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PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

August 13, 2015

Dustin Johnson

Kohler, Wisconsin, USA

JOHN DEVER: Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome back to the 97th PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. Thank you, Mr. Dustin Johnson for spending a few moments with us. Dustin, opening round 66, 6-under, your best opening round in six PGA Championships. Birdie, birdie start to begin, went off the backside. And an eagle on 16. Maybe you could tell us about the eagle.

DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I hit a great drive down there. I had -- I think I had just on the left side of the fairway, I had around 240 hole. I hit a 4-iron to 25 feet, 25, 30 feet and made a nice putt.

JOHN DEVER: Big par-putt on your last hole. Did that give you a good cap to the morning.

DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, well, you know, I hit it close on 7 and 8, and lipped both of those out.

And on 9, my first putt I hit it a little too hard. And fortunately I made a nice comeback for par, to end the day with a good, positive vibe.

Q. Just curious what was the carry on 18? Had you ever taken that line before?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I mean the carryover on the left side, I actually thought I hit it too far. But the carry, I don't even know what the carry is on that line, but it's not too much. I was trying to hit it a little right, kind of where Jason did, but pulled it and got away with it. But I'll take it right where it was every day, for sure.

Q. How long was the putt on 18? Was there a most difficult or challenging shot today for you?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: The putt that I had on 18 for birdie. It was ten feet, 10, 12 feet. And just missed it on the right of the hole. But, yeah, I hit two great shots in there.

And probably the hardest shot I had was the second shot on 3. I hit it just left of the green and it kind of rolled up against the grass on the downslope. I hit a pretty good bunker shot from there, but it just flew up and it kind of hit in that first cut and stopped. I made a nice 4 there.

Q. Butch was on TV earlier and saying when you started your round on No. 10. He had suggested hitting 2-iron and you had told him, no, I'm going to hit driver, I'm going to send it all day. Is that true? And what did you hit off 10 and just your general thoughts of being aggressive off the tee out here?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: That is true. I ended up hitting a 3-wood, perfect, just short of the green. But, yeah, out here it just all depends. There's some holes you can hit driver and be aggressive, some holes you have to hit 3-wood or 3-iron off the tee. But I hit a lot of drivers today and drove it quite nicely.

Q. I'm curious your line on No. 5?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I was trying to hit it right at the lights. There's some lights out there. I don't even know what they are, they're just lights. But I pushed it a little bit. And it actually didn't go as far as I thought it was going to. Maybe the wind knocked it down or I got a little gust into me, but I thought it would be further up.

Q. Given the way the majors have gone for this year, what it feels like, you've been contending three majors in a row, how is that different from confidence or feelings or whatever you want to call it in previous years where you might have had -- in a major you might have done decent?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I don't know. I think I'm just playing a little better this year. I don't know, your guess is as good as mine.

Q. How much is the wind affecting your length out there today? Is it really becoming a factor as the day goes on?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, the wind is starting to blow pretty hard out there. It was blowing pretty good this morning when we teed off. But it picked up when we made the turn. And it started blowing pretty steady out there. And it definitely became a lot more difficult on that front nine, for sure.

Q. It looks -- what's different about playing from the lead at a major versus being two or three strokes back? Is there anything you've learned being in that position that you think can help you this time?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I mean, it doesn't really bother me either way. I would prefer to be in the lead, though, there's less shots you've got to make up. But you still just got to play your game, no matter where you're at you've got to play your game, especially in majors. When you try to push and try to make things happen, that's when you can make some big numbers at the majors.

Today I thought I did a great job of just staying patient, hitting the shots that the course allowed me to hit. And I struck the ball well today. So I was very pleased.

Q. Is it more difficult or is it easier to play from a mental aspect, to play from the lead or is it easier mentally to chase the lead?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: In a major, whether you're -- if you're one ahead or one back, I don't think that's -- that doesn't really matter. If you're talking like a five or six shot lead, I want the lead, for sure. All I'm looking for is a chance to get it done on the back nine on Sunday.

Q. I know this is only the first round, but your last five majors you've played very well the first two rounds and not so well the last two rounds. What have you learned from that and will you alter your approach at all on the weekend?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, I would have to disagree with you a little bit on that one. I played pretty well at the U.S. Open on the weekend. I played pretty well at the Masters on the weekend. At the British Open, I didn't play well on the weekend, but I just -- even the first two days I know I was leading after two rounds, but I didn't feel like I was playing that good of golf. I wasn't too comfortable with my swing. I wasn't hitting the shots that I wanted to hit. I didn't feel like I was too much in control.

Right now, today, I really felt like I had my ball under control a lot like I did at the U.S. Open. So I feel a lot more comfortable right now. We'll just are have to see what happens. It's only the first round, we've still got a lot of golf to play.

Q. Playing with Jason and Rickie today, both of those guys were knocking in some big shots, too. How much of a boost do you get when you see Jason making that eagle on 2, Rickie chipping in on 4, do you get a little bit of an extra confidence boost when you see that?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I've played with Rickie and Jason. They're great players. They're going to do some special things out there. We had a lot of fun. We're all good friends. It was a great day. We all got off to a good start. We all played pretty well all day long.

Q. You used the phrase yesterday that you're just chillin', was it as easy as it looked out there for you?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Today was pretty easy, I would have to say. But I was swinging well and I was hitting the shots where I was looking. So anytime you're doing that, it makes things a lot easier on you. And I really felt like I was just super patient, stayed focused all day and I was swinging well. The ball was going where I was looking. I was controlling it. In this wind it's tough to do, but I did a great job of controlling the golf ball today.

Q. It looked like a couple of times on the front nine your ball kind of rolled up against the collar and you used some sort of a fairway wood to get up and down. Was that a 3-wood? How many times did you get up and down with that shot today?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: It was a 5-wood and I used it twice and got up and down both times with it. It's not a shot that I've ever really played. But I was out here Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday trying to figure out how to hit those shots. I started using that and it's worked out very well.

Q. What was it about today that you went out with such an aggressive game plan? You said you were just going to send it. What was it about today?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, the golf course, it just all depends which hole it is, what hole it is, where the flag is, if you can be aggressive and challenge the golf course with your driver. But I do that every time I play, so it's no different. You've still got to take the course as it comes and you've got to look at where the flag is, what distance you want to have, if you can get it close and still have a -- pitch it close to the flag.

Driving as well as I did today, I'll hit driver a lot.

Q. What was your second shot, club for your second shot, on the 2nd, please?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I just laid up on the 2nd with a 5-iron.

Q. On the 2nd?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: The 2nd hole I laid up with a 5-iron.

JOHN DEVER: Many thanks to Dustin Johnson.

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