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WGC ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIPFebruary 20, 2013Jason DayMARANA, ARIZONA LAURA HILL: We'd like to welcome Jason Day to the interview room. Before this started the story was you being 6‑up through 10 and then the snow came in. Let's start with the weather. Have you ever seen anything like this and how have you been waiting out the last couple hours? JASON DAY: A couple of years ago I know that it snowed the final round here. I've never actually played golf to the point where we've actually stopped for snow, which is kind of crazy. A little crazy for it to snow in the desert, as well. But that's just how it is. Mother Nature can just do whatever she wants. Very, very happy with how I played the first 10 holes. Obviously I've got a 6‑up lead right now, not too sure what time we're going to resume tomorrow, but once it comes to tomorrow's round, resuming today's round, I kind of have to get back into that game mode, try to get back into a good frame of mind and make sure that I start off thinking that we're all square. I do have that lead, but I want to make sure that I try and get in the house. Q. It seemed like it went from raindrops to sleet to snow in a matter of minutes. JASON DAY: Yep. Q. Can you take us through like what that was like as you're trying to hit shots? JASON DAY: Right. Well, we actually‑‑ it started just kind of drizzling with rain after the 10th hole, and I went to the bathroom, and when I got out, it started raining. I'm sitting there, I'm like‑‑ because I think it was on hole 7, we actually saw the rain coming. You could see from a distance that it was coming in. And we're like, oh, we'll probably get to 11 and it's going to rain. We got to 11 and it started raining. Once it started raining, I knew that it was going to get cold, and talking over the last couple days with my coach and caddie, Cole, he said there was a chance of snow, and I was just‑‑ I was 6‑up and I had just sliced my ball into the junk, and I was just hoping that it was going to snow soon because I was going to start leaking oil there for a little bit. But I got it back out in the fairway for my second shot, and I've got about 200 yards, and then it started coming down with sleet. You had to put the umbrella up because it started hurting once it hit your face. After that, then it just started snowing and then just didn't stop, and now we have at least two inches on the ground. Kind of happy that it stopped. We wouldn't have got the play done anyway, so glad it stopped. Q. When you could tell that the weather was coming and you had already had a big lead, did you try to be more aggressive to get it over with and get out of there and be done? Did it have any effect on your strategy? JASON DAY: Well, I was trying to win 10 and 11, and then I would have been out. And that was the goal, to win the next‑‑ the 10th hole and the 11th hole. I hit a good shot into 10 after hitting it in the desert, and had a good chance at birdie, but unfortunately I didn't make it. But I didn't try and change my game plan. I mean, I was just trying to hit it on the fairways, hit the greens and try and make some putts, keep hitting solid shots to try and add that pressure to Zach to try and force him to hit good shots, maybe attack flags and maybe make mental errors out there, and that was pretty much it, and then obviously after that the rain came on 11, and that's pretty much when it ended. Q. What was the clubhouse like while everybody was waiting it out? I saw there were a couple players Tweeting photos. JASON DAY: Yeah, I know. I saw a bunch of guys‑‑ I saw Branden Grace out there throwing snowballs at someone. Everyone was sitting down eating. It seems like every rain delay or snow delay that we have, you just seem to sit there and eat dessert, and there's a bunch of yummy chocolates in there and you just sit there and eat chocolates and drink a lot of Coca‑Cola. Q. So it had a little ski resort feel to it? JASON DAY: Yeah, G‑Mac said there's some skis and ski boots at the front if we wanted to go skiing down these slopes, which is kind of funny. Q. With rain, sleet, snow, all these things you mentioned, what was the biggest challenge in terms of the weather? JASON DAY: I think‑‑ obviously at the start of the day we didn't know if it was going to snow. We knew it was going to rain at some point. I was listening to Tiger's interview last night, and he said it's‑‑ because we play 18 holes, you have to get off to a good start and try and keep that lead, and that's pretty much all I tried to do. I had a good start, I made par on the 1st, but obviously Zach missed an easy‑‑ like a makeable par putt on the 1st to get me to 1‑up and then he birdied the next hole, and then from there I made a par on 3 and then routed off three birdies to get myself 4‑up pretty quick. It was gusting a little bit. Early on it wasn't too bad, and then once the weather started coming in, that's when it started getting really, really ‑‑ the wind started getting really strong. But really all I tried to do was just trying to hit the greens because I know that if you're hitting the greens in this kind of weather, you're going to add some pressure, especially having such a pretty big lead being at 4‑up or 5‑up that I was. That's all I really needed to do is just play smart golf and try and get it in the house. Q. What types of things did you take out on the golf course for the cold today, stuff you wore and stuff that was in the bag that you wouldn't ordinarily have? JASON DAY: I had four layers on to start this morning. I have two layers on with pants, two pairs of socks on, and I have a rain suit‑‑ a rain top in the bag, as well, just in case it rained. We didn't use the rain top at all. I had a beanie. I was actually talking to Cole about it, and we were thinking if this was colder than Pebble, and I said this was way colder, and I was right because it snowed. Q. There are concerns there are going to be frost and ice delays tomorrow. How do you stay loose between now and then with all the practice areas snowed over? JASON DAY: Right. I can take a lot of positives out of today. I mean, I hit a lot of good quality shots from tee to green, chipped and putted pretty well. It's really like any other day. I got a lot of good shots in. I just have to go and just kind of switch the mind off this afternoon, not really think about the game tomorrow until it actually comes time to it. That's pretty much it. I really don't want to go over and try and play the holes in my head too much and try and think about it too much. I know Zach is a very gritty player. He's never going to give up. But that's why I've just got to keep on trying to push and not be aggressive but play smart. Q. What do you expect the course conditions to be like tomorrow? Rain is one thing, but you guys don't bounce back from snow very often. JASON DAY: Right. As long as the snow melts off, I know the course is going to be a little wet, but we're going to have the next four days‑‑ we're going to have some good weather. I know it's going to be a little cool tomorrow, but once it's above 32, it's going to‑‑ all the snow will melt, it's going to be a little softer. The good thing about today's round was that I could reach the par‑5s, whereas Zach couldn't. He was always‑‑ he was hitting it short enough that the par‑5s were three‑shot par‑5s for him, so I had the fire power to get home in two on those par‑5s, I had the fire power to cover some bunkers where he couldn't, so the course was actually playing longer for him, and I think if it's softer tomorrow, it's going to play just as long or even longer for him. That's where the advantage of hitting it long, because this golf course is pretty long, comes into play. Q. Before today, what were the craziest weather conditions you practiced in or played in maybe in Ohio? JASON DAY: I haven't played in any snow, but I would say a couple years ago I was playing at Royal St.George's for the Open, and I've never been in rain and wind that strong. I mean, I was holding the umbrella sideways and the rain was coming in sideways. It was so windy. Funny enough, I was talking to G‑Mac today about this weather, and he said he hit driver, 3‑iron into the first hole and kept it short of the green. I mean, that just goes to show you how strong that‑‑ how bad the weather was. Q. When you guys are waiting to find out whether or not they're going to call this thing, does everybody kind of know the drill, or is it odd or awkward? JASON DAY: It's every half an hour. The rules guys come in and say we're going to come back in every half an hour, and then it's either half an hour or an hour. 1:00 comes around, oh, we're going to wait another half an hour or hour, and then it comes around, and it all expands out to being four hours sitting there, and they're like, oh, we're going to call it. But lucky enough, the snow is not going to melt today I know unless we get some sunshine. The temperature is up, but it's going to take a while for this thing to melt off. Q. Was there a moment where you guys looked out the window and went, no way? JASON DAY: When those big snowflakes were starting to fall, there was no chance. Everyone was going, I don't know why they're here, but they called it pretty quick today. Normally we're waiting around the whole day for rain delays to stop, but there's nothing you can really do about snow. LAURA HILL: Jason, thanks a lot for coming in today. Good luck tomorrow. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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