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WGC BRIDGESTONE INVITATIONALJune 29, 2016Dustin JohnsonAkron, Ohio MARK WILLIAMS: Thanks for joining us. Dustin Johnson, U.S. Open champion, thanks for joining us. Coming in here, you're ranked No. 3 in the world. Coincidentally at last year's U.S. Open I think you were No. 3 in the world. I think that's the highest you've been. What do you anticipate this week looking for your third World Golf Championship event title? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, I feel like I'm playing really well. You know, I've had -- I've played okay here, I think. I'm not real sure, but I've felt like I've played well here. I like the golf course. I'm definitely looking for a good week. MARK WILLIAMS: You've had seven top-five finishes in your last ten events. You're in pretty good form. DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, obviously I've felt like I've been playing really well all year and just haven't been able to get a W. It definitely came at a good time a couple weeks ago. Q. Since we haven't seen you, what was the aftermath like of Oakmont? What did you do, how did you celebrate, and when did it actually hit you, or has it? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, after I won, I did the presentation and all that stuff and got to go up and watch them engrave the trophy, which was really cool, and then did all the media stuff. I finally got out of there about a little after 11:00 and went to the airport and flew back to Florida. So I think I ended up getting home about 3:30 in the morning. Didn't celebrate Sunday night. I pretty much waited to celebrate on my birthday, which was on Wednesday, and we were in the Bahamas at Baker's Bay, so that was a good time. Q. Come Monday morning any thought like, geez, I just won the U.S. Open? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, of course. Q. Was the trophy sitting next to you? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, I got home at 3:30, and by the time I unloaded the car and everything, it was a little after 4:00. But yeah, I left it set up in the kitchen so when I came down the next morning it was sitting right there. Gave me a smile a little bit. Q. Just a little? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Just a little. Q. I'm sure you got hundreds, maybe thousands of messages. I don't know if one or a couple stood out as just really special or surprising, a surprising text or letter, anything? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I mean, there's not just one. There was a bunch of them that were really nice. A lot of them from my peers out here, and just from friends that I've made over the past few years in all different sports, different professions. But yeah, all the texts were great. They were all saying congratulations. Q. Were you able to respond to all of them or any of them? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I've gotten a lot of them back, but no, I've still got a little over 100 on my phone that I still haven't got to yet. I'm slowly working through them. I'm just not on my phone that much, so I just try to get them when I can. Q. I read a quote from Paulina who said that after the Open this was just the beginning. Do you have a sense of that, just what this could do for you? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, the first one is definitely the hardest. Well, it was for me. So I feel like now that I've won one that there's -- I know I can do it. I believe I can do it. I mean, I've believed all along that I could do it, and I kept telling you all, it's going to happen if I keep putting myself into position. Now that I know that, I've just got to keep putting myself in position to have a chance to win on the back nine on Sundays. I mean, yeah, I think it's the beginning. Q. So much of the discussion over the last six or eight months was focused on the big three with Jason, Jordan and Rory. You're now at No. 3 in the world. Do you feel deserving of a spot in that discussion amongst the guys at the very top of the game? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I think I've proved myself over the past three years that I'm definitely a contender, and obviously once I finally got that major victory, I definitely think it puts me into the conversation. Q. Obviously you were on the course and kind of living the drama that was unfolding with the USGA while the golf world was reacting to it. Now that you've had a couple weeks to reflect on what happened and how you ultimately prevailed, what's kind of your impression of how it played out? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I don't even know. You know, fortunately it didn't matter because I won by four, and I guess now I won by three, but it didn't matter, the penalty. I mean, I was arguing with them because I still don't believe that I did anything to make the golf ball move. But at that point I was ready to sign my scorecard and get my trophy, so I just said, give me the penalty, let's go. Q. Would you have changed anything about that moment speaking with the USGA afterwards looking back on it now? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, probably not because, like I just said, it didn't matter, and I wanted to get my trophy, so I didn't care really. But if it would have been a situation where I would have either won or maybe possibly tied or had to go into a playoff, then yeah, there probably would have been a lot more discussion. Q. There were a lot of players who said if officials had come up to them on the 12th tee and said what they did to you, that they're looking into it, that they wouldn't have continued until they got a resolution on that ruling. Have you looked back on that and said, maybe I could have done that, or were you happy with the way you handled it on the course? DUSTIN JOHNSON: At that point, I mean, to me it didn't matter either way. I was playing golf, and I didn't want to be bothered by it at that moment, so I said we'd figure it out when I got done. Q. What is a player supposed to do when the official on the site, the rules official, says it's okay, and then you find out that it's maybe not okay? I mean, it's like they didn't trust their own guy. DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I mean, that's up to them. I don't know. Yeah, Lee was standing right there. He was standing eight feet from me when it happened. And then we all watched the video. Probably all you guys have seen the video. It's not -- it is what it is, and I was just happy to take home the trophy. Q. Is the trophy with you this week? DUSTIN JOHNSON: No, it's at the house. Q. And following up on all the notes and stuff from people, what did Wayne say? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, he was very happy and very proud. Well, coming from him was pretty cool. He was telling me how it was one of the greatest things he's seen watching that, how it all unfolded and everything, and to see me get it done, so coming from him, I thought that was really cool. It meant a lot, because he's seen a lot of good things. Q. I was curious, we've had some guys say they're in the Olympics, some guys have said they're out. Kind of the latest with you and how the meeting went. DUSTIN JOHNSON: I thought the meeting was good. It cleared up a lot of things. Still waiting to hear back on a couple things that all four of us had a concern about, but we'll have some answers early next week. I mean, at this point I'm going to go to the Olympics and represent my country, and I'm looking forward to it. Q. How good a job did they do in alleviating the concerns that you may have? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I thought it was good. It was a productive meeting. I think we got a lot of questions answered. Like I was saying, there's a few things they're going to work on and get back to us, but as a whole it was really good. Q. What things? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Just security concerns. I think they've got it covered pretty well. We talked very, very briefly about Zika, but it was mostly all security concerns. Q. You obviously saw Jason Day last year after he won his first major, obviously he was playing well going into that, but really went on a tear afterwards. Is that something you can kind of model your own game after, after winning your first major? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, I hope so. I feel like I've been playing really solid, really consistent all year. I felt like I've had a lot of opportunities to win, just haven't -- I felt like my putting was holding me back, but I feel like I've worked really hard and it's getting better. I putted really good on Sunday at the U.S. Open. You know, that was really the only thing that was the difference between me winning four or five times this year and finishing in a lot of top 5s. I feel like that's getting better, so I'm going to continue to work on it, continue to try to get it better, and I think I'll hopefully win a lot more. Q. If I remember correctly, when you shot the 82 at Pebble, the next day you were on your boat doing your boat stuff, whatever you do on your boat, not thinking much about the Open but doing your boat thing. This time down in the Bahamas, how was it different? Were you still doing your Bahamas thing and thinking about the U.S. Open, or was it just vacation time? How was your mind different? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, you know, after the Open, the U.S. Open at Pebble, there was a lot of -- I talked to Butch for a long time that night, just reflecting on what had happened. It was more of trying to figure out what went wrong. So it was a different kind of mindset looking back and reflecting on the round than this last time. I win, but still reflect on these things that I did really well just to give me confidence. But I feel like ever since that one, I learned a lot at the U.S. Open at Pebble, and I feel like it's really helped me in all the other majors on Sundays when I've been in contention. I've felt like I've played really well. I've done the right things, and I've put myself in the position and kept in position all through the back nine on Sunday. Last year at the U.S. Open it was -- I played really well, hit some great shots, especially on 17 and 18, and felt like I hit some good putts. But those greens were a little wobbly, to say the least. So I felt like I was doing all the right things, so there wasn't really -- I mean, yeah, there's a lot of things to reflect on, but it's all good stuff. I wasn't trying to dissect the round to figure out what was not going right. Q. Did you do lot of reflecting last week, or more vacation? DUSTIN JOHNSON: No, more -- yeah, I mean, more celebrating probably but not a whole lot. Mostly just relaxed and went on the boat, was in the water a bunch and played a little bit of golf, a couple holes here or there. Didn't play much. Q. Obviously a satisfaction from winning your first major, but just curious if there isn't some equal satisfaction in not having to talk about having not won a major? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Oh, yeah, for sure. I mean, I've been up here a lot talking about what happened and why I didn't win, and so it was definitely nice to win one and get to talk about it. Q. How did it go with J.R. Smith, and did you recognize him with his shirt on? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I met J.R. quite a few months ago. He was down playing at the Bear's Club one day. We just met briefly. I like J.R. He's a nice guy. He loves golf. He's a good player. He hit a few balls on the range for us. He can play. But it was pretty cool. I remember while I was doing all my interviews on Sunday, we had to stop and I made him stop and turn the TV on so I could watch the end of the game. Guys, you can wait for a minute, we're watching game 7. I was doing that in the interview room for sure. Q. Did you care about the result? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I mean, I was pulling -- it doesn't really have -- I wasn't going one way or the other, but I wanted to see LeBron and Cleveland get a win. But I like the Warriors, too. I know a couple of the guys. It was just good to finally see a really good, close game. I mean, I thought it was interesting in the previous six games, every loss was double digits, and through six games they both had a total of 610 points, which I thought was pretty interesting. It was nice to see a close game. I mean, it was exciting. That's all you can ask for. Q. How much do you think that the time off and the changes that you made in your life contributed to your success? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, they definitely have contributed. You know, my son, Paulina, they're really good influences in my life, and I've got a good team around me. Yeah, it's definitely contributed for sure. Q. The inner strength required to finish those holes when you didn't know what in the heck was going on, did you learn anything about yourself you didn't know? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I mean, now I know I've got it for sure, but I felt like I had it before, but it never worked out. But now I really know I've got what it takes to get it done. I think that's kind of -- that's definitely a very good thing to have. You know, it was something that -- I believed that I had it, but there's always that thing in the back of your head telling you, do you really have what it takes. But now I know. Q. On that thing in the back of your head, whenever you looked at either Jordan or Jason or Rory, did that make you wonder the fact that they had majors and you didn't, whether when you played your best you could beat them? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, no, because I know when I play my best I can beat them. But can you play your best all the time? The only person that's ever done that for a long period of time is Tiger, in recent years. But I know obviously Rory and Jason and Jordan, all the top guys in the world, when they play their best, they're going to be very, very difficult to beat, just like when I play my best. It's going to be hard to beat me. But yeah, I mean, there's definitely something that was in there that was wondering if I could really get it done. Q. And then typically -- you've got two majors left and I would think you'd look at them as I've got two more chances this year to get it done. How do you look at the next two now that you've gotten it done? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, it's just another opportunity to get another one now. I know I can win. British Open is one that I enjoy playing. I've played really well there in the past. It's a major I'm looking forward to playing in a couple weeks. Q. Coastal Carolina fans want to know, are you going to make a trip to Omaha to watch Coastal baseball? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I would really like to, but I got held here so late today that I'm probably going to have to watch it on TV. They kept me like an extra 30 minutes, so I'm not going to get out of here until too late, but go Coastal. Q. As it stands right now, your Olympic position, do you plan on going? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I plan on going. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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