MEN'S OLYMPIC GOLF COMPETITION

August 4, 2024

Jason Day

Le Golf National

Press Conference

Q. How are you feeling?

JASON DAY: I'm feeling okay. Hit it a little average today with the irons. It was a weird scenario. I drove it pretty poorly the first three days, hit irons really nice and it was reverse role today and had no idea where the ball was going. So it was nice to keep my round going with my short game and my putting.

Q. Top 10 finish, not bad?

JASON DAY: Top 10 finish for not quite having the stuff that you needed it was quite nice. Some guys are playing phenomenal golf right now that I've got to do a lot of work to get to that level. It's just a good step in the right direction, especially with the Playoffs. I'm not playing next week but I'll have a week off and we'll get to the Playoffs here shortly.

Q. Wonder if it has the feel of a fifth major?

JASON DAY: It was very impressive this week. It was fascinating and kind of I was in awe the first few days and even today, especially playing right behind Victor. I would have been absolutely nervous if I was him to be honest.

He fed off the crowd and he played wonderful golf and I think that will be probably one of his best memories that he'll ever have in golf, especially playing at home, in front of the home crowd.

Like I said before, other than Viktor, I have no idea what they were saying and they were supporting him very, very hard and it was impressive to watch.

Q. Min spoke earlier about seeing his old LIV mates again. What do you think a tournament like this does for the game of golf?

JASON DAY: I said earlier in the week, it's amazing what sport can do to bring people together. This is a week that we are not playing for money. We are playing for a medal and your country. You're weighing it on your chest and it's brought out old feelings that I thought I didn't have and I still have deep down and why we play golf and why we love it so much.

So it was impressive to see all the different countries out there. I thoroughly enjoyed the week and I'm hoping that I get to play L.A. in four years.

Q. You said you're trying to get to that next level. Obviously Scottie is there and he might steal the Gold Medal.

JASON DAY: Yeah, I can definitely feel it. I know what he's going through. It just feels like he can't do anything wrong. Like you're in just such control, and his is a little different to mine. I did it through really, really good putting and short game. Drove it pretty solid. But he's doing it from tee-to-green and not putting a lot of stress on himself. When he putts decent, he usually is around the lead. When he putts really well, he kind of runs away with it.

It's impressive to watch how balanced he is as an individual. Sometimes you can get in your own way and he has a really balanced approach and that's probably the hardest thing is to try to balance all that, everything that goes with being the best player in the world and trying to compete week-in and week-out, and he's doing it on a weekly basis which is very, very hard to do.

Q. When was the last time you've seen anyone do anything like that?

JASON DAY: Tiger. I had a really short spurt where I did everything right and I just felt like I could win every single week, which is funny to say but that's what I felt like. I did for a moment there. But like he's doing some things that we haven't seen in a long while, and it's impressive to watch.

The difference between Tiger and Rory, when you watch Scottie, like I know that like from tee-to-green, he's amazing. I say this in the most respectful away, he doesn't blow you away like what a Tiger Woods would do or a Rory McIlroy would do. Doesn't make mitts takes. He hits it in the right spots and does the right things. He's got unbelievable control with his iron play, and when he misses a green, he's got a good short game to back it up. He's got such a complete game.

He's really hard to play against because you know that he's never going to make a mistake but that's something that we have to elevate our games to. We have to catch him one way or another. That just means more work.

Q. How much of a weapon is that confidence?

JASON DAY: It's huge. At this level, confidence is the biggest thing because everyone is good. Everyone does a few things better than other guys. But if you have confidence, a balanced confidence, because you can overstep and miss information. If you're overconfident, you can miss things. That's why I say he's balanced in the way he approaches a lot of things.

But he's on top of the world right now. He's confident. He's got a really solid game. Good balance on course and off course. He's got everything like perfect right now. So we'll so he how things progress during his career. Maybe he'll kick it on for the next ten, 12 years or whatever it is or maybe it will be a short term. But who knows. Right now he's playing some impressive golf.

Q. How do you go about trying to get to that level?

JASON DAY: It's a lifestyle. So you have to live and breathe everything you possibly can to get back to No. 1. That's kind of the sacrifice that you make and the sacrifice you make around your family and your close ones, your loved ones. It's something that you have to dive fully into. It's difficult.

Q. Can you do it?

JASON DAY: If I get my iron play where it needs to be, I can definitely do it for sure. Like my putting is too good not to.

Q. Can you shut off everything else, the fans?

JASON DAY: That's the difficult thing. I've got five kids and to have your priorities, like just very selfishly have your priorities in one spot is difficult. You know, whether you're willing to say you can get back there is another story to actually going and doing it and being selfish with your time. That's a difficult thing to do.

Yeah, we'll wait and see.

Q. How does it feel, the Olympics, what was this experience like?

JASON DAY: It was fun. Like I said earlier, it's something that we typically look at where we finished every week and how much money we make.

This week, it's not the same. You're playing for your country and that feels -- it's a very humbling experience and a very honouring experience, too. I never thought I would be so nervous in certain clothing and certain colour clothing but playing for more than yourself which is fantastic.

Q. Will we see you at home?

JASON DAY: Yeah, that's the plan.

Q. Playing tournaments?

JASON DAY: That's the plan. Whether it's one or two, I'm not sure but I think currently I'm looking at maybe playing both events down there, which would be fantastic. It's been too long. Yeah, I understand that.

Q. Do you think there's room for a team tournament in golf?

JASON DAY: Well, you already have one in LIV. I don't know, I mean, you're a team but it's really individual here this week, you know what I mean. We have the team aspect. I think if they could really maybe offer a few more medals. Like if they do a mixed version where you have low men's and women's and join, like an aggregate score, I think that would be great.

And that way, I think we could play the tournament the same time as the women's. I don't think we need to spread it out over two weeks. We just like have a morning wave, afternoon wave, and then you kind of just keep doing that through the four days and that's where you have men and women; you'll have maybe even bigger crowds with that tweak.

Q. Did you stay in the Village?

JASON DAY: No.

Q. Did you do the Opening Ceremony?

JASON DAY: No. I missed a lot of it. So hopefully L.A.

I'm going home tomorrow, get back and get ready for the Playoffs.