It has been a while since Jason Day went into the final day of a tournament with a chance to win. But here he is at the Farmers Insurance Open with a share of the lead. Excerpts from an interview:
Jason, your first round on the South Course and today’s round, three more fairways today?
Jason Day: Yeah.
Was that a big difference in your round today?
Day: Yeah, definitely. I mean, the rough is pretty gnarly in some spots. It’s still gettable. I think you can still advance it to the green whereas in some years you feel like you can’t advance it because the rough is so thick. I know that the course is actually set up really, really well. I think the Tour did a good job. I think the superintendents on both sides have done a tremendous job setting up the golf course.
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Yeah, three more fairways, it was nice. Actually started to gain a little bit more confidence with my driver kind of hitting that kind of bleed cut. Yeah, I’m just trying to keep the momentum going, that’s all I’m focusing on.
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Let’s talk about the 18th hole on this golf course. You hit a great drive there. Got to go for it in two when you’re inside of 250, but that’s a tough green to hold, isn’t it?
Day: I think I had like 222 in. That’s how far my 4-iron actually goes, so it was no surprise that my 4-iron landed up around there. I was trying to take about seven yards off a 4-iron, but as you know, it’s very difficult to take seven yards off a 4-iron and flight it up and hit a nice little soft one.
Yeah, I mean, I’m not going to take the shorter option, so I’ll take kind of like maybe try and take five off. If it works out, great. If not, then it’s in that back pot, which I was. Actually, to be honest, that back pot is a pretty difficult bunker shot, but it was nice to be able to get that up and down.
Putts like this have @JDayGolf in a share of the lead @FarmersInsOpen. pic.twitter.com/2r0vFK60Ij
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 29, 2022
You’ve won here twice, you have a chance to win here again tomorrow and typically this golf course comes down to the 18th hole. How much do you think that experience will help you tomorrow?
Day: It’s nice to be able to be in the position, but like every position that you get into tournament-wise, kind of feels new. So it’s nice to be able to know that I’ve done it on the golf course twice, not only in regulation but also in playoffs, but tomorrow’s a new day and you don’t know what’s going to come. I’ve just got to kind of get a good rest tonight, get into it tomorrow and just be patient.
How did you feel coming into this week?
Day: I feel good. You know, it’s — how to explain it. I’ve been saying that I’ve been close for a long time, that’s what I’ve felt like I’ve been saying. It’s been a long two-and-a-bit years not really being in contention or having a good shot at winning a tournament, but I think overall I’m pretty pleased with how things are progressing swing-wise, body-wise. My putting feels like it’s kind of back thereabouts when I’m usually putting pretty decent, and that’s typically the strength of my game is putting, short game. It’s nice to be able to complement that with some good hitting as well.
Overall I feel like there was a lot of positives going off last week in Palm Springs even though the finish wasn’t as good as it could have been. Just tightening it up this week and I’m happy to be up on top of the leaderboard right now.
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I don’t know how much time you’ve got, but what are you doing body- and swing-wise that’s got you feeling good?
Day: Well, I mean, I could — I could talk for a day, you know, but all this stuff. It’s been a long, long process. When we have a lot more time I can sit down and talk to you about it. It’s just being really disciplined on what I need to do movement-wise and then swing-wise because the two have to co-exist. If I don’t have a really good body that moves correctly in a certain way and then I don’t marry that with good technique or technique for my body, not necessarily saying that my technique is good but for my body it eases everything and starts giving me confidence that you’re heading in the right direction, more of the same stuff.
I’m going to actually hit the — go work on the swing, really try and cement the feels in and go do more therapy stuff tonight. Get in and out because that’s usually my thing on third rounds, I get in and out in California. Then get some rest, yeah.
How would you describe the last three years of your life professionally?
Day: A big ball of stress I would say, yeah. It’s just that you come from being the top of the world and then all of a sudden it kind of falls out beneath you. I’m just happy that — I’m obviously not still out of it, but I’m glad that I’ve given myself a chance at it tomorrow. That’s the ultimate goal is to put myself in the position where I can win tournaments. I feel like it’s been a long time. Even though I’ve had some good finishes here and there in the last three years, it’s been difficult to know that like, hey, do you want to keep pushing it, because it’s painful either way. It’s painful if I walk away, it’s painful if I keep pushing on, so I just had to kind of suck it up. You’ve just got to understand that it’s going to take a long time for me. It may not for other guys, but for me it’s taken a while and just stay patient with myself and just stay positive as much as possible because sooner or later it’s going to change.
Get ready for a Saturday finish at Torrey. 🍿
(Odds via @FDSportsbook) pic.twitter.com/4ayJKIYYru
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 29, 2022
Do you feel like you’re ready to win tomorrow?
Day: Yeah, yeah, very much so. I’m not going to be — I can’t be overly excited about it. I know I’ve been, like you said, I’ve been in the position before. I just know that everyone’s going to be super pumped to be either in the final group or in and around that. I’ve just got to forget what other people are doing. If I can go out there and just play within myself, then I should be able to give myself the opportunities. I just can’t get inside my head too much, I’ve just got to go out there and be patient.
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