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DELL TECHNOLOGIES CHAMPIONSHIP

August 31, 2017

Dustin Johnson

Boston, Massachusetts

MICHAEL BALIKER: Moving right along, like to welcome Dustin Johnson to the interview room here at the Dell Technologies Championship, our FedExCup standings leader currently after that pretty exciting finish there in New York last week.

So Dustin, just quickly, just reflect on The Northern Trust and your confidence heading into Boston.

DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, obviously it was a big win for me. Especially to get back in the winner's circle after I got off to such a great start in the beginning of the year.

But it was a lot of fun, obviously, going head-to-head with Jordan there on Sunday. It was a lot of fun. It was a tough challenge. But you know, obviously I got to come out on top. It was a lot of fun that Sunday, and you know, I think it was a big win for me to get my confidence back to get everything -- I felt like everything was close, but to get everything moving back in the right direction was great.

Q. What are your thoughts when you come here to compete in Boston?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I enjoy coming up here to play. I like this golf course. I like the area. It seems like I've got a lot of support around here. So I enjoy it.

Q. When you play in a Pro-Am, is there one bit of advice you often give amateurs that you play with.
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Hit more club. They always come up short, always.

Q. Curious what your thoughts are on the 12th and 13th hole. They have made some changes. Particularly the 12th is a lot longer than last year.
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, it's quite a bit longer. It's an interesting hole. It's tough. It depend on the win. If it's into the wind, I think I like it a lot better than if it gets downwind just because the fairway runs out down the right side, probably like 315, and down the left is 325 or less with a bunker right in the middle of the fairway. If it's into the wind, it definitely favors -- it's more favorable for me than downwind. But downwind, I don't know, we'll just have to figure out what we're going to do. But they definitely made the hole a lot tougher, that's for sure. The green's a little bit more difficult, and obviously you're hitting a lot longer club in. So it's definitely a more difficult hole.

13, to me, it's really not a different, other than now there's not -- you know, the hole shapes really similar. The green sits a little bit lower. You know, the green shape's different, but it's not -- the only thing really that's different is if it does turn around and blows into the wind. Before, the TOUR really didn't have much of an option. It was a big, forced carry, especially up the left side of the fairway. It was a long forced carry. I think that was their main reason for re-doing that hole, and so I do like the changes on the 13th.

The 12th, I think it would be great if it was a par 5, not a long par 4. It's just going to be a really tough hole.

Q. There are obviously a lot of great players out here, but do you consider Jordan Spieth to be your greatest rivalry? And can you talk about your rivalry with him and your relationship with him?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, me and Jordan are close friends. You know, we enjoy playing with each other and we enjoy competing against each other. As far as him being my greatest rivalry, I don't know, I think there's quite a few really good golfers that, you know, are tough to beat.

You know, to say there's just one other rivalry, I can't really -- I don't know, I can't really say that. But you know, just because I think you look at the Top-10 guys, they are all tough competitors, especially when they are playing well. Any one of us can win at any time.

Q. Jordan's going to the Patriots game tonight. Are you going to tag along, or do you have other plans?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I've got the family in town, so I don't think I'm going to be able to sneak away and get to the football game. Yeah, I mean, if I could, I would go. But it's not going to, I don't think Mama's going to let me out of the house (laughter).

Q. Will you go out of the house for dinner with the family?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, probably. I'm sure we'll do that. I'll just hang out with Paulina and the kids. I'll watch it on TV.

Q. Do you remember the weather last year, how windy it was with the hurricane out in the ocean, and have you seen the advance forecast?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: It looks like the weather's a lot better. I looked at it. I just looked more at the temperature. I didn't look at the wind.

Now that you say, now that you remind me, yeah, I remember it being a little bit windy but not -- I don't remember it being like crazy. Just slightly. A little breezy. I remember the Pro-Am, it rained all day. I do remember that.

Q. A month ago it was announced the proposed order of play for the tournaments and there's speculation that maybe this tournament would fall by the wayside. Would you be disappointed if that were the case, and what are your general thoughts on the reordering?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I kind of like what they are doing with the majors. You know, moving the PGA to May; moving THE PLAYERS back, just because it gives us more time to prepare for each one.

As far as, you know, they are spaced out, like where they are kind of a month apart, each one of them, I think that's a really good move.

As far as what are they are going to maybe do with the Playoffs, I think it's a really good move for the TOUR to not have to compete against football because our ratings drop a lot once football starts, especially on Sundays -- Saturdays and Sundays. That's just going to happen. Especially when we're like right at the beginning of football season, but it's the end of our season. You know, people haven't had anything to watch other than golf for a long time, so I mean, I don't blame them for watching football, because I probably would be, too.

But you know, I think it's a great move as far as the Playoffs to end a little bit earlier. Whether this tournament goes away or not; I like this tournament. I like coming up here. Yeah, I don't want to see it -- but you know, something's going to have to give somewhere. You know, I don't know what the exact proposal is. I've seen it. I've talked with Jay and some of the guys a good bit about it. But you know, nothing's set in stone.

Q. You obviously showed earlier this year, you can string together a bunch of wins, and obviously in the Playoffs, we've seen guys win multiple events. Just wondering if you think it's impossible for somebody to run the table in all four Playoff events. Obviously you're the only one that has a chance to do it this year.
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, you can't win them all if you don't win the first one, right.

Yeah, it's definitely possible. Is it going to happen? I have no idea. I'd love to say, yeah, I'm going to win all four, but the odds are not in my favor.

And you know, for me, winning last week's big, because it pretty much, I think I'm probably guaranteed to be in the top five going into Atlanta, which is where you want to be is in that top five going into Atlanta. Because you win the tournament, you win the FedExCup championship. That's the biggest thing for me.

Obviously this week is another big week. I want to play really well. I feel like the game's in really good form. You know, I finally feel like I'm swinging really well. I'm doing everything very well right now. So you know, which is what I'm trying to do leading into Atlanta.

Q. Do you see it, though, being perhaps a bit easier to do it in the Playoffs, given the fact that there's decreasing field size, as opposed to trying to do it in the regular season?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, obviously that helps, you know, with the field size getting smaller. There's less guys that you have to beat.

You know, any week, any player in the field -- I mean, the guys, the talent level is so big from me to the last guy in the field that anybody in the field can win any given week. You know, if they are playing really well, they are going to be very hard to beat. That's the thing with golf is the talent level is so -- it doesn't matter 1 to 200 in the world. The 200th guy in the world can win any tournament at any time; where in other sports, you look, the 200th guy in the world has no chance to win it. But in golf, I think just the talent level is so jam-packed. It does make it difficult to win even two tournaments in a row.

Q. Statistically, the 18th hole here is the easiest finishing hole on TOUR. How do you prepare for that in the course of your practice rounds and what's your strategy once the tournament begins?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, you're trying to make a four; however you do that. For me, it just depends which way the wind is blowing. If it's downwind, it makes it a little bit easier hole for me because I can carry the bunker on the right and hit a short iron into. Into the wind, though, I just hit it out to the left. You know, the second shots, it all depends on where the flag is, where you're trying to hit your second shot to.

But I don't know, I don't think it's that easy of a hole. But it's a par 5, and it's reachable for everyone. So it's one of those holes where you're just trying to get it in the fairway and get it, you know, somewhere around the front of the green so you can make an easy four.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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