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BMW CHAMPIONSHIP

September 10, 2016

Dustin Johnson

Carmel, Indiana

DOUG MILNE: Like to welcome Dustin Johnson to the interview room here at the BMW Championship. A successful third round, 4-under 68, the exclamation point there at the 18th with a nice birdie. Gives you a three shot lead heading into the final round tomorrow. With that said, just a few comments on the week so far.

DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, today I thought it played a little bit tougher, it was a lot windier today. It felt like I played pretty solid though. Obviously had a good finish. Played 4-under on my last five holes, I think to finish. So, but early in the round I just thought it was really windy, a lot of tricky pins, it was just tough to get it close to the hole.

DOUG MILNE: Questions?

Q. Can you walk us through those four closing birdies, the clubs you hit in and about the length of putts?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: 14, it was my first one. I hit 3-wood off the tee and then I hit a -- I had 120 something, I can't remember. I hit a little pitching wedge to about 12 feet. Just right of the hole. Made it.

15, I hit driver and then a 4-iron just into the right bunker, kind of missed my 4-iron and cut it a little bit too much. Hit a nice bunker shot to about a foot.

Then 16, I hit driver, sand wedge to about six feet. Just behind the hole. Made that one.

Then 18 was driver, wedge and to about 20 feet. Made a nice putt there on 18.

Q. Early on you had a couple really good chances there on the par-5 and the par-3 that didn't convert. Was that at all frustrating, given the lack of chances of hitting it close?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, a little bit, but I think on the front nine on 2 I left it just short right in the middle. Then begin on -- or 3. On 3 I left it short right in the middle.

I birdied 2.

Left it short right in the middle on 3.

4, I left it short, kind of right in the middle, it was probably a 30-footer, but I still left it just short right in the middle.

Same thing on 4 and 5 and 6. Just didn't hit them hard enough. I think the greens were just a little bit slower with all the rain we got last night, but I adjusted a little bit better on the back nine and hit some better putts. Made some nice ones.

Q. What was the best one?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: The best putt I made? Probably the one on 14. Because that kind of got me going a little bit. Especially after I bogeyed 13, which is probably the easiest hole on the course today.

Q. Why did you bogey it?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I hit a terrible shot. Pulled it left of the green and you miss the greens around here you get some iffy lies. I just hit a bad chip.

Q. When you get into this sort of mode where you shot the 63 yesterday and finished so strongly as you did today, what sort of a message, if anything, does it send out to the rivals and what does it say about the strength of your game that you are dominating at the moment?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: What does it say? It says I'm playing pretty good. I mean, I don't know.

Q. On that note, talked yesterday about how well you always played here at Crooked Stick. The way you're playing right now, does it feel like those guys even have a chance? Does it feel like you're just running away from them?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, there's a lot of great players right around the lead, so tomorrow I'm going to have to go out and play just as good as I have been the last three days. There's still a lot of golf left. 18 holes out there. I just need to keep hitting fairways, keep hitting it on the green and just getting good looks at it.

Q. What's been the strength for you this week? We talked a lot about your putting, but are you playing from the right places on the course?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I still need to -- my irons I could dial them in a little bit better. I feel like the wedges are pretty good, but my mid irons aren't quite as sharp as they usually are. But I feel like I'm driving it really well and wedging it pretty good. So, I'm definitely the strength this week has been putting. I'm rolling it really nicely, even the putts that I'm missing they still look like they're going in.

Q. What were your expectations for with this putter change? What did you think you were going to do?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: It couldn't have been any worse than it was, so I didn't have any.

Q. Do you think you're a good putter?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah. I do.

Q. I don't disagree, I'm just saying, when it gets that bad, what goes through your head?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: It wasn't bad, I was just struggling to get the ball consistently on the line that I was looking. And I was working really hard on it and it just felt like it wasn't getting any better, so that's why I changed putters.

Q. Was that in Austin's bag?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah.

Q. Did I get that right?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, I had -- so I had the same one that Jason was using, it was the red one. And, I don't know, for some reason -- well, I was putting with it and I was putting good with it and right before we were about to tee off on Thursday I'm like, "AJ, don't you have the same one in black?" And he says, "Yeah," and I said, "Go get it."

Q. What's your beef with red?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I just didn't want to use the same putter Jason was. Like the same exact one. That was really the only reason I changed.

Q. Do you think Jason will go to the black one now?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I don't know. If I keep rolling it like this, probably.

Q. Has Jason said anything?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I played with him the last two weeks and saw him hole quite a few putts, I'm like, I need to give it a try, at least.

Q. Two things, on the 1st, what did you do on that wedge? Anything about the wetness of the fairways spook you or did you just miss it?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I don't know. No, I just hit it way too hard. I thought the wind was hurting and I guess it just laid down and, obviously, hitting it 10 yards past the flag there is not a good spot to be. And it was sitting down and in the mud, I mean, it was just a really tough shot to get close. It was just a bad shot from the fairway.

Q. And then the shot you hit on 9, the tee shot -- or 8, I'm sorry, 8, is that the line you have intended to take?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah.

Q. Seemed like it hugged the water pretty good.
DUSTIN JOHNSON: No, I'm just cutting it off the water. I might have started a fraction left of where I was looking, but no, I'm just starting it down there and cutting it back towards the fairway.

Q. What would winning Player of the Year honors mean to you?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, I think it would mean a lot. It would mean I played really well this year. I feel like I've had a pretty solid year, but there's still two tournaments left to finish, and we'll see what happens. But, yeah, it would mean a lot to get Player of the Year.

DOUG MILNE: All right, thanks for your time. Best of luck tomorrow.

DUSTIN JOHNSON: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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