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WGC ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIPFebruary 22, 2014Jason DayMARANA, ARIZONA DOUG MILNE: We will jump right in. Jason Day, congratulations on your 2 and 1 victory over Louis Oosthuizen on Day 4 of the Accenture Match Play Championship. Some comments on the day. JASON DAY: I didn't know that ‑‑ before today's round I didn't know that Louis had a bad back. He certainly didn't play like he had a bad back. But he played some nice golf out there. We both fought hard until the finish. I'm very excited, I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's rounds. Just to be able to give myself a chance at winning the Accenture Match Play Championship is obviously a good achievement, to get into the final two groups, it's an amazing feeling because I was here last year and didn't quite get it done. But hopefully I can do a little better this year and press for that win. Q. If you could talk about what you thought the Major turning points were. The putts on 10 and 11 and perhaps where else you might have taken the match by the throat? JASON DAY: Definitely a huge putt on 10. I hit two 4‑woods down there, today and yesterday. And I've come up short with both iron shots, practically nearly the same spot. I'm not too sure what it is about that hole, maybe I'm just not hitting it hard enough. But I always talk about keeping the momentum rolling in the right direction. That was a huge, huge putt because I know that kind of hurt him when he lagged it up there and he laid it pretty close, so I gave him the putt. It's one of those putts where he has an outside chance, but most likely he's going to miss it. And I holed it, and that kind of gave me a boost of energy and went on to the next hole and I made birdie there, as well. He hit a poor shot, poor drive, but he wasn't going to give up coming down the stretch. I needed to keep playing well. And I birdied 14 and 15 and nearly birdied 16, as well. But it was a nice solid up‑and‑down on 17 to finish him off. Q. Obviously you were in the Final Four last year. JASON DAY: Yeah. Q. You're back there again this year. What, if anything, can you take from last year to improve this year and what happened? JASON DAY: I think the biggest thing is to get your mind right, know that you may go 36 plus holes out there. To get your head around thinking, you know, you're going to have to fire and keep grinding until the end. I think once you finally tell yourself that and convince yourself that in your mind I think that's the first part. Then the next part is to get as much rest as possible, because 36 holes in one day is brutal. It's long, very mentally and physically demanding. First of all, I'm very happy to be in this spot where I can play 36 holes for the championship. I don't mind having the stress and pressure of everything on my shoulders. I have a shot at winning the tournament, so the first match is very important to try and get through that. And then I have to think about the second. Q. You're such an intense guy out there, how do you dial it down tonight and then find that reserve for tomorrow morning? JASON DAY: I'll probably go to the gym tonight and just kind of‑‑ that's kind of my time where I just chill out. I'm still working out hard, but that's kind of my time to think about things and know that I did a good job today. Like you said, I feel like I'm very intense out there on the golf course, especially these kind of formats where it's match play. I'll probably just go to the gym and then just rest up. Maybe go to the pool, have a swim or something like that. Just really kind of keep the body moving because the moment that you think, great, I can just relax, that's when the body kind of stops and switches off a little bit and I don't want my body to stop right now. I want it to keep going and going and going until we're done with Sunday. Q. There's some guys in this tournament that talk about eating a steak and taking a bath. That's not necessarily what you would do? JASON DAY: I did that last night (laughter). Yeah, I took a‑‑ I had a steak last night and then had a bath with my little boy. But, no, everyone has different things that they have out here. Some people like to just lay in bed the whole time. I don't like to do that because my back stiffens up a lot, my lower back stiffens out a lot and I come out the next day and I can't move. So I like to try to keep active and that's just things that you learn over time. Some guys are different, but I'm definitely one of those guys that like to stay active. Even though I'm tired, I'll get plenty of rest tonight because I'll probably go to bed at like 8:30 or 9:00 and get a lot of rest. Q. Thoughts on playing Rickie tomorrow? JASON DAY: Yeah, I didn't know I was playing Rickie until Ellie told me. It should be fun, I think it's going to be a lot of fun. I haven't played with Rickie for a while, but I've never played against him in match play, so I'm not too sure. Obviously he's playing great golf right now because he's through to the semis. It's going to be interesting. We're really good buddies out there. I'll probably just get in my little world again and just try to find a way to beat him. Q. I have to go back through my annals or whatever, but I feel like every time you've been paired with him you've played really well, is there something about that? JASON DAY: I don't know. Me and Rickie and his caddie, Joe, he all get along. We're around the same age. I don't know, there must be something there that triggers for me to play well. But it doesn't matter‑‑ doesn't matter how we've played this week or previous weeks, it just matters how he plays tomorrow against me. Because anyone can come out and have eight birdies in the first eight holes or what not. It's just 18 holes of pretty intense golf. So I've just got to worry about myself and just go play golf, really. Q. It seems like Rickie has been pretty loose the last couple of days talking to people on the fairway and stuff. Tomorrow, even though you guys do get along, will you talk to him or just keep it pretty business‑like? JASON DAY: I talk to guys out there, but I typically‑‑ I talk. Talked to Louis, out of everyone I played, I talked to Louis the most, where I initiated the conversation. Normally in match play‑‑ I just know Louis so well and we go back to the Presidents Cup days. I just felt comfortable that we could talk about things. But tomorrow I'm still going to talk to Rickie, regardless of what happens. We're still good mates. I'm just going to go out there and, like I said, I'm going to go out there and kind of get in my little world and just play golf. Q. Just back to the match today. You had that situation on the first where you didn't ‑‑ you only had to play one shot. You go to 2 and it looks like he's dead and buried in the cactus. And then you get beaten on 2 and 3. I know you've always been a fighter, but you must have been pretty annoyed at that point? JASON DAY: I'm standing in the middle of the fairway with a 6‑iron in my hand on the second hole, and he's in the cactus taking an unplayable with a wood in his hand and he hits it to 20 feet and holes the putt. I miss my shot left and I don't get up and down. I'm just sitting there kicking myself going, Why did I hit it left with a 6‑iron? And then the next holehe ‑‑ I hit a close one there, and he rolled in a nice long putt, as well. But I felt like it was going to be kind of an up and down day because it wasn't until really the back nine where I started‑‑ it was a lot more solid and there weren't as many holes going back and forth. But definitely interesting front nine. But I'm glad I played solid on the back nine. Q. Did somebody yell out on 13? JASON DAY: Someone clapped. He was clapping at Louis, and I don't think he realized that I was hitting. And then I hooked it in the rough again. But it doesn't matter. I shouldn't have been in the rough in the first place. And that's what most golfers say, we're not trying to hit it there, but for some reason it just goes there. DOUG MILNE: Jason, congratulations. Good luck tomorrow. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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