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ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL PRESENTED BY MASTERCARDMarch 14, 2018Jason DayOrlando, Florida THE MODERATOR: We would like to welcome Jason Day to the interview room here at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. This week will be your 8th time playing this event. What makes this tournament so special for you and what makes you come back every year. JASON DAY: Well this was when I first moved here to the United States I lived two minutes away and although I didn't play a lot out here, coming out and watching Tiger one year after I missed the cut and watching from the spectators view, you just know that this golf course, this tournament itself is a big tournament for not only me but a lot of the players that are playing this week. So saying that, being able to win it two years ago, having a drink with Mr. Palmer and being able to share that moment was special. So a lot of good memories from this tournament. THE MODERATOR: And obviously you had a lot of success in your last two TOUR starts. You had a win at Farmers and a runner-up finish at Pebble. How would you rate where your game's at coming in this week. JASON DAY: I feel good about, I mean obviously you got to feel good coming off the first two starts. But it's been I think four, five weeks maybe since I played, yeah, it's been awhile but I was with my coach Col last week up at Ponte Vedra Beach at Sawgrass and we were practicing there this week and getting ready for this week, so I feel mentally and physically refreshed and ready to go and I'm looking forward to the week. I got Tiger and Hideki in the first two rounds so that's going to be a lot of fun and there's going to be a lot of people so all this stuff is going to be great because it's just going to not only make you better as a golfer over the next four days, but prepare you for the first Major that's coming up. THE MODERATOR: Open it up for questions. Q. Watch Sunday when Tiger was in the hunt? JASON DAY: Yeah. Q. Thoughts? Did you trade any texted messages with him? JASON DAY: I didn't trade any texted messages. I wanted -- I just left it. I didn't want to -- I didn't want to mess with his mojo, man. I know that he would have just -- he's done it 79 times before. But I did watch. His iron play wasn't as precise as it was the first three days. When you're hitting it to 30 putt feet it's kind of hard to hole a lot of those putts and expect to win, but you could tell, he just didn't do a lot, but that's what champions do. When you don't have your best stuff you just stick around, stick around, stick around and for him to not birdie 15 after hitting a great 2-iron just on the front of the green there, that was a little surprising, but once again this is his fourth tournament into his pretty much his official come back from what he has had with the health conditions and stuff. But seeing the putt go in on 17, that's Tiger-esque stuff. I mean back in the day when you're watching you're like, oh my gosh, he pulled that off sort of thing. It's 43 feet down the hill, right-to-left, on fast greens and it went in there like he had a three-foot putt. So I said after the practice round at Torrey Pines this year on Tuesday that, I said, he's going to win this year, I don't know when it was, but he almost did it at Valspar, which is pretty amazing. Q. Was there any concern that you might not be ready for Augusta? JASON DAY: Me? Q. Yeah. Are you up against it a bit? JASON DAY: I don't think so. I hope I don't. I feel pretty good about how my game is progressing nicely. The one thing I would like to do is just hit more greens. If I gave myself more opportunities I'm putting pretty decent this year but if I hit more greens and I got more opportunities then hopefully I'll hole more birdie putts. I wasn't too, I'm not too disappointed with how I'm hitting it as such, I just need to just kind of get to my mid season form and I think I'll be good to go. But I did pretty well out at Torrey Pines and Pebble. Q. I meant did you have enough playing time before that. Have you gotten enough playing time in? JASON DAY: Yeah, I'll be fine. I think playing this week and next week and then having a week off and getting there early and practicing will be fine. Q. Speaking of back to Tiger for a moment, as somebody yourself who's been through some things to come back from, some injuries and whatnot, given how high he was in his dominant era and how far he fell with the injuries and whatnot off the course, as a sports fan, can you think of anything that you can compare that to or if he were to win again, where that would rank in your mind how remarkable that might be? JASON DAY: I can't compare it to anything else, but like I know I think a lot of athletes understand this, that when you're injured it feels like your world is ending, you feel like sometimes you get to a point where you're like, oh, I've got nothing else to give and you feel like -- I've been injured a couple times and I felt like my career's over and I got really depressed and, like I said, I felt like my world was going to end. I think that's kind of where he was at after a couple of surgeries in with his back and it wasn't kind of healing the way he wanted to and then finally he had this fusion in his back and to be honest, I mean, man, oh man, everyone needs to get a bloody fusion in his back, because he's hitting it further than he used to, which is amazing. So for him to be able to come back it doesn't surprise me because it is Tiger, but saying that, like I mean, not too long ago we were talking about Tiger and the chipping yips. And he's at Valspar nearly chipping in every chip in. It's just unbelievable where his short game has come, how far his swing as come. I mean, he has had some time off, which is good, because when you have time off you're not playing, you're not getting those reps and you're not tweaking anything more, which is nice to see, but I think he'll be, he's always, he's refreshed and ready to go because he's healthy now, which is great. But for him to come back and win, I think a lot of people are going to be happy about it, I don't think it's going to be a huge surprise now after what we saw last week. Q. In addition to injuries you've been through a lot since you won here at Bay Hill in that year. How hard is it to stay focused when you have things that are much more important than golf going on in your life? JASON DAY: Yeah, when usually when you look at people that are successful in any sport or athletes that are successful, usually their personal life is pretty balanced. It's hard to play competitive golf, because it is such a mental grind, it's hard to play competitive golf and focus on other things. You just can't do it because the guys will just eat you apart, they're just so good out here and so talented that it just, if you're off a little bit, it only, it not only hurts yourself and your confidence, but it just makes these guys just so much better than you. Injuries and what happened with my mother and then other things and just really kind of struggling off the course was tough and it really got to me last year. Saying that, I just knew that this year was going to be a lot better. I knew that, okay, this is fine, I'm going to get this year out of my way, I'm going to focus on 2018 and as soon as I had the time off, I got myself mentally prepared to come out and work as hard as I can, find that desire again to want to be the best and be No. 1 and it's worked out so far this year. But to be the best you have to be selfish and there has to be sacrifice to be No. 1 or trying to get to No. 1. There has to be sacrifice somewhere. And it's hard to be balanced in parts of your life sometimes when you're giving your whole life to the actual sport. When I feel balanced off course, when there's no stress off course, it comes into my game and makes life a lot easier on the golf course. Q. Speaking of the challenges, I think Tiger called you a tough kid yesterday and have you felt support from him and your peers during all these times? JASON DAY: I think when I announced what was happening with my mom after last year had the Match Play coming up, I think I got just as many text messages as I do when I win a tournament. Which is, it's really actually I think that's, winning a tournament is great and having those texts are fantastic, but having that support after something disappointing in my life that's happened and having that support and seeing just as many text messages come through, and especially Tiger as well. I mean, that makes me happy to know that a lot of people support me out there. To be able to be viewed as like that amongst your peers is nice. Q. You have had some hot streaks, cold streaks, can you feel when the hot streaks are coming on? JASON DAY: Oh, yeah, yeah. I can feel when momentum's switching on the golf course. I was talking about that earlier this year at Torrey Pines. The first round, you're sitting there you're like, okay, you get off and I think you're 1-under through five or six holes and I'm like, I just knew something was going to happen I'm like I just sat there and I said the momentum's starting to switch the other way. And that's when I talked to Tiger about the momentum and he's like you just got to find away to get it in the hole. I'm like, okay, thanks, man. He gives me this advice like it's easy, but it's not easy. But saying that, it's, you definitely can feel it, like I felt it at the start of this year, I felt like I was going to come out and play well and I did which was great. So I just got to kind of bear down right now and just keep pushing and grinding away because I don't want to, I don't want this to stop, I want the success to keep moving forward. Q. Just related to this week, are you feeling with the conditions out there, I know it's pretty firm and so forth, are you feeling like this is a kind of week that you can ride some of that momentum as well? JASON DAY: Yeah, but you got to be careful though because the greens are firm and quick and I think with the conditions that we're going to have over the not, I mean tomorrow's going to be cool, but Friday, Saturday, Sunday it's going to start to steam up a little bit. They're starting to get a little brown tinge to them on the fairways, so they're rolling a lot on the fairways and then once -- when fairways get firm and fast, it's hard to hit fairways. With what we have with the rough, it's going to be hard to hit the greens. So there's, it's going to be, you got to have good short game this week because if you don't, you're going to probably go home a little bit sooner than later. Q. You've developed this lovely friendship with Tiger, but on the tee tomorrow what are you expecting from him? Do you have any sense of that changing? JASON DAY: I'm going to treat it just like any other day. He'll be out there focused and ready to go, we'll have our chats here and there, but I'm there to do a job. I not only got to beat him, I got to beat everyone else, too. So like everyone, we're talking about Tiger here, and rightfully so, but there's I don't know how big the field is, there's a hundred or so players that are deserving the right to be here and just as good at times as well. So it's going to be great. I think it's going to be a lot of fun because I think a lot of people are excited about how Tiger's starting to show signs in the right direction and I think it's going to be a lot of fun over the next two days. But once again, I got to -- they're all out there for him, there are going to be a lot of cheers for him and that's fine, but I need to put my head down and just try to do my job. Q. When you are 42 do you expect to be competing and winning out here? JASON DAY: I hope I walk when I'm 42. The amount of times that I've fallen over. But, yeah, I hope I have the desire to want and want to win out here. That's what I'm hoping for because I've always said I'll retire when I don't want to win anymore. I'll retire when I don't have the desire to get better as a player. Because I'll just be beating myself with a stick out there and it's no good to try and beat, at 42, or if you're 40 years old you're trying to beat guys half your age that want it more than you, that's just, you kind of, you're fighting an uphill battle there. So if I want it enough, I'll be competitive, I know that for sure and I'll keep myself in tip top shape the way I have tried to do over the last few years and try and win then. Q. Did you walk away from Pebble almost itching to keep playing because you were playing so well? JASON DAY: A little bit. After the first week I started scratching my neck. But to be there with my mom during Mexico, to be there for her scans and see what was going on -- which was good results -- I needed to do that as well, but it was always good to have a good rest, because I did work really, really hard for a good two, three weeks leading up to those first two events for me. Q. The good results, you got some of those before the Masters last year from your mom and you sort of played hurt in the Masters, do you expect that to happen again and also do you consciously try to bottle good form when you're at home, what do you do to try and sustain momentum when you're not at a tournament? JASON DAY: That's a good question, I kind of forget about the stuff, to be honest. I won Torrey Pines and I got on a bus I think that afternoon and I'm like, okay, we're in Palm Springs, what are we going to do now kind of thing. I know that I'm definitely confident in my abilities right now, but I treat every week as a new week. And I'm trying to beat the golf course, because that's the biggest thing you're not, I try not to beat myself, I'm trying not to beat myself, but I'm trying to beat the golf course. Because if I can beat the golf course and not myself then hopefully I'm there in contention by Sunday. And it's just the little steps along the way, that's all it is. Q. If you would have been told at the Presidents Cup last year that Tiger would be the betting favorite to win Bay Hill and you would be No. 2, which would have surprised you more? JASON DAY: That, what you just said. I mean, Tiger, I mean, we're going back, I remember texting him I think a couple months ago whatever it was saying like how's it going and he's like, yeah, I'm starting to feel no pain. I'm like, now he's, you said he's the favorite? Q. Vegas has him as the favorite. You're No. 2. JASON DAY: That would be right. He's coming off some, I mean, I'm watching him right now on the Golf Channel over here and he's coming off a tremendous week, what he had last week. Now, granted, this golf course is a little bit different to last week, we have a lot more 3-woods, a lot more drivers in your hands. Tomorrow's going to be a little bit cooler so the ball won't go as far. But last week the Valspar you could get away with hitting a few more irons off the tees -- and he loves hitting that 3-wood -- so he can get himself in position a lot more, but there's less drivers. But saying that, that's pretty interesting to be able to -- I mean we keep saying like it's surprising but it's not, it's Tiger Woods, for God's sake, you know what I mean? Guy won 14 Majors and 79 times. I don't know, I've never been around someone that, other than Mr. Nicklaus or never been around someone that talented. Q. You touched on this earlier, what is the secret to playing in the tumult that is when you're paired with Tiger and all the stupid stuff that people yell and would you be okay playing, getting paired with him at Augusta all that's going to be for his return. Maybe it's easier at Augusta. JASON DAY: No, no, no, the harder the better. I think the harder the better. With nerves -- oh, I think, without nerves, you can't get in the zone, I don't think you can get in the zone, it's very hard to get in the zone if you don't have any nerves, which is what you need. I just -- I mean, it's not my first time that I played with him and I'm not going to treat this like I'm playing with -- I'm playing with Tiger, yes, but I'm treating it like I'm playing with someone else, just someone else on the TOUR. There's going to be a lot more people there, but once again I don't really pay attention too much to what the crowds say. Every now and then I get a little bit vocal and sometimes I shouldn't because that's just, that's just my bad and I get a little silly out there, but the crowd's going to probably be very vocal out there for Tiger tomorrow and I think he -- going back to I think Rory's comment about how it, I don't know how many shots he said that he gave up playing, I think it's the opposite. I think he actually feeds off that. You know what I mean. I think he feeds off that crowd and I think it actually helps him more so than hurts him. But everyone has different opinion, but that's, I think that's mine, because you look at Tiger through the years in his successes of winning a tournament and he's fist pumping and he's high-fiving and he's going hard at it and he hears that, and I mean, who doesn't want to hear, let's go, Jason, from both side of the fairway or, let's go, Tiger. You know what I mean? Everyone loves hearing that. Sometimes you're new to it and you kind of are a little bit shocked by it, but after awhile you get used to it, you start feeding off that, that vibe of what the crowd's doing. So I think it definitely helps. Q. You said after Torrey Pines that you had missed not being in the conversation of being great players. What's it like to turn up at a course like Augusta and not be talked about as one of the favorites, like say last year? JASON DAY: It's almost like you got your tail between your legs, you're kind of sneaking inside. But it's something that you just, like for me, that has played some pretty good golf over the last few years, except for last year, you just kind of get used to it. And then you don't get talked about and you're like, hold on, there's something wrong here. It's a good kick in the butt because you know that you need to get back there. I just said earlier that if people aren't coming up to you, you're doing something wrong. And to be able to get back in the winner's circle this year is a good step in the right direction. Q. David Leadbetter told me that in January or early February you changed golf shafts in your driver. Something about a TPT shaft? JASON DAY: Yeah. Q. Do you feel that helped? Have you added it to other clubs? JASON DAY: I changed to a TPT golf shaft, I gained two miles an hour just by changing a shaft, which was nice. I'd like to gain more. But the shaft, the way they do it, I could get into the nitty gritty stuff with this shaft, it's very technical the way that they put two rods and they actually spin the graphite on there, instead of some of the other, but saying that, it's, if you look at, I drove it pretty well over the first two events and I feel really good with that shaft, but I also feel good with the Twist Face technology. Just got to plug that in there. (Laughter.) No, but seriously the driving driver combination with the driver and the shaft, it's worked out pretty good. THE MODERATOR: All right, thank you, Jason Day. Good luck this week. JASON DAY: Okay. Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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