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THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

March 15, 2019

Jason Day

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

Q. I would suppose you're in perfect position headed into the weekend. Tell me about the round.
JASON DAY: It was good. Pretty solid from tee to green. The iron shots were a lot better today than they were yesterday. I gave myself a lot more opportunities kind of inside 15 feet and was able to capitalize. The pin locations are -- I feel like are a lot more gettable today, especially in the morning. I just started rolling my putts in pretty nicely, and pretty pleased to get away with 6-under.

Q. I was impressed with the ball-striking. I thought you'd been maybe a tick off on the iron play so far this year, and you're 14 of 18 greens, 29 of 36 for the two days.
JASON DAY: Yeah, I'm pleased. I'm just trying to be as patient as I can. I know that there's certain holes that you need to capitalize on, which are, the par-5s are pretty much gettable. Even if you don't -- if you're out of position you can get yourself somewhere in position and still make a good charge at birdieing all four. 12, 4, those are the shortish par-4s that you kind of have to get after it. If you can get one or two birdies out of those, you're doing pretty well.

And then from there you're just trying to be as patient as possible and not really force the issue too much. If you can get one or two here or there, that's a kind of bonus. I felt like I played the par-5s pretty well over the last two days, and I played the par-4s pretty well, as well.

Q. The Jimmy Fallon buzz phrase, how did that come about, and what was your phrase you had to say?
JASON DAY: I had to say 1992 Grammy Awards.

Q. And you worked that into your presser?
JASON DAY: I worked that into my presser. You know what, as soon as I heard Scottie went to a Reba McEntire concert, I thought that was his words that he had to say. I mean, he did a phenomenal job doing that. But we just -- they came up -- Mark Williams came up to me and said, do you want to do it. I said, sure, if I can find a way to put it in. I wanted to be a lot more random than that, where people were kind of like questioning it, but it kind of fit in nicely.

Q. You made the run that you needed to make?
JASON DAY: Yeah, it will be interesting to see what the guys go, how they go this afternoon. I'm hoping they get some wind like we got yesterday afternoon, but I don't know if they will get as hard as what we had. But it's just, the course is playing nice, I mean from tee to green. They're still Bermuda greens, like I don't know if they tried to seed them but it seems like the Bermuda's kind of taken over with the warm weather and they're starting to brown out a lot. They're starting to get firm and you can see the putts starting to look like a cricket pitch, so, no, overall the golf course is playing nicely.

Q. Given how you felt last week, is there any part of you that's surprised to see where you're at?
JASON DAY: No, it's -- yes and no. Obviously I know how much it hurt last week, but then given the injections and the cortisone and all that stuff that went in there, I know that we have hit the spot because I can't feel a thing, which is good. I don't want to be out there playing golf and know that I -- that it hurts. So I just needed to prep as well as I could, and I feel like taking that extra time off Friday through Sunday and then getting here on Sunday night and practicing Monday through Wednesday, I feel like I gave myself enough prep, and unfortunately it would have been nice to have been able to play Bay Hill, but I can't force the issue because it is mid season.

Q. Have you had any subsequent injections since the original dose?
JASON DAY: No, no, just those. Obviously the dose pack early on two weeks beforehand and then just the injections after that.

Q. To what extent is Augusta on your mind already?
JASON DAY: Yeah, no, it's -- to be honest, I mean, like I used kind of Bay Hill through the Match Play just to kind of get myself into playing mode and for Augusta, but I'm trying to win the tournament here and I'm going to try and win Valspar next week and I'm going to try and win the Match Play after that. So I'm really focusing on just trying to win the tournament at hand, and once I get to Augusta -- I mean, if I go there early, it's not going to play the same as when the tournament's on anyway, so I just got to get myself into playing mode and get some competitive represents under the belt.

Q. How much work did you do on your iron play here two weeks ago?
JASON DAY: A lot. A lot. Yeah.

Q. Do you feel it's paid off?
JASON DAY: Yeah, I mean the proximity still needs to tighten up, some of the shots that I'm out there I have no clue what I'm doing with regards to hitting iron shots, I don't know how far the distance is because I've really tried to watch my tempo more so than anything. I feel like in years past that I've kind of gone at the ball too hard, especially with the full swing. I'm not trying to hit it as hard with regards to hitting my numbers. So, for instance, I hit a 7-iron 190, in this temp I'll try and hit it five yards shorter, so that just is a little bit less than full swing and I'm just trying to hit a nice gentle draw or fade. But I feel like I've gained a little bit more control from that, but once again that could be the practice that I did put in.

Q. What's the difference on that between yesterday and today you were 10, 12 feet better today, I think.
JASON DAY: Yeah, I think -- well yesterday was more of a kind of see where things are going and then today I started feeling a little bit better over the ball, I had my cut shot going nicely and then obviously getting the confidence going around the course -- when you're playing well you don't have to really force the issue too much, you kind of just got to get it around the hole somewhere and if you're putting well then let that take over, but fortunately I was able to hit a few close.

Q. What conditions are ideal for you this weekend with Tommy kind of making a run already?
JASON DAY: It just depends on how far they get out in front. That northerly wind tomorrow in like 60 degree weather, it may be warm, but I think the ball won't be going as far. And that northerly wind is tough, especially coming down 17 and 18 and that whole back side. So I haven't played a northerly wind with this kind of golf course. I have played it with the old one in May, and I know how difficult that is, so we'll see.

Q. I know this question doesn't seem at all serious, but do you think about your career already, the injuries, do you think of what it could have been?
JASON DAY: Not really because I could have been healthy and still had the same or less. It just, it's definitely something that you have to be disciplined about. If you're not disciplined you hurt your back. Sometimes you can be bending down and picking up a pillow and your back goes out unfortunately, that's just how it is. I remember bending down and picking my firm roller and my back went out and I was thrown to the ground. So it's just little things like that.

Q. You don't think about what might have been?
JASON DAY: No, no, I mean, I don't think I've ever -- I can't think of a tournament where I've been injured other than the vertigo -- man, I got so many things going on -- I don't know. I'm tired just thinking about it now. But, yeah, no, I don't, I typically got a pretty short memory and I don't think, yeah, I could have, I finished better in some tournaments, but no need to now, I mean I've got, unfortunately, got the body that I got and I just got to go with it.

Q. This golf course, how much different does it play with no wind as compared to wind and especially with the heat the ball travels different too?
JASON DAY: Yeah, so obviously it's like 80 or so degrees right now, ball's going to go probably, from 60 degrees to 80, it's probably going to go another five yards further and that just depends on what wind direction you have. We have had a southerly wind over the last two days and that's obviously bringing in the heat. We're going to get a northerly over the next two days, Saturday, Sunday, with colder conditions and everything -- like we were just talking about it -- if you get that northerly wind into 1, some guys won't clear the water on right. Nobody ever thought about that before. I never thought about it and you're sitting there going, okay, you got to hit a good one -over there. So, yeah, it definitely is a lot that has to come into play. So I've got in my yardage book, I've got numbers from 60 degrees all the way up to 80, the 90 degrees as well and I can tell you exactly how far each club goes and the differences in the yardage as.

Q. Temperature.
JASON DAY: Yeah, in temperature.

Q. What's your take on guys in their late 40s, early 50s like Furyk like Phil, Vijay having big moments this year and can you see yourself from a longevity standpoint doing the same thing?
JASON DAY: Yeah, the TOUR's definitely a lot younger now than when I first came out and I'm sure the TOUR is very, very young compared to when Phil and Tiger started. I know that guys were called young in late 20, early 30s. And if you're 21 or 20, there's, that's young. That's 10 years younger. So, I mean, I think with seeing the level of play that the young guys are playing with and knowing that you can still be competitive is what is keeping these guys not only competitive but young as well. Because Phil, I don't think I've ever seen him drive it as long as he is right now. I mean, he's hitting it very, very far, which is letting him compete, especially out here in amongst the kind of new era of golf with how far everyone hits it. And if you can have that distance, it definitely makes golf courses a lot easier, but it's just amazing to me to see how competitive these guys are at that age. I mean, do I see myself playing at that? I don't know. I would like to get to 40 and just be done. That's if my body let's me. So just let me get to 40 first and I'll re-evaluate things from there. I think if I can, if I like it I'll keep going. If I don't, then I'll rack them up and spend the rest of my days with my kids.

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