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ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL PRESENTED BY MASTERCARD

March 16, 2017

Jason Day

Orlando, Florida

Q. As defending champion it was extremely difficult out there. Cold, the golf course was playing hard. Was this one of the toughest rounds?
JASON DAY: You know what, days like this are very defendant obviously to start out, like you said, it was cold, hitting it at least 15 to 20 yards shorter than a total number, so a 4-iron's going 220, it's going 200. And you're standing over some of the shots and going, okay, what's the wind doing and then it just doesn't look like a 4-iron that you're used to seeing go that sort of distance. So it was difficult. As the day gets, goes on and it starts to get warmer, that yardage starts to slowly get back to your normal number, even though we didn't really get back it, it was still cold. But it was a tough day and I was glad to get it in at 2-under.

Q. Coming back as defending champion is extremely special, was there any extra pressure or expectations?
JASON DAY: No, I think that obviously there's always just a little bit of a tad more pressure, I think the expectation is a little bit more, especially coming back as a defending champion here. You want to play good, because you have played good in the past and you want to play good again. But obviously it's very difficult to come back and defend, as you know, and luckily enough, to get out there and get off to a decent start on the back side and I made a great birdie on 7 to get going, so I was very, very pleased.

Q. Your fondest memory of Mr. Palmer?
JASON DAY: Oh, I got a couple. I first met Mr. Palmer back in 2009, but I think having the celebratory drink with him after the win last year and I said this earlier in the week, no one else gets to do that anymore and it's unfortunate, it's sad, but that is something that I'll hold very, very special in my heart, because I was the last guy to do it.

Q. Good start to the tournament. Three birdies, one bogey out there. How did you think it went for you?
JASON DAY: It was good. I think it was tough to gauge how far the ball was going this morning. We worked it out about 15 or 20 yards. As the day goes on you're it gets a little bit warmer so the yardage starts to creep back up. You start hitting it a little bit further. But it's hard. You'll be standing over it and you sit there thinking, this club should be going further. But it's hard to commit to it sometimes because it's going so short in the cold weather and wind. But once again I see the lead is at 5-under or so, I'm on 2, so it's a good start.

Q. How about the rough here. It's a lot thicker than it's been.
JASON DAY: Definitely. I think the whole course itself is better than it's been in years. The tees to fairways to the greens, the greens are spectacular, they have done a fantastic job. You talk about the rough, wow, there was a couple of times on 18 I hit it down the left and it wasn't too crazy to hit it in the left rough, but it's tough when you're trying to gouge it out somewhere near the green. There's a premium on hitting fairways this week and a premium on putting.

Q. For the fans that are going, okay, the tournament started today, I'm going to pay attention to what's going on here at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Tell the fans what it meant to be the last guy to shake his hand as the winner of this tournament?
JASON DAY: Well, I said earlier this week that after you win this tournament you usually meet Mr. Palmer and go and do all the media and be running around and then all of a sudden you go back and go to his place and he would be sitting there in the locker room and he would have a drink for you. And you sit there for 20, 25 minutes and just chat. And it was special because I was sitting there and talking to him and this guy's such an icon in the game of golf and it's sad that no one gets to do that anymore. So that's something that I will always hold dear to my heart, because I was the last guy to have that congratulatory drink with him.

Q. How did the first round go?
JASON DAY: It was good. As you guys know, it's very chilly this morning, the ball was not going very far at all. It was at least 20 yards, 15, 20 yards shorter of the normal number, so it was kind of hard to commit to the numbers when you're hitting a 4-iron 200 yards and it usually goes 220, 225. Overall, it was a good day, I just think that with how the rough is, how the greens are, how slick they are, you got to get good drives away off the tee and try and give your self opportunities coming in and if you can have a good day on the greens, because the whole course is phenomenal, you can have a decent score. But anything under par today in the morning was great.

Q. You won here last year, that was special, if you win here this year would it make it anymore special for you?
JASON DAY: Yeah, yeah, everyone I think is a little bit more emotional this year because, obviously, the passing of Mr. Palmer, you know, we're so used to seeing him around on the driving range, in the clubhouse, interacting with players, interacting with fans, unfortunately we don't get to see that anymore and I think that it's a little bit, obviously you saw the opening ceremony and I think that was a nice bit of touch, great class that added to this tournament, obviously. I feel good about where everything is, I think I just got to keep getting the ball out in front of myself, try to do the best job I can, hopefully it would be nice to be able to back it up.

Q. Can you give a few more examples of how much the cold did affect certain shots? Were there some out there that just opened up your eyes?
JASON DAY: Yeah, I mean, can't remember what we had to -- this was even through nine holes and we Martin was hitting 3-iron into 2 and usually that's like a 5-iron. But I'm just trying to think, I mean I hit 2-iron, 5-iron into 10. 2-iron, 4-iron into 11. And usually you are hitting 2-iron, 9-iron, wedge, into 10 and kind of maybe 9-iron, 8-iron into 11. So it is just a big, big difference between the morning and obviously this afternoon. I think the wind will probably stay pretty steady this afternoon, but it's still quite cool and it will just start to creep up. As the heat goes on throughout the rest of the week, we'll start hitting it a little bit further, hopefully get back to those numbers and you can commit a little bit better.

Q. (No Microphone.)
JASON DAY: I can tell you that I'm trying my best. Some years are going to be great and some years are going to be down and unfortunately that's just how it goes, but if I had to compare, I think I came off a season that I won five times with, I won a Major Championship, two in the playoffs and then I came here and I would say that I just don't quite have enough confidence in my swing right now. I feel like my putting's right there, but it's still lacking. It's kind of all the parts of my game right now are just behind a little bit. But once again, I'm trying my best, I really am giving it a hundred percent, so if that's what it is, unfortunately, I just got to keep working hard and try and get back to that winning form. Dustin is playing tremendous golf, Jordan's playing good golf, Rory's obviously back from injury, so there's a ton of good golfers that are trying to get back to that spot and I'm trying to do the same. So comparing is obviously easy, because I haven't won for so many months, I just got to try and do my best to forget about what has happened in the past and just try and keep moving forward and do my best and get the process right.

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