MONTREAL — The greatest shot of the 2024 Presidents Cup thus far came on the 18th hole in the third match of Friday’s foursomes session. Jason Day faced an ungodly difficult chip from behind the green—wet, ugly lie, and the dreaded “uphill to the green, then straight downhill to the hole” combo—to try to preserve not just his win with Christiaan Bezuidenhout over Americans Max Homa and Brian Harman, but all the momentum the International side had built over a brilliant afternoon. The mini-flop he pulled off, under all kinds of pressure, is still gob-smacking:

Jason Day with an excellent pitch from the rough on 18 to seal a 1UP win. 🇦🇺 #IntlTeam

📺 Golf Channel 📱 NBC Sports app | #PresidentsCup pic.twitter.com/sMrWmihf7x

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) September 27, 2024

Somehow, though, his description of what he accomplished was one of the best, most insightful analyses of technique and mindset you’ll ever hear in a post-round setting. Keep in mind, too, that this came in the context of two Presidents Cup captains who have spent all week resolutely saying absolutely nothing, meaning that Day’s words fell out of a clear blue sky. Also keep in mind that when the questioner (me) used the words “quite nice” to describe the chip while asking about the shot, it made Adam Scott scoff.

“Quite nice? It was unbelievable.”

Too true. Here’s what Day said, after joking that he didn’t want to hit the shot again.

“That chip shot on 18, or the flop shot on 18, was downhill. The lie wasn’t that great. It was wet. So I was just trying to understand the lie a little bit more through the practice swings. Is it going to bounce? Is it going to dig? Just for how wet it is.

“Then just pushing my awareness out as much as possible to my target and the flight. Then once you start thinking too internal, like at the ball, that’s when you start thinking a bit too much and you can get in your own way and think about … there’s a pause almost where you start to … your mind wanders. So I was just trying to push my thoughts to the flight, where I was going to land it, and just focus on that, kept on focusing on that.

Then as soon as I hit the shot, I knew it was going to be good regardless. I think halfway through the shot I had my hand up, just knowing it was going to be a good one.”

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The only thing that felt a little confusing, after hearing that otherwise enlightening explanation, was the mental side of his “awareness,” and what it meant to “push it out.” Luckily, another reporter who arrived later didn’t realize the question had been asked, so he asked it again. And in a different way, Day delivered again:

“The only way to hit a good shot is to picture the ball landing. I tend to see the ball rolling, and then I add the picture to what the flight needs to do after the fact. I needed to hit it stone dead. I didn’t want to give Bez a putt for the potential win or halve or whatever it is.

“My mindset was just to make sure … I land it on my spot, but try and get the flight where I need it to be. I don’t know, it was weird, like it was one of those ones where you could have left it short of the green pretty quick or get something firing [long].

“I think the biggest thing was just making sure that my awareness was not right at the ball, it was out at the target, and try and not let or attach myself to any thoughts that would come through my mind, because it’s pretty easy. I’ve got a ton of people standing behind me. I can see the guys, the American side is sitting pretty good on the other side … I feel very fortunate for the opportunity to be able to hit a shot like that under those conditions because what we’re doing right now, playing in this team format is going to help us in the future playing down the stretch in other tournaments. So this is great experience for me.”

Ben Jared

That’s the kind of physical and mental insight you just don’t get from most players, and it shows what a deep thinker Day is when it comes to his own game. Just the fact that he pictures the ball rolling before he even thinks about what trajectory the shot takes is mind-blowing on its own. But then the added detail about having a center of awareness on the intended landing spot rather than the ball itself—the “pushing it out” he described in the first answer—shows a different level of consideration. The one thing any rec golfer should be able to relate to is letting any distracting thoughts fly away rather than becoming attached.

Day is also well aware how much it means to execute that shot, and what it could mean for him in future pressure moments. As we head into an exciting weekend at Royal Montreal, Mike Weir and the International team will be hoping that he’ll reap some of the benefits immediately.

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com