Aug. 19, 2015
JASON DAY
JULIUS MASON: Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. We here at The PGA of America of very happy to be joined by 2015 PGA Champion and world No. 3, Jason Day, who joins us from just outside Columbus, Ohio. After some brief opening remarks from Jason, we will turn it to media for questions.
Jason, thank you very much for finding some time for us today. Can you give us an idea of what you've been doing the last 48 hours or so, and what it's been like for you?
JASON DAY: Well, first of all, it's great to call in and I'm excited to talk to everyone today, especially about what has unfolded last week with my first major victory.
I mean, the last 48 hours for me personally has been more so just trying to catch up on the time with the family, catch up on rest and just spending good quality time with the family, because I really didn't get to see them last week. And being able to try and rest and recover was huge, because it was a long two weeks for me, especially last week was very, very long for me. It was mentally and physically draining.
So, to be able to get some muchneeded rest was great. But I would be happy to put myself through that exact same stress, that long of a week, just to be able to hold the Wanamaker Trophy again.
JULIUS MASON: Speaking of the Wanamaker Trophy. Two questions: Where is it right now and what have you put in it?
JASON DAY: (Laughs) It's actually sitting right behind me right now and I haven't put anything in it yet.
You know what, it's just I respect the trophy so much that the trophy that I have with me right now is just going straight into the trophy cabinet just so that I can look at it and think about it every time I go and see it; and know that all that hard work and dedication that I put into it; and all the respect that I have for it; and the respect that I have for the players that are on the trophy, are there. And to be able to have my name on that, it's just fantastic, it really is.
I enjoyed it so much that I want to be in that position again; to be able to be in contention and be able to hold the Wanamaker Trophy again. It would be an amazing feeling. But apparently has not had any sort of liquid in it and I don't plan to because I just respect the trophy too much to put anything in it.
Q. Congratulations. You've come so close in the majors the last three years. How much did it mean to you to bounce back at the Canadian Open after the heartbreak at the British Open, and how did that prepare you for last week? And also, I was just interested in how much it meant to you to be able to share that victory with Colin?
JASON DAY: Yeah, it was huge for me confidencewise, and going from the frustrations at The Open Championship because honestly, I felt like my first major championship victory was going to be at The Open Championship at St. Andrews. I just great that week. I felt good about my game; and then to pull up so short with the frustrating putt on the last hole.
But then again, turn around that week on a short week and fly straight back to Canada and play in the RBC Canadian Open and win that, especially with how I did it with three birdies in the last three holes to win by one, definitely helped the confidence; knowing that what I was doing at the time was good enough to win, and what I was doing mentally and physically to prepare for a tournament was exactly spoton what I needed to do; the confidence is high.
And then coming into the WGC week, I told you about it late last week. It was frustrating for me, the way I played at Bridgestone. It was frustrating for me because I felt like I was going to play better there.
So, immediately after that, I was with my agent, I said, "I'm going to win the PGA Championship." There's nothing on my mind other than just winning that week.
I think just with everything that happened from The Open Championship all the way up to the PGA Championship, it was just I felt like it was my time. I felt like I was in the right direction, heading in the right direction, not only with my mental side of things, but physically; the golf swing felt good. But just the whole week, I honestly believed no one was going to beat me and for some reason, everything clicked and I hit it I felt like I hit it better than everyone. I felt like I putted better than everyone.
And to be able to celebrate that with Colin, especially on the last hole, we were hugging each other and crying in each other's arms, it was very emotional for us both. He knows what we've been through. I think the majority of the people on this call know what happened in my past and my background. It's just been such a long journey and to be able to share that with one of my best mates and a father figure for me was very special.
Q. Thanks for doing this. Your last two wins, you were kind of the guy wearing the black hat. You were battling a Canadian at the Canadian Open; and Jordan, a lot of people seemed to be rooting for him in your gallery. Did the Canadian Open experience sort of help prepare you for what you faced Sunday, and can you describe what that was like? I know there were people sort of yelling negative things to you during that round.
JASON DAY: Yeah, to be honest, the Canadian people were fantastic. The only time I got a couple negative things against me at the Canadian Open was on the last hole, someone said to me hit it in the water when I was hitting my wedge shot into the green.
But, other than that, the Canadian crowd were fantastic. I actually felt like I was a Canadian that week. It was amazing how many people came out to that event. Just the support from that crowd was huge.
But, yeah, obviously, everyone knew Jordan Spieth is a young 22yearold American from Dallas, Texas, and he's the poster child for American golf right now. Like I said, if I was in the crowd, I'd be supporting him, as well, because he's just so easy to support. And I understand that. I understand that people wanted him to win.
That was the hardest that was the hardest round of golf that I've ever had to play; not only being able to have to play against Jordan and Justin Rose during my middle of the round, and then Branden Grace at the start of my round, having all those guys play well. But being able to play with Jordan in the final group when I knew exactly that the fans, they wanted Jordan to win.
And having some negative comments out there, that's tough. But things like that you just grow from. You gain experience and you grow from and makes you mentally tougher in the long run. I'm glad it happened that way. I'm not saying that these people that were saying negative stuff out there, that they really wanted it to happen.
But it was just a good way to kind of fuel the fire for me at least to know that these people I felt like these people were against me; I'm not going to have that. I'm going to keep pushing forward. I'm going to keep grinding it out and I'm not going to stop until I win this tournament. And that kind of hearing that and having those comments out there motivated me to be stronger. I think it's going to definitely help in the future with any sort of crowd negativity.
Q. Can you run us through the messages of support you've got from various people since the big names and things that maybe you've gotten, and also, if you can go back through the final round, was there ever a moment where you got yourself in that position that you'd been in before, where you had to check yourself, whether if it was a bogey on 8 or whether that shot on 9, you actually noticed the position you were in before and were able to react differently?
JASON DAY: Right. Yeah. It was pretty neat to be able to see I think I have 150 text messages, and I couldn't tell you how many emails that I had. But just the support that I had, especially after the win, was huge for me.
My peers even my peers Tweeting out to me on Twitter and being able to, and that's really what I liked the most about it. I enjoyed the love that I got from everyone, but to be able to get it from my pierce to really understand they understood how much it really meant for me and how much hard work I've put into the game to finally get my first major, and then to recognize it and say some really sweet and nice things to me over the Internet was fantastic. I mean, that's what really stuck in my mind. It was just unbelievable. I never really thought about it that way but it just meant a lot for my peers to say something like that.
You know, I think the biggest thing where I had to check myself during the day was I think the most clutch or pivotal part of my round was on 9, being able to get upanddown where practically Jordan Spieth hit it in the right on the rough and had a terrible lie, but gouged it out to the front of the green.
And then I had a great drive about 310, 320 yards straight down the middle, which is a very tough, difficult fairway to hit. And then, go straight up and caught fat the edge of my hand, which is just totally weird. I didn't feel any pressure. I didn't feel anything. It was just a really terrible feeling, because I felt like I was in control at that time, as well.
And as soon as I hit it, I just knew, I'm like, don't worry about it. There's nothing you can do about it now; just get upanddown.
I hit a great pitch to about probably inside ten feet, and then Jordan hit his just a little bit short. He had a putt and missed his, and then I rolled mine in. That was kind of a momentum I came off a bogey on 8, so that to me personally was a momentumstarter. To really understand that, even though I hit a terrible second shot and I was looking at bogey, I turned it around and made par and then that really got me going on the back side: Being able to hit a good shot on 10, even though I birdie it but par it; birdie 11, and to play on from there.
Q. Thanks for doing this. Just two quick questions. Your trainer and your wife and your coach and everybody has talked about seeing a lot of changes in you the past year, two years, even just this year. Just curious, what's the biggest change you've seen in yourself? And then I'll just wait for the follow up.
JASON DAY: Yeah, I think it's a number of things, not so much in my golf game I would say, more so in my body and mind. Because at the end of the day, you need to have a good golf game but also, you need to make sure your body is healthy, even though your mind is mentally strong.
With the finishes that I've had this year, especially going as far as the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, that helped me mentally. And the good play since then, it just really helped my confidence along the way.
But I put a lot of dedication into my body, really trying to make sure that I eat healthy, eat the right things, and then change the way I train. Early on in the year, I was doing two a days, where I was doing an hour, an hour and a half in the morning with cardio and ab workouts. And then in the afternoon, I would work out, do strength and conditioning for an hour.
So, I was really dedicated to making sure that I was preventing any further injuries, and I think people have seen not only the change in my body but the change in the way I hit the ball. I've definitely added distance. And I think a lot of people can see it, because I'm definitely I think I've added about ten or so more yards.
But it's been an accumulation of a bunch of things that have slightly improved over the last year to two years, ever since I won at the Match Play last year against Victor Dubuisson. You know, with all those things that I've improved, it's all those little things that I've improved that are adding up to the big picture now and making me play a lot better under pressure, making me play bigger and better in major championships and PGA Tour events. Yeah, I think that's the biggest thing.
Q. And then just a quick followup. I know you often trade texts with Tiger about things, and I'm just curious if you can maybe share some of the back and forth of those conversations and kind of what you get out of that.
JASON DAY: Yeah, he's the reason I started playing golf. He's the reason I got into the game of golf, because of the way he played, how dominating he was, and then reading that book about him when I was a 14, 15yearold kid, and him changing the way I looked at the work ethic that I had, how hard I had to work to get to where I am; has been a big influence on me.
To be able to call him a friend and really to be able to pick his brain about certain things and what keeps how do you stay so motivated and how do you what do you do in certain situations and stuff like that, has been a huge help. We've talked a bunch of times on the telephone. We've texted a bunch of times just back and forth each week.
And really, to be able to get the help from arguably the best player ever to walk or ever to live in our sport, I mean, there's no other way, because he's lived it, he's walked it, he's done it; and to be able to have that as someone to bounce things off when you don't quite have the answers, but he has the experience and the knowledge of finishing and playing and winning a lot of tournaments, is the best sort of advice that you can get out there.
Q. Just wondered if you can take us through now that you've won a major, your schedule through the rest of the season and will you be returning to Australia to play in any events?
JASON DAY: Unfortunately, I'm not going to return home to Australia, which is very sad for me, because I want to be able to share this moment that I have, the trophy, the Wanamaker Trophy, and the moment that I had, the experience that I had with the Australian crowd, the Australian fans, the Australian media.
Because once again, I haven't been able to get home a lot ever since being every here with injuries and babies and all that stuff, and they have been very understanding of it. They have been nothing but supportive of what I've been trying to accomplish in my golf and in my goals in life.
It's kind of sad because I really want to be able to get home and share this with them. But with No.2 on the way and Ellie due around midNovember, it's just I think I wouldn't be living in the house if I just got up and left Ellie with a brand new baby and Dash to look after by herself.
So, I definitely want to spend time with the family. But my schedule coming up is the full FedExCup Playoffs, then I have the Presidents Cup and then I'm going to take time off. It's been a great year but I really need to take time off to really kind of de brief and really understand what was going on this year, what I've done great, what I need to improve, and really try and get after it with my body, really try and change and get it to where I really think I need to get my body to the point where it's not going to break down again.
I'll probably take off some time and then maybe kind of reevaluate things once I get into late November. I'm going to go defend Shark Shootout. I'm thinking about going to play Tiger's events. But right now I'm just focusing on the FedExCup Playoffs right now.
Q. Since you mentioned Tiger, what do you say to the people that think he's become a ceremonial golfer?
JASON DAY: Ceremonial golfer, as in what does that mean?
Q. Maybe just playing out the string; not really motivated or having the selfbelief that he can do what he did before again.
JASON DAY: Yeah, I mean, it's well, I guess when you're starting at the bottom of the mountain again, so he's looking up at this mountain going, he wants to get to the top again, and I understand he's done it twice.
Starting at the bottom of the mountain you have to start somewhere at some point, and you have to be able to get through the bottom half of that mountain, and what may be the most rocky part to get past. It may be the most jagged part, because he's coming off what has been probably the hardest time in his golfing career with the play that he's had, the swing changes, the injuries, and all the stuff that happened off the golf course, has been tough on him, not only physically, but mentally, as well.