What they said: Jason Day

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MORE INTERVIEWS: Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial transcript archive

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Jason Day, thanks for joining us after your third consecutive round of 65 here at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. A few opening comments. A good week for you so far. Five birdies today, no bogeys. So it seemed pretty stress free, but I'm sure you are enjoying yourself out there, maybe some comments.

JASON DAY: Yes, I'm enjoying myself out there. It's been a fun week. My mind is in a good spot right now. I just feel really comfortable with the way I am swinging, I feel really comfortable with the course and how it's set up. The wind hasn't been blowing at all this week but I'm sure it's going to blow tomorrow so it will make it a little bit tougher. I have played a lot of stress free golf. I'm going to try to do that tomorrow.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Questions?

Q. 65 seems to be your number this week with one more tomorrow. Will that kind of do it for you?

JASON DAY: That would be the goal. I'm just going to try and go out there tomorrow and give every shot 100%, and we will see how it goes at the end of the day. I guess if 65 does it, that would be great.

Q. I don't know how many starts you have had, 43, I think on TOUR, are you ready for this? What are your nerves going into tomorrow?

JASON DAY: I finished second in Puerto Rico, I was in the final group. But there is going to be a lot more people out there tomorrow. This is a much bigger event than the Puerto Rico tournament. I guess I will try to soak in the tournament tomorrow. I am going to try to go out there and play my game and give every shot 100 percent.

Q. Obviously your comfort level is high with the course, you practice /PRABLG here some, what in particular, what aspect of your game is clicking this week, or is it just everything?

JASON DAY: I feel really comfortable on the course, obviously this is my home course. I only live 15 minutes away. I've been putting the ball really, really well. Just the roll and my speed and my lines have been great. As long as I can go out there tomorrow, and just do the job and get it to the green, I think I can be somewhere around the league come at the end of tomorrow.

Q. Can you talk about today's round, how you picked up some speed on the back 9?
JASON DAY: I was 1-under through nine holes. I had a lot of great up and downs on the front 9. I knew I needed to do something on the back 9, and I started off with a birdie on 10. I birdied 11. And I parred the next par-3. I hit an 8-iron in the middle of 14 fairway. I was trying to go at it, I blocked it and ended up being a foot away. A tap-in. The par-3, I towed a 6-iron up there and ended up being a foot away as well. I had a few lucky shots here and there, that's the way it goes, I guess.

Q. We know you did that on purpose though?

JASON DAY: Yes, that's right. As long as I know, I will do that.

Q. What would it mean for you to win here considering this is where you make your home now, and you practice here pretty regularly?

JASON DAY: Especially with the tradition, and when you walk through the clubhouse you see those shadow boxes with that one certain club, which has made a difference in every other player's wins. You can go through and look at the tradition, and obviously Ben Hogan practicing and playing out of here, and him being a five-time champion. It would be great to have your name with the likes of him and obviously the great golfers that have won here. For the first win of my career, that will be great. Who knows, we will see by the end of tomorrow.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Can you go through the card?

JASON DAY: I hit driver down the left rough, hit 4-iron on the green and 2-putted from about 30 feet.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: All then all pars the rest of the way. Any particular good saves or anything?

JASON DAY: I'm just trying to think. The third I got up and down I hit the par-3, hit it right, made a great up and down there. The fifth hole hit, I hit it left of the tee and hooked it around into bunker and got up and down out of the bunker there. 7th hole, the par-4, I hit a beautiful 3-iron down there. I hit a 9-iron short in the bunker and holed a good 15-footer for par. The par-3, hit it long left above the bunker. I hit a flop shop down to six feet and holed it, and I parred the 9th. 10, I hit 3-iron down there and hit a 7-iron short left of the pin and holed about a 25-footer. 11, I hit driver down the middle, had 3-iron in my hand, blocked it to the right in the bunker. I hit my bunker shot short and holed a 10 or 12-footer. 14, hit 3-wood down the middle and hit 8-iron, blocked a little bit to a foot and holed that. 16, hit 6-iron, had 192 and just blocked that a little bit and hit to a foot.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Anything else?

Q. You were a champion's choice, weren't you?

JASON DAY: Yes, I got a sponsor's invite into this event. I'm very happy I got a sponsor's invite. The guys helped me last year with an invite, hopefully I can return the favor and win this tournament for them. That would be great.

Q. You had quite a stretch on the front 9 where you kept yourself a float, did something kick in when you got to the back, making that many saves settled down your nerves a little bit?

JASON DAY: I think those saves I made on the front 9 were just momentum breaks for me. If I didn't hole any of those putts, or chip those shots close, I could have walked away with an even par round. But I made those saves, and I kept the momentum going my way. I made a great round on the back 9. It was really good. I started hitting more greens on the back 9 and started rolling those putts in which is great.

Q. What did you take away from last year and what improvements to your game did you make this year?

JASON DAY: You know, we've made a lot of changes, not on my golf swing. I'm just trying to maintain my golf swing now. Me and Colin, my coach and caddy, we keep stats every week. Like he keeps his own individual stats. He walks them and marks them every round. After every tournament I look at them and just see what I can improve on. There is a lot of things I need to improve on. We are trying to work on that. But trying to maintain the strength that I have. I don't want to work on one weakness and let a strength go away. I've been working a lot on my mind as well, just the way I feel, and how I approach the golf course and attack it. I just try to give myself a lot more opportunities at birdie. I just leave those bogeys away and a lot of stress free golf.

Q. Do you work at all with a sports psychologist or does Colin work with you?

JASON DAY: Colin actually works with me on pretty much every part of my game. He used to do the physical part as well. But now I have some guys I work with. Now he is a guy that works on the mind with me.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Thanks.

Transcript courtesy of sportstranscripts.com.