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WGC ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIPFebruary 22, 2012Jason DayMARANA, ARIZONA COLIN MURRAY: Jason, thanks for joining us. Furious rally to escape the first round against Rafael Cabrera‑Bello. Could you talk about the day and especially those last few holes? JASON DAY: Yeah, it was‑‑ obviously I gave him a few shots on the first nine. He was 3‑up pretty quick on me. I just kept on hanging around, kept on hanging around. I wasn't hitting the greatest iron shots into the green. I was driving it really nicely today. I just couldn't quite get the right, you know, the distance, how far it was actually going in the air, because it obviously goes a little further here in Arizona. I couldn't quite get the measurement and was just a little off. He eagled, I believe‑‑ was it 14‑‑ 13‑‑ eagled 13 and birdied 14. And I just knew I needed to kind of fight it out. He birdied 15, as well. And I had a pretty close chip to get up and down there. And I don't know, he just missed a couple of six footers on 16 and 17. I had a nice shot into 18. He hit it right, which is pretty tough to get it up and down from where he was. And on the 19th hole I feel like I nearly holed it, I don't know how close it came. But I hit a great shot into that hole. Q. You're a 2 seed, I think that's right. And coming from that far back, is this the perfect example of how seedings really don't matter in a situation like this? JASON DAY: Yeah, it just depends on how you feel on the day. If you're not quite there. If your priorities are somewhere else, there's a lot of upsets in match play. That's just how it goes. If you're not just quite on your game for that day. These guys, anyone can win a tournament on any given week, these top 64 guys. And it's just amazing how good the caliber of player is now compared to what it was. I'm sure it was really stiff going back ten, 15 years, but it just seems like it's getting a lot tougher now. Everyone is a very, very good player. And like I said, can win on any given week. Q. You mentioned sort of the toughness in the flight deck, but you revel in that. You must have been, well, I've got to find something from somewhere. What was it that had you going? Did you want to give up at any stage, did you feel like it was over? JASON DAY: No, no, I didn't want to give up. I've been working on a lot of things mentally, with my new mental coach, and I know that working on your mental game is a process, it's going to take a while. I felt like I was very committed to each shot, which was nice. And I didn't want to give up at all. I knew that if I was knocked down the first round it would be very disappointing, obviously by me, to get knocked out. I'm coming here this week just to play as best as I can. I felt like a chipped very, very well on that back nine. I hit a lot of good chips close and that kind of kept the ball rolling for me, which was nice. Q. I'm trying to remember a few matches last year that were tight. It seems the Paul Casey match was pretty tight coming down? JASON DAY: KT Kim was close. I think I finished‑‑ Q. Casey 4 and 2. JASON DAY: Well, there you go. Q. 1‑up on Kim. JASON DAY: Yeah, match play, like I said, it's a funny kind of a game. A lot of people think they need to get off to a good start in match play. I think it's the other way around for me, personally. You can have a bad start like I did today, but as long as you keep yourself in it, you start getting the momentum going your way. It's amazing how things can change very, very quickly. And that's just what happened today. I felt like I had the momentum kind of rolling my way after 16. And just kind of won the next three holes after that. Q. You play the second round with John Senden. Looking forward to that? JASON DAY: I am. I haven't played with John. I think the last time I played with John was at the TOUR Championship last year. Very good ball‑striker. He can putt. When he's on with his putting, he can putt on the day. It's going to be a very tough match tomorrow. Like I said, I've got to just hang in there and just play my own game, whether it's shot one or shot 45. I've just got to commit to that shot and get the process right. Q. Do you feel like you've escaped one here, and now you can sort of take‑‑ JASON DAY: I felt like I just won the tournament (laughter.) Man, it was just so up and down, like inside. It might not have looked like I was up and down. It just felt‑‑ I felt like I won the tournament, and I just got through the first round. I did kind of scrape through, but I'm glad I stuck in there and didn't give up. Q. Because you haven't had a lot of success in match play, and even thinking back to Australia last year, did you put any extra pressure on yourself this week? JASON DAY: No. I felt like I played very well here last year. The Presidents Cup I was very exhausted. I didn't expect how mentally and physically grueling The Presidents Cup was going to be. And by Sunday I was just mentally gone. I just made too many mental errors and obviously got beat pretty badly there. But I felt like I've always been a pretty solid match play player as a junior and as an amateur player. But obviously the professional ranks are so much different. It's so much harder and things can go either way. Q. Talk about sort of your aggressive approach to match play. I'm just looking forward again talking about John, one of the nicest guys in the universe and an Australian. Will you back it off a bit or no holds barred? JASON DAY: No, like I've always said I'm going to go out there and do the best I can to beat the person, whether that's making him putt a two‑inch putt in, that's what I have to do. If the person beats me I'm going to take my hat off and congratulate them, they've played much better. But match play is a funny game. I've got to do what I can to obviously beat the person across from me. I kind of like that situation. It's going to be a fun day tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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