Jason Day looks ahead to November
BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2011 The Presidents Cup | General | 27 Oct 2011
The leading ranked player amongst the International Presidents Cup Team, Jason Day, was today involved in a teleconference with Australian golfing media.
The following outlines some of his responses to a series of questions asked during the 25 minute chat.
Opener
“I’m really looking down to getting down and playing the Australian Open. I know it’s going to be a strong field. A lot of the guys that are playing in the Aussie Open are going to play in The Presidents Cup, which is kind of going to feel like a PGA TOUR event, which is nice. It’s a good, strong field. It would be nice to get off to a good start there and head over to The Presidents Cup down in Melbourne.
It’s obviously an honor to be on the team for The Presidents Cup. If you asked me at the start of the year, you’re going to be on The Presidents Cup team, I would have been happy. To be the No. 1 pick is an amazing accomplishment for myself. I’m just very happy with how everything has kind of panned out.
It’s been an amazing year obviously. I’m looking forward to having a good stretch of tournaments down there.”
Q. There’s been a bit of talk about the Aussies having some local knowledge. Some of the other Aussies have more knowledge about Royal Melbourne than yourself. Can you give us what you know about it?
“The last time I played Royal Melbourne was at the Heineken Classic going back a few years, I don’t know if I was 15 or 16. I played it before. I know of the course. I played a lot of different golf courses down there in Melbourne.
It’s been a while since I played there, but I’m really looking forward to getting back down there and playing. It’s going to be very, very intense but we’re going to enjoy ourselves. I know we’re going to have a lot of fun.”
Q. Could you give us any insight into how your life changed on and off the course after Augusta this year.
“You know what, the only thing that’s changed is people are recognizing me a lot more in airports and that’s about it. Obviously I haven’t changed at all personality wise. Nothing really changed at all in my life.
Obviously I’ve had a few more obligations to do. That’s great. If I’m not doing these kind of things, it just shows I’m not doing the right thing. But I know I’m heading in the right direction, I’m playing good golf, trying to be the best person and golfer I can be.
Obviously, you know, it’s been such a whirlwind since the Masters, because I didn’t know I was going to go in there and finish second, and the year I’ve had has been an amazing year. I’m a little disappointed I didn’t win (this season), but it’s been great.
Nothing has changed that much though. I’m the same old guy.”
Q. You’ve had a long year where you’ve contended a lot. What have you done to freshen yourself up the last few weeks?
“You know what, I’ve actually done nothing. I’ve really had a good solid month off. Actually I spent most of my time up in Ohio. I pretty much worked out pretty much every day. I’ve worked out very, very hard with my trainers up in Ohio.
Now I’m down in Texas for a week before I head over to Australia. I’m looking forward to getting out and practicing and working on obviously a few things that I need to improve.
I’ve really done nothing. It’s good to do that once in a while. You just need to turn the mind off, not even think about golf. After having a month off, I’m really hungry to get out there and play golf.”
Q. You’re on a team captained by Greg, a great influence on Australian golf. Sounds like you’ve spoken to him. Can you tell us what that’s been like? Has that influenced you at all this year?
“We’re trading text messages back and forth obviously over the last couple months. Greg has always been great to me. He’s a very, very busy guy. He’s got a lot of business around the world. He’s always flying in and out of everywhere.
But I talked to him after I made the team. I talked to him the TOUR Champs week, talking to him about who he was going to pick, who he was thinking about picking, all that other stuff. We were kind of getting along the lines of we really want to win one. We really want to win the Cup, take it home, hold onto it for a couple years.
Obviously I think it’s I don’t know how long it’s been six Cups since we won it. It’s been a while. I think our whole team is very hungry to go down there and perform. We have a unique team, a lot of young guys and a lot of old guys. I think it’s a good mixture that we have on our team. I think hopefully we can kind of all mix in together and play as one and try and win this thing.”
Q. I spoke to both captains last month, Greg Norman and Freddie Couples. Out of both teams they predicted you as a future world No. 1. Where is that on your radar?
“You know, it’s always been a goal of mine to get to the No. 1 spot. But I know it comes with a lot of sacrifice, a lot of hard work, a lot of dedication to the game.
It is (a case of) small little steps. At the start of my career I thought I was going to come out and kill it. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen that way. I’ve slowly worked my way back up to where I believe I can be. I know that it’s going to take a while. But hopefully I can get that No. 1 spot in the next five years, and that would be nice.”
Q. Can you confirm that the Australian Open will be your second event as a professional in Australia? You played a Nationwide event in Adelaide, didn’t you?
“Yes, I did. Been so long ago that I totally forgot about it. It’s going to be my second event as a professional. But obviously it’s going to be my first event as a professional on the big stage. I haven’t played the Australian summer of golf as a professional yet so I’m really looking forward to getting there.”
Q. How frustrating has it been for you? The TOUR school, the injury, honeymoon. How frustrated have you been by not being able to get down here earlier?
“It’s been frustrating. Like you said, it has really been frustrating. I don’t plan to get sick or get hurt, having to go back to Q School. That’s not on the agenda. I don’t want to go back there ever again.
Obviously being hurt is the worst thing that can happen. But you know what, it’s been a good four years for me on the PGA TOUR. Finally I’m looking forward to getting back and playing as a professional. Like you said, it’s been annoying. Right now I’m just trying, as I said before, a week earlier in advance to play as best I can.”
Q. A line came through saying the amazing thing about your wonderful year is it actually followed a period where you were quite down in the dumps. Was that true?
“Yes, definitely. That was right around the time when I hired Neale Smith, who is a mental coach. That was right around the time of the L.A. Open. I was down in the dumps, so I wasn’t playing great golf, wasn’t happy on the golf course.
Things have changed. I worked with him the whole year. It was a great year working with Neil. But I’ve got back to enjoying the game, loving it a lot more. I also talked to Scottie (Adam) about it. I said, What got you from not being as motivated to play golf to getting back and winning tournaments? This was later in the year when he was on the WGC. He said, I’m enjoying the game a lot more. When I’m out there practicing, I’m practicing stuff, trying to set goals that are fun. Instead of getting out there and grinding and hitting ball after ball, he’s out there actually having some practicing. That’s pretty much how he got back into playing better golf, is he started enjoying himself more, practicing.
That’s what I’m trying to get back into now. Over this year it’s been a very successful year. That’s what I’m trying to get back into. I’m loving the game a lot. It’s just fun where I am right now. I’m very, very blessed to be where I am right now.”
Quotes courtesy of Presidents Cup teleconference.
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