gave myself an opportunity; if I played well on Sunday at Augusta, I think I started maybe right around where Danny Willett started, if I gave myself a shot and played well that day, I may be holding a green jacket if I played like Danny. But once again, I just couldn't quite get anything going that week.

The U.S. Open kind of -- it was kind of a punch in the gut, really, because I was pushing, pushing, pushing, got to 17, don't know how many under I was, but I was playing well, doubled 17 and bogeyed 18. If I would have birdied that, that would have -- may have put a little bit more pressure on Dustin knowing I'm in the clubhouse at a certain number and he still has to come in with some difficult holes left.

The Open Championship is a love/hate relationship with me because I've played well there and I've played terrible. I really enjoy playing links golf, and unfortunately it just hasn't quite clicked, but once it does, hopefully I'll win one of those.

And then obviously the PGA, I think the only thing I would have loved to do is play in the final round with Jimmy; and we can kind of feed off each other and we can kind of sense what the I guy's body language is, what they are doing out there. Obviously you can kind of push each other in certain ways and there's a lot more pressure at stake when you're playing with the leader in the last group.

I was happy with how everything went down in the PGA, especially with only playing 18 holes on Wednesday. But overall, it was solid but it wasn't great. It would have been nice to win one.

Q. You're still No. 1, and I think it's fair to say that Stenson has joined a group of five at the top of the game that people look at. How conscious are you of that group of five and of maintaining that position, and do you feel kind of a personal competition with those guys?
JASON DAY: Well, I look -- I see the guys and I understand that they are there, but I see the gap from 1 to 2. Some weeks it's shorter and some weeks it's bigger and it goes back and forth.

That's the main thing that I look at, how-many-point lead that I have. The only focus I have is trying to get more points, trying to extend that lead, and that's what I'm trying to focus on. If I can focus on that instead of who I'm actually playing against, like a Dustin Johnson who is No. 2, Jordan and Rory and Henrik and all those guys; I think I'm looking at the wrong picture.

I think I just need to focus on what got me there, which is work hard, try to win as many tournaments as I can, finish really strong in the big events like these. That usually extends that lead. So that's out of everything, that's kind of the main thing that I'm focusing on.

Q. Last year again, you obviously had multiple, multiple wins, but you still were not the favorite for Player of the Year and didn't end up winning it obviously because of what Jordan did. This year, depending on who you speak to, even though you have the most wins, you're not necessarily the favorite at the moment either. What do you feel you have to do to be that guy?
JASON DAY: I think a couple wins would be nice. A couple more wins should do it, yeah. A couple more wins should do it. They should just take everything out; even with what Dustin has done. To have five wins again, and especially two more wins in the Playoffs, will obviously get it done.

But once again, it's hard. First thing is you've got to win the tournament. Baby steps towards those things, and if I can get off to a nice start here, that should give me the confidence going forward. But once again, he's playing tremendous golf. If I get it, great. If not, no worries. I have plenty of years to try to get it again. I was close last year, but with how Jordan played in the majors, obviously he deserved it. If Dustin beats me this year, then he deserves it.

But the biggest thing for me is to focus on what I need to do and try and win.

Q. Is any of that motivating, given that you played so well, and there's still that one guy apparently a little better than you?
JASON DAY: Yeah, I'm playing good and he's nibbling at my heels, like why can't you give me a break. Look, if it was easy, everyone would be doing it.

It's good. It's pushing me further to work harder. Because I know that it would be great to be able to sit back one day and look at it and go, back in 2016, I was Player of the Year. Out of everyone that has played golf, that's pretty special to be able to hold that.

So that is a bit of a motivating factor, knowing that, okay, I need to have a good finish here. I would love to win the FedExCup. Obviously that's huge for me. And to be able to work -- I worked for two weeks coming into this week. Usually would I work about a week coming into a week like this, but I made sure that I'm like, okay, I've got to get out in front of it, work hard for two weeks, which I did. And I feel prepared for this week.

So hopefully just go out there and execute and not make it so hard on myself.

Q. We're ten years now into the Playoffs. What's the appeal from your standpoint of these tournaments other than the obvious? I guess I'm trying to figure out how you view it in the pecking order of accomplishments, things like that.
JASON DAY: Well, it's starting to become -- it's starting to get the history behind it now. Obviously there's a big -- I'm not going to lie, there's a big price tag at the end of the four events that is very, very motivating. Obviously you put that kind of number behind anything, that's very motivating for most people.

But once again, the ultimate goal for me is to win tournaments. I won two of these last year, and they are big, big events. They come with a lot of FedExCup ranking points and a lot of World Ranking points, Official World Golf Ranking points. So it's all good things, really, really good things.

But these tournaments are slowly but surely becoming a lot bigger and bigger, and they are getting towards the stage of the WGC events and things like that with regards to the players that are playing and the competition level.

So I put it up around there.

Q. Has your viewpoint changed over the years because of all that stuff? I think you've only been around more or less in the FedExCup era. Has it changed as its evolved?
JASON DAY: I think it's changed more so now that I can actually feel like I can win it.

I think before, I'd get into the top 30, and like, I'm here, but I'm not really competing, and even if I did win -- I never felt like I had a chance to win the FedExCup.

But now, I feel like my game's at a point where I'm more mentally and physically prepared for that win. That excites me and motivates me to try and win it, and I feel like it's bigger for me because I feel like I can win it.

Q. Sorry for the regional nature of this question. I'm from the paper here on Long Island, and we're wondering, when you're away from the golf course, New York is a pretty dynamic area. What do you do when you're away from the golf course? Do you spend time on Long Island, go to the city, or what do you and your family do?
JASON DAY: I'm the most boring person alive. Literally I'm like a hermit. I'm like my mom. I'm a hermit; I'm inside my bus and I don't leave. I get more excitement out of my family going away and doing stuff in New York City and them having the joy of doing stuff more so than me.

You know, once again -- I had a guy come out and caddie for me, Caddie For the Cure, which is a great charity. They flew in from Oklahoma. He battled some cancer and stuff like that.

So little things like that. Be able to -- before he had that, he wouldn't do things like this. But now since he had that and he's got over it -- life's too short.

And for us, we think we're bulletproof and we take life for granted a little bit and we don't do enough things, and unfortunately I tend to take that for granted too much and I don't enjoy the little things. Even though I get to go to these lovely places around the world, I don't explore as much as I should. So hopefully in the near future, I get to do a lore than just sitting in my bus. Cheers.

ALEX URBAN: All right. Jason, thank you, and best of luck in your defense.

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