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TOUR CHAMPIONSHIPSeptember 23, 2016Dustin JohnsonAtlanta, Georgia THE MODERATOR: Dustin, thanks for joining us. Another good round after the 66 yesterday, 3 under, 67, to be 7 under and one in front through 36. Five birdies and two bogeys today. Just give us a description of your round. DUSTIN JOHNSON: Again, I felt like I played really solid. Obviously, I played really well for the first 11 holes, 4 under through 11, and then made kind of a bad bogey on 12. But other than that, I felt like I drove it well. I putted it well. I missed one pretty short one on 17, but other than that, I felt like I rolled it pretty good. 3 under around here, I'm always going to be pleased with that. Q. Dustin, a couple of players I've spoken to today have talked about comparing you to -- what you're doing right now to what Tiger did back when he was playing so great. Does the game feel easy to you at all? DUSTIN JOHNSON: No. The game's never easy. I wish it was. Obviously, I'm playing good right now. I've got a lot of confidence in my game. I feel like -- you know, every week, I feel like I bring the same game, which is nice. But I put in a lot of work to get to where I am, especially, like I've always said, I think the biggest difference is my wedge play has really improved, and I think that's kind of made me take that next step to get to the next level. Q. D.J., can you talk about your putting today? Besides that short putt on 17, how you feel around the greens. And also over the next two days, what do you feel you have to stay focused on to close this one out? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I feel really comfortable on the greens. I feel like I got pretty good speed. They're just tough to read, but the putting surfaces are perfect. So if you hit a good putt, they go in. But I feel like it's difficult to get a good read on them. Some putts. I mean, some putts you can read them well. For the next few days, I just need to keep playing like I am. If I keep playing like I am, I'm going to have a good shot to win on Sunday. Q. You did seem to walk around them a little bit more today than normally you would. How important was the putt on the turn in just keeping the round going? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, every putt at this stage in the game is important. But, yeah, I felt like I had a lot of putts that almost were like double breakers today, which are always very difficult to read and difficult to start on line. So that's why I was taking a little more time to look at them. I mean, it doesn't matter how much you look at them. They're still tough putts. But I felt like I had a lot of putts like that today. Q. I wanted to ask you about 17 and the lie you had in the rough. Mickelson said it was the hardest rough he's seen in years anywhere. Is that an example of probably what he's talking about? And given that, does that make your 7 under through 36 pretty good? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I mean, the rough here is definitely the toughest it's been since I've played. It's deep, and it sits on the bottom every time. You know, you can't really advance the ball. Unless it sits up, which is very rarely, but you have the lie out on 17 -- I did good to get it to where I did, which was 20 yards short. That was pretty good. I hit that as hard as I could to get it to go there. Q. When was the last time you went at a shot that way? DUSTIN JOHNSON: A few times. Usually, though, when I'm in the rough. So that's a lot. Q. I would like to know who is your coach, Claude Harmon or Butch Harmon? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Both of them. I work with both, Claude and Butch. Q. Coming off that great story you told the other day from the Walker Cup about launching the tee ball as they were still announcing your name and everything, you can't help but notice how slow you are -- slower you are on everything. I mean, from when you -- I don't mean that as an insult. I'm just saying, from when you first came out within like 15 seconds, you're now a lot more deliberate, and it seems to be thoughtful. When did that change, and why did it change? DUSTIN JOHNSON: It took me a while, but probably in 2010 maybe at Pebble. Obviously, each year -- I mean, the guys out here play so slow. So me playing fast -- like I feel like I'm playing really slow right now, and I still play faster than most of the guys out here. But, no, it took me a while before I could slow myself down, but now I feel like I got a good routine and a good preshot routine that I try to stick to, and it just keeps me a little bit slower. It kind of keeps me -- I try to walk a little bit slower. Sometimes I have to slow myself down because I tend to walk really fast. You know, I'll catch myself and slow down. Q. Do you ever run the risk of overthinking with the extra time? DUSTIN JOHNSON: No. Q. Is the idea of becoming world number 1 anywhere in the back of the mind? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, yeah, I would love to become world number 1. Obviously, I need to finish off this weekend, and we'll see what happens. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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