MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 6, 2026

Jason Day

Quick Quotes

Q. How is your game?

JASON DAY: Yeah, game was solid. Just had a nice practice round with Min Woo and Johnny Keefer out this morning on the back side. I've been here since last Friday. I got in last Friday, walked around Saturday and Sunday, both back and front, just trying to get used to some of the old feelings that you get around here.

Just positional-wise where you need to hit it off certain tee locations and obviously into the greens, as well, just trying to make sure the short game is nice and sharp and getting used to the speeds of the greens.

Q. I wanted to speak to you specifically; are you playing through pain and having to manage pain as you play at the moment these days?

JASON DAY: Yes and no, it just depends. Some days are better than others. But that's just the nature of the beast. You do something long enough, at some point something will give. But I'm doing -- I have to focus more on a lot of the rehab stuff these days now than what I used to. Obviously you don't recover as well as you used to when you're obviously younger, but having the stuff that went through with my body and the injuries that I went through, it definitely has given me more purpose in my life, obviously, trying to compete against the best players in the world and then trying to make sure that I'm healthy and staying on top of it definitely gives me more purpose and drive to move forward because I still want to play good golf.

At the end of the day, for me to be able to hold a trophy again, that's what drives me. If I can keep my body healthy, I feel like I've got a really good chance of doing that.

Q. Do you still do that thing with the balloon?

JASON DAY: Yeah, every now and then. Essentially what happens is you have to really understand why things go wrong in your body. So for me, my diaphragm tightens up a lot, so the die photograph, the psoas, even the QLs, everything comes in pretty close and they're the main spots that are problems for me.

When my diaphragm gets a little off and gets tight, then things start to react to that, I start getting QLs, getting tight psoas, and other things happen as well and that limits my range of motion through the swing especially in rotation.

Then I start to create bad tendencies, and all of a sudden I fall back into some of those tendencies.

Yeah, I do a lot of breath work for the diaphragm, but yeah, it's still something that I do.

Q. Do you have particular empathy for what Tiger is going through at the moment?

JASON DAY: So yeah, in regards to Tiger, it just shows the human element and the human side of someone that is struggling with some sort of an addiction. He's not immune to it just because he can hit a golf ball really well. He's had 25 to 30 something surgeries, and when you're going through that many procedures, it's painful coming out of those procedures. I've had procedures done and I typically try and stay away from all that stuff because I just know that -- painkillers, there can potentially be a downfall to it.

Granted, when I look at that, I look at it and go, he's just a human being like everyone else and we have struggles. It's unfortunate, the only thing that I don't understand is that it's a little bit selfish of him to drive and put other people in harm's way, as well.

But when you're the player that he was and how strong-willed he is, he thinks he can do almost anything, and that's probably why he's probably driving and a little bit under the influence.

He was my hero -- he's my hero. He was my hero growing up. The reason why I play golf is because of this tournament and Tiger. It's hard to see him go through what he's going through, and especially under the microscope that -- it must be hard to be who he is and have everything, everyone look on, kind of down on him.

Some people want him to fail. Some people obviously want him to succeed. It's really difficult for me to go through that and watch him, and I know that he's getting the help now, which is good. I'm just hoping he comes out on the other side and is better.

Q. I know no situation with the injuries is the same. You said he was like your hero. Do you think you could in some respect be like a role model to him because you've had extreme injuries and struggling to get out on the golf course and come out the other side of it?

JASON DAY: I think the biggest thing is just to make sure that the friendship is still there. People out here do support him and want him to kind of get through this.

It is tough. I've never dealt with an addiction before, other than golf. I'm pretty addicted to that. But it must be tough to be isolated the way he is normally. He stays at home pretty much most of the time, doesn't really get out too much just because of how popular he is as a person, and then when you're at home, it's just difficult. Sometimes you don't have people around, loving people around enough to be able to steer you in the direction that you need to.

Like I said before, he's human, and we all make mistakes. That's just part of learning and getting better, and I'm hoping that he gets the help that he needs and that he comes out stronger and better on the other side because, like golf misses him. We miss him here this week. It's always better when he's playing golf tournaments because we love having him around, so it's a little bit sad to not have him here this week.