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ABU DHABI HSBC CHAMPIONSHIP

January 17, 2018

Dustin Johnson

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

MICHAEL GIBBONS: Welcome, DJ, thanks for joining us and welcome back to Abu Dhabi. Always a pleasure to welcome the world No. 1 to any tournament.

Dustin, give us your thoughts on the week ahead. Obviously you made a kind of perfect start to the year, so looking to continue where you left off in Hawai'i, I assume.

DUSTIN JOHNSON: Absolutely. I definitely got off to a really good start. Played very well the first week and I had a week off and now I'm here in Abu Dhabi, which is a place where I enjoyed coming last year. So I was excited to come back and looking forward to this week. Felt like the golf course, it's in good shape and the game's in pretty good form, too.

MICHAEL GIBBONS: Memories of last year, you and Tommy were fairly close on the Sunday.

DUSTIN JOHNSON: We were. I don't know, he was still kind of a little bit ahead but I played pretty well on Sunday. I got off to kind of a rough start. I didn't start too well on the first day, but you know, played very well the last three.

But yeah, I felt like this golf course suits me pretty well and I like the setup of it. Last year was the first time being here, obviously playing four rounds in the tournament definitely helps. This year, I know the course a little bit better, so we'll see. Hopefully I can play as well as I did in Hawai'i.

MICHAEL GIBBONS: Let's get going. Take some questions.

Q. You were on fire this time last year, all the way through the start of the year. Just wondering if it's a similar vibe you've got at the moment, and how do you keep that going through to Augusta?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I finally felt like obviously since Augusta, I kind of struggled for a little while. But you know, I finally felt like, you know, kind of from the Playoffs through now, the golf game is starting to get back into the form it was, you know, to this time last year where I had a really good run leading into Augusta.

So it's definitely good. I've been working hard on the game, but the golf swing feels like it's finally getting back to where it was.

Q. Just on a different point, you said when you won in Hawai'i that memories of China, you banished them pretty quickly. I wonder, when you've got a win, do you do the same thing? Do you put that aside, as well, and concentrate on what's coming?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, that was two weeks ago. So it really doesn't matter what I did there. This is a completely new week and you know, everybody starts at even par and so I've got to start over again.

Q. I know whenever you tee up, you want to win a golf tournament, but when you come to a tournament where you have finished second, especially second the last time does it give you an extra bit of motivation to just go out there and just go one step better?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, yeah, obviously I want to, I would love to win. But still, it's four rounds. So for me, I want to, when it comes Sunday, I just want to be in a position where I have a chance to win.

You know, and if I do all the right things for the next few days, then I definitely will have a chance when it comes Sunday. It's hard to say, yeah, I'm going to go out and win. That's really tough. It's a very good field. There's a lot of great players in the field, so you know, could I have a really good week and still lose. It's not -- that's just how golf is. You lose a lot more times than you win, and it's always going to be like that.

So you know, for me, I just want to go out and put myself in a position to have a chance to win on Sunday, and you know, that's kind of all I can do.

Q. When you start the year so clearly established as the No. 1 player in the world, and yet there's so much talk about Tiger Woods coming back, where Tiger Woods is going to play, does that frustrate you in any way as the top guy or do you accept it or do you actually quite like it or what's your view on it?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: It doesn't bother me at all. You know, it's good for the game, him coming back. It brings a lot more attention to us, and a lot more people are watching, talking about it. So you know, he's very good for the game. He has been for a long time, so him not being really involved in the game too much the last few years, it's definitely kind of made some room for other players to step up and take on a roll.

But he's done so much for the game of golf and he still will continue to do a lot for the game of golf. So him coming back, you only hope that he plays well and if he does play well, it definitely is very good for us and for the world of golf.

Q. Just on Tiger again, a lot is made that the 20-somethings have only seen Tiger at his best on footage. You sort of caught the back end of his peak. Are you excited at what he could still achieve?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, we'll see. Obviously it's hard to say what he's going to do until he actually does it. So yeah, I mean, I don't like to speculate on what someone's going to do. But I feel like I've played with him a couple times and he seems to be swinging it very well and he seems to be healthy. We'll see.

Q. As world No. 1, do you feel the responsibility to travel and play around the world, and is it part of your career goals to be seen as a winner all around?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I like to try to get out and play a few events in different parts of the world throughout the year. You know, always dependent on schedule and what I can fit in the schedule. But yeah, I don't mind travelling and playing in other parts of the world. I enjoy it.

Q. And winning around the world, is that part of your career ambitions?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I would like to. Sure. I've won in China. But yeah, I want to win every place that I play at.

Q. As perhaps one of the fittest golfers around on the tours, I just wondered, when Tiger came first, everyone wanted to get physically fitter and now you have seen what Tiger has gone through and the kind of injuries. Has your fitness regimen changed in the sense that you try to do more things for injury prevention rather than, you know, becoming more flexible, or putting on more muscles, things like that? Is injury prevention much more of a focus now for guys like you?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, I think that's always a focus. You know, training, doing that, is also a lot of training is injury prevention. But you know, being fit helps you not get injured, and you know, for me, I'm pretty flexible, so I don't have to really focus too much on flexibility. But you know, it's still, yeah, we're always -- I haven't changed my training regimen.

Q. Obviously it was completely out of your control but does what happened pre-Augusta last year increase your motivation to go back there this year? Is it possible to increase your motivation? You were in such a strong position heading there last April?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I'm definitely looking forward to it this year. You know, I was very disappointed I didn't get to play last year, but things happen.

So you've just got to roll with it. But yeah, it's a place where I always love going to play. I feel like I really like the golf course. The last two Masters I played in, I did very well, and so I'm definitely excited to go back.

Q. How excited are you about a Ryder Cup in France? You missed the one in Gleneagles in 2016, and how do you rate the American chances, when you've not won in Europe for a long time, how do you rate the chances going into that match?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I think it's going to be a very difficult match like it always is in The Ryder Cup since I've been on the teams. It's definitely going to be tough. It's always tougher to win when it's not your home turf. So we're going to have to go over there and play very well but we're going to have a very good team so if we go over there and play really good golf, I like our chances.

Q. Will it be the best team that you've been on potentially?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, it's going to be a good one. I don't know, it's hard to say which one's the best. I know the one last time was pretty good, we won.

Q. Your thoughts on the course this week and particularly the par 5s, just one eagle the first three days. Wondered your thoughts on those and the course this week?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I mean, the golf course here is very good. It's in good shape. Actually the fairways are probably a little bit softer this year than they were last year when I played. Same with the greens. Maybe a little bit, just a little bit. You know, the par 5s, it's kind of, they are not real easy because they are fairly long, but dependent on the wind, I can reach them if I hit good tee balls.

Yeah, I guess, I didn't know what I shot on the par fives last time. I guess you just told me, so I didn't play them that great. Obviously like to play them a little better.

MICHAEL GIBBONS: Thank you for joining us.

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