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JOHN DEERE CLASSICJuly 7, 2015Zach JohnsonSILVIS, ILLINOIS AMANDA HERRINGTON: Good morning, everyone. We'd like to welcome Zach Johnson here into the interview room at the John Deere Classic. Some really impressive stats coming in this week. You're making your 14th consecutive start here where you come in with 24 consecutive rounds until the 60s, totaling 105-under par. ZACH JOHNSON: Jinx. AMANDA HERRINGTON: Not to mention in the last four starts you haven't finished worst than T3 at this course, including your win in 2012. ZACH JOHNSON: Major jinx. AMANDA HERRINGTON: Get us started with talking about what it's like being back here for you. ZACH JOHNSON: No, I will. I'm just extremely comfortable here. I love coming back. You guys can probably get your recorders out, those that have been here before at this time every year, and I'm probably going to sit here and say the same things. There's just a peace about it here for me that I don't have at many other tournaments, and you know, I think it starts certainly with the people. It starts with what John Deere does here for us and my family, our families, the TOUR's families, and then I love the golf course. I mean, I love these greens. You know, I feel like if I'm hitting it decent, which I feel like I have been for a number of weeks, and the putter starts to roll, then good things can happen. That's really going to be my focus. I'm not terribly concerned about my ball-striking. You know, obviously the ones that are playing well on Sunday are hitting it pretty good, so we'll let that -- it'll come when it comes, but if I putt well, like I said, maybe I can rise up that leaderboard. I'm excited. It's a great week. AMANDA HERRINGTON: Coming in, you had your foundation event yesterday. How did that go? ZACH JOHNSON: It went really well. We were up against some things, had some arrows shot at us. All in all, another great year, the fifth year, and it gets more and more humbling and exciting and fun by the year. I take a lot of pride in it, there's no question, but as we know, when it comes to getting good people assembled in a great community, good things can happen for a lot of people, and that's really what it's all about. An awesome day, cut short to nine holes, but I think at least we got some sort of golf out there. I think everybody was pretty happy with that, considering the radar and my drive here last night. But it was good. Like I said, it's amazing. It's kind of a well-oiled machine at this point. We just try to make it -- we don't want to get too content with it. We want to make it bigger and better every year, and I think we've done that. What we've raised speaks for itself. Q. Pretty significant announcement this morning; through 2023 you get to enjoy that peace and family that John Deere will return as title sponsor year after year. I know you've built a great relationship with the folks in this community. ZACH JOHNSON: Yeah, it speaks volumes as to what John Deere is all about. I mean, you know, obviously being a title sponsor, and I'm assuming they're still the official marketing sponsor of the PGA TOUR when it comes to equipment, so TPCs and whatnot, you know, that's pretty special. It doesn't really surprise me because I know what this company is good. I know what this community is about, and it's about helping their own. John Deere, just the Classic in particular, really sets itself apart when it comes to helping local charities. That's their goal, that's their mission, and it just so happens there's a golf tournament to showcase it. I think that's pretty special. Clair, Sam, everybody at John Deere, tip the cap. I've kind of known about it for a few weeks now, and I just think it's spectacular. Q. Recent wins by Strick and you and Jordan and Brian have also contributed to making this tournament more of a global conversation heading into Open Championship week. You grew up in this area and know when this used to be an afterthought. It's not an afterthought anymore. ZACH JOHNSON: No. I mean, as a -- I guess you'd say local, it never was an afterthought to me, but maybe it was to others. I can't speak on behalf of them. What I do know is that they've embraced what they've had to kind of combat, if that makes any sense. They've embraced the date. They embraced the fact that just in the calendar it's not the most ideal situations all the time. And they continue -- Clair and his staff continue to make it better. I mean, they've got an identity, and they've stuck to that, I think, and as a result my peers, specifically their wives and kids, say, you're playing John Deere, and that's a good thing. I mean, that's a great thing. That's obviously where our schedules are set anyway. It's never difficult to bring your family and your kids to this area because they do so much -- the Big Dig is just one part of it, and it's a pretty substantial part of it, but it's just one part of it. My kids are at the zoo today. My daughter got up said and said, I'm going to go see manimals. Excuse me? Manimals. Okay, have at it. Just one of those little things this area lends itself to. John Deere has been a part of this PGA TOUR for a long time, and I hope it continues out past '23. Q. You've been one of the rare guys who have been able to go from here to the Open Championship and have success. Is there a formula that's working for you? Obviously a lot of focus on that this week for Jordan. ZACH JOHNSON: No, I get it. I don't know. Well, first of all, one of the biggest things when you travel that far, that many hours, if you will, is acclimating yourself to the time change. I'm not saying I've got it down, but I feel like I've got a good strategy or agenda on how to do that once I get there. That's part of it. But I just love that championship. I love -- they're two of my favorite tournaments of the year back-to-back, so getting mentally and competitively ready for them is not difficult. I love -- obviously I've spoken of this tournament. You know why I love it here, but I love what that tournament demands. I love the fact that it's a major. I love the fact that it's on links style golf courses and courses that we just don't have over here. Some of the best courses I think I've ever played are in that tournament, and that's comforting. When I leave there, I also know what I need to work on. I just thoroughly enjoy it. I don't know if that's why I've had some minor success there or not. I can't answer that. But I just embrace the fact that this is what I'm going to do and this is how I'm going to do it, and there's no telling what can happen. Q. Did Jordan talk to you about playing here in advance of coming here? ZACH JOHNSON: No. I mean, we've talked since, but not about that specifically. I mean, he's been on that charter, I think, twice already, too, so he kind of knows what's going on. I might have to ask him. (Laughter.) Q. What's your evaluation of the -- obviously as a John Deere Classic board member you approve of his decision to play here? ZACH JOHNSON: Yeah. I don't know the process that he and his team are going through, but Clair and I talked a couple of times over the last week or two, two or three weeks, and Jordan had committed to my event, which was very kind. He actually brought it up to me more or less, and then he committed to here. This is obviously prior to the U.S. Open and that sort of thing. Obviously everybody is ecstatic, and rightfully so. I said to Clair, I'm like, Clair -- I remember the text. Regardless of what happens from here on out, we don't -- I can't comprehend what he's going through. I'm certain he can't comprehend it, either. He's just trying to get some sort of normalcy. If he decides it's in his best interest to not come to Cedar Rapids or Moline, then I can accept that because that's not going to display one way or the other what he is as a guy, because he's a terrific kid. His golf game on the golf course we know is very mature, but off it I would say he's even better. I mean, I think it's a product of great parenting and the fact that he's just so level-headed. But my point in saying all that is he's stuck with his commitment, which is very honorable. At the same time there's only been so many guys in so many odd years that have won the first two majors and there's a lot of pressure on him. I applaud him. I don't want to seem that surprised just because I know him and I know some of his team. He's just great. He's great for the same certainly. He's such a normal kid. That's the beauty of it. I say normal; he's got some intangibles and some innate qualities that I can't quite pinpoint. Q. You talked about putting, and earlier in the year you actually switched putters for a brief spell trying to get the feel back. Now you've run off a pretty good stretch of top 10s. Is the putter back to where you usually have it? ZACH JOHNSON: Yeah, as a team we've -- I'm doing some equipment things this year with Titleist that have been really good, and I'm just trying to figure out some things and going back to some things, and I've done some mechanical things and technical things with my coach that have been really good, going back to some things, and the putter obviously has been the emphasis. It's amazing. I remember when I was going through some fundamental issues I'd say the spring of '13, yeah, because I was coming out of Tampa and missed the cut in Tampa and went to Orlando for the Bay Hill tournament, and I went to Mike's place, Bender, and he looked on camera and was diagnosing and drawing lines, whatever he does as a -- I don't know what he is, almost like a mathematician it seems like, and we figured out what we're getting -- I'm getting too close to it, almost like I was trying to hit fades too much, which is ridiculous because I don't hit a fade. So lo and behold, now we're two years fast forward, my putter was getting to close to me, so my tendencies were creeping in both ways, if that makes sense. It's one of those things; if I get further away from it with my golf swing, my plane comes back -- it just comes back. Naturally it just kind of comes back. I mean, it can get off, but for the most part it's pretty simple, and it's the same thing with my putter, and that's just one small example. I feel better with the putter in my hands now. I feel like I'm in a better position, a more consistent position, and that doesn't mean they're going to go in, it just means I can hit it more solid. Q. You know how hard it is to win a tournament on TOUR and how hard it is to win a major. As a fellow pro, is there some way of putting into context what Jordan has done and what he's trying to do? ZACH JOHNSON: I mean, you guys -- I can honestly say you guys know better in the sense of stats and records and history. I'm just not much of a historian of golf. But it's rare. It's just really rare the position he's in. You just don't see it very often. I think it's wonderful because just adds another cool element to our game and to what's going to happen next week. But it's just phenomenal. I mean, I don't really know how to describe it. The beauty of it is he's won the first two majors, but it seems like every other tournament he's played and he hasn't won, he's been right in contention. He's just got it going, and it's fun to watch. Q. So degree of difficulty? ZACH JOHNSON: I don't even know how to measure it. I mean, I honestly don't. I'll tell you this: This is the only thing I can I come back to, if I can have some sort of parallel with what I've done because it's hard to find. When you're confident and you're seeing putts go in and you're signing for a low number on your scorecard, that confidence as an athlete and I think in my sport can breed momentum, and he's just got a lot of momentum right now. As I mentioned earlier, he's got some intangibles, he's got some qualities that you just can't quite see, and they're hard to pinpoint. They're hard to comprehend. Tiger has -- I'd say still has those. Had them, specifically. We saw those back in the day. It's just a rare thing. But it's awesome as a fan. Q. You said you have a system worked out for acclimating to the UK. ZACH JOHNSON: Sure. Q. Jordan does not have two top 10 finishes, he's not played well in the British Open -- ZACH JOHNSON: He's only played two. But good point, okay. Q. Would you be willing, amenable, to sharing any pointers how you've managed it with -- ZACH JOHNSON: Well, yeah, absolutely I would. I mean, I don't need to divulge everything, but it's not like it's something that I'm -- okay, what time is it, I've got to do this. There's a lot of fluidity to it. Obviously weather is a big part of that. You've got to bounce with the weather. But when we get there Monday morning at some point, I don't know what time we're landing, in Edinburgh, and then we get out to St. Andrews, it's still 45 minutes to get you up there, an hour to get up there, whatever it is, I'll just get kind of settled in the room, that kind of thing, and then I won't sleep. I'm going to try to stay up, and then I'm going to try to do some sort of workout. It's not going to be a heavy one, just something to get moving. I might hit a few putts or hit a few balls that night because you can play at about 10:00. That next Tuesday and Wednesday is strictly weather-based. Q. And then you talked about Jordan's loyalty. Loyalty is generally considered a very admirable quality, and yet there are people who actually criticize Jordan instead, that this was one instance where he'd be foolish to show loyalty to this tournament, he should be over preparing for the links. ZACH JOHNSON: Yeah, I've got a response to that. I don't know who these people are. Clearly they're not on the PGA TOUR or athletes because you're talking about someone that made a decision to play here. Maybe he likes to play the week before a major, one. Two, maybe he just said, man, I'm playing pretty good, I want to play John Deere and I've had success here so I want to win a golf tournament, and then, three, maybe it takes the pressure off him when he goes there next week, if he can free it up and just play. Those are maybe assumptions on my part, but that seems also logical, too, and the fact that he gets it. He's supporting a tournament he committed to. I don't really agree with that foolish aspect of the decision to play. That doesn't make any sense in my mind. Q. And how surprised were you when he said he was all in for your tournament? ZACH JOHNSON: Well, once again, I mean, I don't remember the time or the day specifically. I'm pretty sure it was after the Masters, and then obviously he won the U.S. Open. I'm thinking, well, you know, it may not happen, it could happen, but I was prepared for a text or a phone call, and truly I wouldn't have lost one second of sleep over it if he did make that phone call, because I don't know what he's going through. Maybe to a degree I do, but for the most part he's in a territory that rare have seen, or not very many people have seen. Yeah, I mean, he's just a high-character kid that represents the sport really, really well. I think he represents his state and his country well and certainly represents his family really, really well. I don't know his thought process, but it's not for me to know. Q. What you said about Jordan being mature beyond his years, what can you share about him? ZACH JOHNSON: I guess he's just a normal kid. We chatted a little bit, was that yesterday? My last four or five days have been a blur. Yeah, that was yesterday. Yesterday was my event. So yesterday morning we had kind of a delay with the rain and we were just chatting a little bit. I noticed that he went on a vacation and he went with some buddies, with some friends and had a good time, and he should, just to get away from things and kind of recharge and refresh. My goodness, it's actually a pretty mature decision. I'm not sure -- I don't know what they did. There may not have been many mature decisions on the trip, but that's not for me to know, either. He's a kid, he's 21, he's with his buddies, he's with his friends, he's with his girlfriend. Whatever he's done on his off weeks he deserves, and it's certainly warranted. But I know as an athlete, Jordan is trying to win golf tournaments, and somehow he forgets about the past really, really quick, and he just gets right to the present, and regardless of what he did last week or regardless of what he's going to do next week, he's going to get that mental, I guess, focus again and get right back to it. As a competitor of his, it kind of stinks, because it's really, really good. Q. Did he tell you about the shark? ZACH JOHNSON: No. Q. His caddie told a story that they caught a 300-pound shark, and he's deadly afraid of them. ZACH JOHNSON: Well, Wikipedia, throw it on there. Q. Are you a Bill Murray fan and what were your thoughts when you found out he was coming out here this week? ZACH JOHNSON: Bill Murray is playing this week? Seriously, he's playing the pro-am tomorrow? I had no -- that's awesome. I had no idea. Great. Wasn't he a Chicago guy originally? Q. Absolutely. ZACH JOHNSON: It's funny you say that, we were talking about him a few weeks ago. I had no idea, honestly. I think he lives like kind of whereabouts where I live, in the Southeast. I think he's a Charleston guy now for the most part. I know he goes up in the mountains occasionally, too. I had no idea. I think it's pretty awesome. I know he loves the game of golf, and you know what, obviously his resumé speaks for itself, but for John Deere to bring someone like that, that's pretty cool. He'll add a lot of value to the Wednesday pro-am because it's a big day. I don't know who he's playing with, but whoever it is I'm sure they'll have a lot of fun. Q. D.A. Points. ZACH JOHNSON: Yeah, because they've had a relationship in the past, so that makes sense. Q. What would be your favorite movie, "Caddyshack"? ZACH JOHNSON: That would be the obvious answer, right? He's got a lot of good ones. I'd go with one of the recent ones. That "St. Vincent" was really good. He is a comedian, a comic in most of his movies, but that guy can do a drama or he can act. He's good. AMANDA HERRINGTON: Zach, thank you so much for your time today. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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