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U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPJune 15, 2018Dustin JohnsonSouthampton, New York THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon. Welcome again to the second round of the 118th U.S. Open Championship at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club. Very pleased to welcome this afternoon 2016 Champion Dustin Johnson, who followed up his first round 1-under 69 with a 3-under 67 today. Dustin, great playing so far. Can you just talk about how you're playing out there and the two great rounds that you've put together? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I felt like today was another really solid round, played really well. A couple times where I hit a couple of bad iron shots, but every time I felt like I was able to save par, at least give myself a really good look at par. My only bogey I made today on No. 1, I still had a decent look at par, 10-, 12-footer or something for par. Yeah, I mean, I felt like today was really solid in some tough conditions. THE MODERATOR: Absolutely. What hole were you on when the rain really started to fall pretty heavily? DUSTIN JOHNSON: It started -- I don't know. We kind of played in it from 15 to about No. 3, and then it kind of let up a little bit for us, and then we got to finish in some nice weather. THE MODERATOR: Definitely. We'll open it right to questions. Q. Could you talk about that putt you made on 7. DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, that was a good one. I knew coming off the putter, I mean, it was all about -- you know, obviously, I'm trying to make it, but I was more focused on just making sure I had good speed. You know, hit a really nice putt, and it went right in there. I knew, obviously, about halfway there it was on a really good line if it would just get to the hole, which I guess it dropped right in the front door. Q. Dustin, could you talk about the difference in conditions from yesterday to today? Were the pins a little easier? Was the wind a little less? Were the greens a little smoother? Was it no different? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, the conditions were completely different. Yesterday was warm, windy, but it was dry. The ball was going pretty good. Today was -- you know, it was still breezy, but with the rain coming down and it was cooler, the golf ball was going nowhere. The course played really long. And it definitely, it played tough again, especially, I felt like this morning, through our first 13 or 14 holes, it was playing very difficult. Q. Dustin, Oakmont and Shinnecock are pretty tough tracks. Why do you like conditions like this? DUSTIN JOHNSON: You've got to play really good golf if you want to shoot a good score, and I like where par is a good score on every hole no matter what club you got in your hand, what hole it is. A par is a really good score. Around here, the fairways are fairly generous, but with crosswinds on every hole, they're still tough to hit. Even though you're in the middle of the fairway, a lot of times with a wedge you've still got to hit a good shot just to give yourself a 15- or 20-footer. Q. Just a quick followup. I know you're thinking about this tournament and your own score, but is it kind of satisfying to play that well in front of Tiger for two days? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, it doesn't matter who I'm playing with. I want to play well. But, yeah, I felt like I played really well the first two days. Q. Just giving your -- I don't know what this is -- ten U.S. Opens, whatever it is for you, do you ever find yourself just trying to not do anything dumb that will lead to a big number? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, for sure, especially if you get out of position. You know, yesterday a couple times, I was a little bit out of position, but I knew -- you know, I'm just trying to get it back in play and then give myself just a look at par. I feel like, if I can get a look at par and not make any doubles, you know, I'm going to make a couple birdies. But limit the mistakes, especially limit the big numbers. I know I'm playing well, so as long as I can do that, then I'm going to shoot a pretty good score. Q. Is that a conscious effort, not to hit doubles? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah. I mean, I never want to make doubles. But around here, it seems like, for me, when I do get out of position, I'm just trying to do everything I can to get it back into position, not try to push it, and just give myself a decent look at 4, whether it's -- whether that's a 5-footer or a 25-footer, just something on the green where I can have a look at par. Q. Is that something that took a while to figure out? Just in this tournament, I'm talking about. Excuse me. This Championship. DUSTIN JOHNSON: No. I mean, for me, I guess too, as I get older, I want to make things as easy as possible, even though they don't get any easier, but just easier on myself. Q. You mentioned that the ball wasn't flying at all. I think it was 17 you hit a shot on the par 3 that looked like it was going there and it fell short. How much of a guessing game is that, trying to sort of guess how far things are going to fly with the conditions? And how hard is it to commit I've got to hit the 6 iron one the last hole, might have been the 7? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, it was tough this morning for sure. No. 2, I think we had 206 or something to the front, and I ripped a 3 iron, and it didn't even come close to getting there. That's a fly-in at about 245. So it was definitely difficult to judge the distance, especially while it was raining and with the wind. So, yeah, it's definitely a little bit of a guessing game. You've just got to kind of feel it. If you flight it wrong, then it's not going to go anywhere. Q. Dustin, with the big crowds out there, obviously, that's some energy that you can feed off of, but there was someone in your group that was not playing as well as you were, and the crowd was reacting. Was there any challenge in you staying focused and positive and sort of locked into what you're doing when that's going on? DUSTIN JOHNSON: No. I mean, it's a U.S. Open. Everyone's going to struggle. But the fans out there are great. I love the fans up here. They always give me a lot of support, and so it was a lot of fun out there the last two days. Q. Just a followup on that. Playing with Tiger, you said you were unflappable, and obviously you were. What was it like the first time you played with him or the first couple times you played with him? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I've been out here for a while now, so it's hard to remember. I can't even remember the first time I played with him. But I enjoy playing with him. It's a lot better than playing in front of him or behind him. Q. On a different topic, out there you said that patience is so important here. Have you always been a patient person? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I feel like, yeah, I'm pretty patient. Obviously, with anything, sometimes you get impatient. But out here, it's a tough golf course, tough conditions, so it's very important to stay patient all day. Q. Dustin, I'll make the assumption that you might be sleeping on the U.S. Open lead tonight. You've been there before. Does it get easier? Was it hard the first time? Is it easier for you now? DUSTIN JOHNSON: No, I usually don't have any trouble sleeping. But, yeah, I mean, there's still a lot of golf left. There's still 36 holes left no matter what position I'm in. Going into tomorrow, I'm going to stick to my game plan, stick to trying to play the holes how I have the first couple days and see what happens. Q. Dustin, would you mind elaborating on your psyche as you approach each hole, knowing how important it is to play par or under, knowing that you see the scoreboard and one hole really can bury you and it has done that to a couple of your counterparts that were with you today? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I couldn't hear the last part of it. THE MODERATOR: Can you repeat the last part of the question? Q. Absolutely. Just knowing the grouping you were with today, that how one hole really can bury you, are you playing a safer approach, or just the psyche as you approach each hole, knowing how much damage it can have. DUSTIN JOHNSON: For me, the way I approach each hole is, obviously, you've got the wind and, you know, certain holes you have certain carry numbers, but I'm just trying to hit whatever shot that I feel like I've got the most confidence that I'm going to hit the fairway with. You know, that's the most important. And then coming into the greens, just looking at where you want your ball to land. I've done a good job of that the first couple days. Q. Sort of following up on Mark's question, you have such a calm demeanor on the golf course. Not necessarily as a professional, at any time in your life have you thrown a club? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I have a few times, but, I mean, for me, we're out here. We're trying to set an example for kids and for everyone else. So no matter how mad I get, I'm probably not going to show you, and I'm definitely not going to throw a club. Q. And when's the last time you can recall really being angry on a golf course, even if you didn't show it? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Last week. I don't know. I don't get too angry. You know, for me, I hit bad shots all the time. It's not like -- why am I going to get upset about a bad shot I hit? I do it every day when I play. So you just got to go find it and hit it again. Q. When was the last club thrown? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I don't throw clubs. It's not the club's fault. I wish it was, but it's not. Q. Dustin, you've got a nice track record when playing with the lead, converting leads. Do you prefer to be in front going into the weekend and have everybody else chasing you? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I like being in the lead for sure. It's less shots you've got to make up. But, yeah, I mean, right now I'm in a good position going into the weekend. Don't know if I'll have the lead or not. There's still a lot of guys out there that are playing. But I'll be in a good position going into the weekend for sure. Q. Dustin, for a player with so much power, I'm just curious in course management, you feel like that really clicked for you? And if there was a coach in particular, maybe even way back in the day, when you understood how to harness that and how important that is this week? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, I think -- you know, as you get more experience out here and understand the game a little bit better, that for me it took me a couple years probably. But I felt like over the past seven or eight years, I've done a pretty good job with course management. Q. Dustin, can you address the wind direction and velocity? How much of a club differential -- take us through like any given holes in terms of what you had yesterday versus, say, what you hit today. DUSTIN JOHNSON: Okay. Yesterday on 2, I think it was 230 front and, I mean, wind was pretty similar direction. Tee was all the way back, and I hit a 3 iron over the green. Today the tee was up 25 yards, and I hit a 3 iron short of the green. The wind was blowing a little bit harder yesterday, but it was warmer, and it was drier. Today the wind's kind of -- from when we started to when we finished, the wind's changed directions a little bit, and I think it's going to continue to change for the rest of the afternoon. You. Know, it just all depends on the situation. I mean, it's early in the morning. When it was raining this morning, the ball was -- the wind was affecting it probably two or three clubs. THE MODERATOR: As long as Doug promises not to ask any club throwing or anger management questions, he can ask one more. Q. Did you try and drive the green on 13 at all during any of your practice days? And did you give it any consideration today? And if not, why not? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I did not hit any in the practice round. Today, it was -- I definitely thought about it, but I was trying to figure out where I would hit it to. Obviously, I was probably not going to hit it on the green, so where I wanted to miss it. I felt like with a driver I was going to -- I couldn't hit it hard because I felt like it would fly on the green, which wouldn't have been very good. And 3 wood just wasn't -- I would have had to hit it perfect for it to cover the bunker there on the left side. So I definitely considered it, but then I felt like the easiest spot to hit the green would have been from the middle of the fairway where I hit it. I just didn't feel like I was -- I didn't think I was going to hit my next shot short of the green, but I made a good 4. THE MODERATOR: Dustin Johnson, 4 under through two rounds, clubhouse leader. Thanks so much for joining us. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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