Q&A with Jason Day, trying to rediscover mojo

JD: Colin Swatton was my caddie and coach for the longest time, so he was a massive influence on me. My agent, Bud Martin, has been a massive influence in my career – not only golf wise but in terms of the business side of things. My wife has been a huge influence too. When I sometimes feel like I can’t push anymore, she’s the one lifting me up and pushing me further. Having her by my side telling me ‘you have more to accomplish in this game’ – in particular, during my injury years – meant the world to me.

My current coach, Chris Como, made me realize that you have to play this game with more love and passion than pain. At the start of my career, I think I played with more pain and that was the thing that really motivated me based off my experiences as a kid, not growing up with a lot of money and a lot of the memories that I had were painful. That was a lot of the core motivation as to why I wanted to be a player and succeed as a golfer; whereas now, that has changed. I think I’m playing more out of the love of the game and passion for the game, and there’s a lot more longevity in that. There’s a better place to play from when you’re playing from that type of love and passion.

There have been plenty of influential people along my career that have helped me so much and pushed me in the right direction. Equally, with what they’re trying to do, I’m trying to push them too. There’s been an equal push-and-pull.

With regards to the best piece of advice, I always remember my dad saying ‘never say die’ which means you go out there and give everything that you possibly have, and if you do and the other guy beats you, you go and shake his hand and you move on and try to win the next one and do the best job that you possibly can. Leaving it all out on the golf course is what this saying meant to me.