BMW CHAMPIONSHIP

August 26, 2020

Jason Day

Olympia Fields Country Club

Press Conference

AMANDA HERRINGTON: We'd like to welcome Jason Day, the 2015 BMW Championship winner, to the virtual interview room here at the BMW Championship. Four top 5s in your last five starts, coming into the FedExCup Playoffs with consistently strong play with you needing to make a move this week to get into Atlanta. Just your thoughts on entering the week.

JASON DAY: Yeah, I definitely need to I think finish inside the top 4, I guess, to advance, so I've got to play kind of lights-out here. I know that last week was a bit of a poor performance going into that event, but I just -- I was kind of disappointed because it was a little bit sloppy from communication level to the actual hitting and then chipping and putting. Overall last week was just a very, very sloppy week, and then hopefully change that this week and get myself into contention on Sunday.

AMANDA HERRINGTON: What are your first impressions of the golf course offering a test this week in the penultimate FedExCup event?

JASON DAY: Yeah, it's interesting. A lot of people are saying that it's long. I don't think it's that long just because of how much the ball is running out currently. The greens are really firm. You can make it as short or as long as you want depending on what you hit off the tee, but it's going to be interesting to see what the guys do on certain holes and where the wind comes from because I know it's going to go southwest to northwest, and I haven't played into a northwest wind yet, and I think that may be the type of wind.

But with that being said, coming into the green is very important. If you miss it in the wrong spots you're absolutely dead. The greens are starting to get really firm. They're starting to get really fast and there's a lot of pitch to these greens so you've got to miss it in the correct spots.

Q. Tuesday you talked with the Aussie press and now I'm hoping you can talk to us about that relationship you have with Tiger. In specific, when you talk to him and seek advice on your back, what does he talk to you about, and when you seek advice on how to deal with your swing during back issues, what do you hear?

JASON DAY: Well, it's more about the process of changing my swing to alleviate the back pain. I know that his back is far worse off than what mine is. I can still -- I've never had major procedures on my back like he has, so I'm in a better situation there. So currently right now I talk to him about certain positions in the golf swing to kind of help me in regards to making sure that my swing doesn't hurt it along even further than what it is right now. I've been trying to work on some of the things that myself and Tiger have talked about, things like getting deeper in the right hip, being able to feel that the right hip -- it's weird to say, but like on the downswing getting that right butt cheek back so that I can actually turn easier on my left side because currently what's really kind of hurting me is I early extend in the golf swing down through impact. That's putting a lot of pressure on my back.

There's a few things that I've talked to him about, especially with regards to length of swing and all that stuff.

Obviously I talk to him because I value his opinion in regards to the golf swing because I think on the outside he doesn't say a lot about the golf swing, but he's very, very bright, I think, in regards to the technique or the technical aspects of the golf swing, and then obviously I talk to my trainer about what I need to do, as well.

It's been an interesting kind of situation going back and forth with him over the swing because I completely -- you know how sometimes Tiger will talk in circles and you don't understand what he's talking about? When it comes to the golf swing, I completely understand him. It's been actually quite refreshing that way.

Q. How long have these talks been going on, the specific ones dealing with the swing and the back?

JASON DAY: Yeah, I mean, we started -- it's been on and off probably over the last month I would say. Know what I mean? Ever since me and Col kind of split up, I kind of reached out to him and started chatting to him about the swing. Obviously someone that's won 82 times, you kind of have to listen. Every swing I have on my phone is either myself or Tiger's swing, so any time I get a Tiger swing from my buddies, I send it straight to him and then we chat about the swing.

Q. Obviously this is a unique situation for a guy like you in terms of needing a high finish to be able to advance. Do you feel like your approach changes at all knowing that there's no difference for you between finishing 10th and 30th this week, that you need to finish in the top 5?

JASON DAY: Yeah, I mean, if I want to get there I have to, right? I feel like this is a week where everything has to align correctly for me. I'm not one of the guys that's secured inside the top 30, so my mindset is obviously a little bit different. I don't want to take off next week. I really -- I want to get to TOUR Champs to give myself a chance or an opportunity at winning the FedExCup.

I feel that my game has been moving in the correct -- trending upward in good position going into these weeks, but unfortunately last week I went backwards. Just tidy up a few things from last week to this week and then it's one of these weeks where you can't really go out and force it, though, unfortunately because the golf course is so tough, so you've got to be careful forcing the issue here, so you've got to be patient, and once again, we don't really kind of know what the winning score is going to be because if you've walked the golf course already, there's tee positions crossing over different holes and whatnot, and that can -- I don't know where they're going to put tee markers because I think there's like maybe three or four holes out there that you're hitting across a hole and then their tee markers are right there and you're there, and I don't know which positions -- I don't know how easy we're going to play the course or how hard we're going to play the course. I know that the rough is up.

It'll be interesting. This is a kind of do-or-die moment for me in this season. I've just got to really kind of bear down here and play good. That's all that really matters.

Q. Obviously you talk about if it's going to be hard or easy. It was like a million under last week. I'm guessing you prefer that to not be the case this week; the harder the better, right?

JASON DAY: Yeah, the harder the better. Guys that are kind of getting away with playing golf where their game is not quite on, it definitely -- they won't shoot that this week. From tee to green you have to be on, and then obviously on and around the greens. This golf course is going to test your whole game, really, to be honest. I think there's a good variety or selection of tee shots that you can actually hit from driver to 3-wood to 2-iron if you want to on pretty much most holes, and that obviously sets up the second shot. It's an interesting golf course. I think it's going to be a good test throughout the golf bag. But more so it's more of a mental challenge out there because of how difficult the golf course is presenting right now.

Q. Not to keep asking you about Tiger and you might have already partly mentioned it already, but what's the best piece of advice Tiger has given you regarding your swing or golf game in general?

JASON DAY: There's been a few things. I mean, we've talked about putting beforehand. I know that one time I was kind of -- I played a practice round with him and he's chatting to me after, and he's like, hey, man, you've got to feel like you're either releasing the putter head or you've got to feel like that putter head is a little bit closed because every time you hit a left-to-right putt, when you have left-to-right putts, you're fanning it open and it's missing low side all the time, and then I went on a pretty good stretch of winning tournaments.

So that has been pretty good, and then right now -- if I had to choose between like the technical aspects, I think right now I talk to him about how to get into your right hip more and he's like, initiate the swing with your right hip. That should get you a little bit deeper.

I'm trying to do that right now but obviously the feels -- it messes with my playing feel, but like when I'm at home working on it, it's able to not only help my right hip but it's able to tidy up the left hip, as well. I just need a little bit of time to kind of work on that. It gets my arm position on the way back at the top a little bit deeper, which then I can actually shallow the club out a little bit more. I'm able to rotate through the ball a lot better or a lot easier, so that kind of takes a lot of pressure off my back, which has been nice.

There are a couple of good pieces of advice that I've got off him.

Q. Just a couple things. When you were in your heyday, when you were --

JASON DAY: Hey, man, I'm not --

Q. During your heyday of 2015 and 2016, how much were you practicing back then compared to how much you're allowed to practice in your recent six months? How much time have you lost because of --

JASON DAY: My back? There would be times where I'd spend 10 hours a day practicing, and I would do that three, four days a week, and now it's a grind if I can get to five. Let me put it this way: At the start of the year I was practicing 30 minutes on my putting, and in my heyday I was practicing two and a half to three hours of putting just alone every day.

AMANDA HERRINGTON: Jason, thanks so much for your time today. We wish you the best of luck this week.