Travelers Championship
Saturday, June 22, 2019
Jason Day
Quick Quotes
Q. You're very much in this heading into Sunday. Of one of the big changing you made is putting Stevie Williams on the bag. With you two as team you've changed a lot. Been working really hard. What are the big factors that put you in this position?
JASON DAY: I've never hit a (indiscernible) 3-wood before, and last Friday after the U.S. Open round on Friday he said that you need a lower shot, especially (indiscernible) the wind.
We practiced a little bit and then on Saturday we didn't play it, so it was kind of the first time I ever hit it. Now I feel like I got it dialed in pretty well.
Just been working really hard from tee-to-green. I know that I've struck it very well this week. Just haven't capitalized on opportunities as much as I should have. Looking forward to tomorrow.
Q. You also changed your golf ball. You've been practicing a lot. It is almost like a new lease on the game? Have you found a newfound, I don't know...
JASON DAY: Yeah. Don't get me wrong, Steve is very intense. It's nice to have a caddie that can obviously have the credentials he has but also point me in the right direction knowing that he's 100% confident in himself. That actually brings my confidence up.
He's caddied for a lot of great players. Obviously Tiger and (indiscernible) to name a few. But I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I know that we're still learning and we're trying to understand each other's - the way he caddies the way I play.
It's going to be interesting tomorrow to see how we gel together.
Q. Talking about tomorrow, we've seen how volatile this leaderboard can be. What's going to be the key for, and you what are you expecting out of these conditions? What score are you thinking in your mind it will take to win?
JASON DAY: Obviously Chez is playing some tremendous golf today. Fortunately come down 17 right now. Obviously depends on what he does. I've got to shoot -- it's hard to say because we're going to have a Northwest wind, which is a very difficult wind, which is what we would today.
Sunday, like to say they're different, but they're not. You got to go in and put the same mentality and it's just hard to finish sometimes. So I got to go out and just try and play my game. Honestly, I've struck it the best I've ever struck it this week and hit a lot greens, and looking forward to it. See how it goes.
Q. Do you feel like you could have got more out of that?
JASON DAY: Yes. I felt like I could have got a lot more. Little frustrated with 1 and 11. When I was over the putt on 1 the wind kind of switched and felt like it was coming from the left. Okay, I need to aim a little bit higher and let the wind push it down the hill. Soon as I hit the putt it turned back into me and kind of killed it going down the hill. That left me a 10-foot putt going down the hill, which was not the plan I wanted to have starting my round.
Then 11 just got a bad gust of wind and pulled up 20 short in the bunker. I think I hit 16 greens out there today, so hit a lot of good, quality shots. Just made a few errors on 1, 10, and 11. Those are the ones I wish I could have back.
I'll go work on the range, try and get that good tempo back and work on some putting and be ready for tomorrow.
Q. To get the 10-footer to fall on 11, not to compound the damage, kind of got you going into the birdie there at 12 to keep it alive.
JASON DAY: Yeah. It was nice. Even though you bogey that hole, it was nice to be able to have a momentum kicker going your way and then hit a good drive down 12, roll that putt in.
Yeah, I mean, 14 was a nice birdie. Kind of out of the blue, especially holing a putt back up and over that hill.
Haven't birdied 15 yet, so I am assuming I'm going to birdie it tomorrow.
Q. What's it going to take tomorrow?
JASON DAY: I don't know. Chez just hit a phenomenal shot at 17. Assuming that he's going to hole that. I got a lot of golf to play. But Sunday is Sunday, so I'm looking forward to it.
Q. The margin might be large. Does it help that there are only couple guys in front of you on the leaderboard?
JASON DAY: Yeah, that margin can dwindle pretty quickly, especially around a golf course like this. If we get some tough breezes tomorrow, Northwesterly, it's going to set up for some good golf, I think.
Downwind going on the back side is going to be a lot of fun. Be able to sneak a few birdies coming in. Then when you switch back into 15, 17, and 18, they're kind of the holes that are going to be crunch time for us.
I'm excited about the chance to go out and try and win tomorrow.
Q. I'm not sure if you saw Sucher did on 10, 11, 12.
JASON DAY: I heard about it.
Q. Does that give you confidence for tomorrow, that the leaders may not run away with it?
JASON DAY: Yeah. So there are a lot of emotions that come with Sundays. I think Chez, he's been there and won before. Every win is different and how you feel is different.
I just try and stick to what I'm doing right now and hopefully the chips fall my way. Honestly I believe I'm striking it the best I have in a long time, if not the best I've had, especially in a tournament. I just got to get some putts rolling. I think if I can do that I can kind of run away with it.
Q. Going to go have another range session?
JASON DAY: Yeah, right now.
Q. That dynamic, how long does that take for you to gel?
JASON DAY: Yeah, we've already gelled pretty quickly. The only thing is that we haven't been under the pump yet. We were kind of on the border last week of being under the pump trying to make the cut. How I react and he reacts when we're trying to make a cut; how we're going to react when we're under the pump getting into contention on Sundays.
So there are a few things that we're still trying to learn about each other, but I think for the most part we've gelled pretty quick.
Q. You seem to be leaning heavily on his advice.
JASON DAY: Yeah, definitely. I'm leaning heavily, heavily. That was never the way I played golf. I mean, I'm a modern-day player and he's a very old school player.
I look at ups and downs like five down, ten down. He'll go half a club, a club. He feels it. So everything is feel for him, and so there is a blend of old school and new school, but ultimately we come back to the same number.
Yeah, I mean, I'm weighing heavily on him tomorrow because the way that he talks to me gives me confidence that I can go out there and play well and win.
Q. Number in mind tomorrow?
JASON DAY: No. Unfortunately not. It's hard. Chez hit a great shot into 17, so not sure if he holed that. He just keeps extending the lead. Once again, we will have the that Northwesterly wind. Be different tomorrow. Chip away at it.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
Rev #1 by #179 at 2019-06-22 22:38:00 GMT