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SAUDI INTERNATIONAL POWERED BY SBIA

February 2, 2019

Dustin Johnson

King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia

Q. Give us an assessment of your play today.
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I thought I played well. Probably played just as well as I did yesterday. Gave myself a lot of opportunities. Made a lot of good putts. Just holed a few more yesterday than I did today, is the only difference.

Q. Started out three ahead, 1-under par through eight and the lead is down to one and you rattled off some birdies. Tell us about that stretch from your point of view.
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Hit a lot of good shots. 9 was a tap-in. 10 I had a tap-in. 11 I hit it to four feet to a really tough, tucked pin.

Then 12, I made a nice putt. But other than that, I gave myself even the rest of the back nine, I gave myself a lot of chances, hit a lot of good putts. Just lipped-out four or five, six times today.

Q. At one stage you were four ahead. How aware were you of Haotong's progress today, four eagles and a 62?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I heard when I got done, yeah, that's pretty impressive. Four eagles in a golf tournament is pretty good, but four in one round, take that any day.

Q. You've separated yourselves from the rest of the field now. You're five shots ahead of the rest of the pack. Give us your thoughts on that situation.
DUSTIN JOHNSON: For me, I just go out and play like I've been playing and hopefully can roll in a few more putts and see what I can do. Haotong is a good player. He's obviously playing well right now. I think it's going to be kind of a tough match against him tomorrow for the most part, but I'm looking forward to it.

Q. 19 top wins and nearly a hundred Top 10s. What's the most important thing you've learned from that experience that you can use in tomorrow's situation?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Just go out and play my game, don't worry about what he's doing.

Q. You've obviously won all around the world and many times on the PGA TOUR but you've not won a regular European Tour event. This would be your first. How excited would you be to have that opportunity and potentially convert it?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Absolutely. It's definitely an opportunity for me to see what I've got and definitely would like to win a regular European Tour event. I've played in a few now. That's something I haven't done and so that would be a nice little way to send it back to the U.S. tomorrow night.

Q. How good was that round of 65 considering the conditions?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, the conditions were tough. Played in a lot of wind all day, but I struck the ball really well. I gave myself a lot of opportunities and a lot of really good shots.

The round is good. 65 is always good, but I played a little bit better than that. Hit a lot of really good putts that didn't go in the hole, but the greens are very tricky to read, and burned a lot of edges today. But I'm very pleased with the way I played.

Q. Would your best shot be your second shot on hole 9?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: That was a good one. Any time you hit it in there to two feet is a good shot. But you know, to a tucked right flag, probably the best shot I hit today was on No. 11, the little short par 3, but it was a very difficult pin playing straight into the wind.

Q. And four birdies on the trot.
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I played well all day. Gave myself a lot of chances. But yeah, any time, four in a row, definitely got the round going a little bit more but I still gave myself a lot of chances the rest of the whack back nine. Just wasn't able to hole anything.

Q. You and Haotong are now five shots clear. Could be a good battle tomorrow, your final round.
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, if I want to get it done tomorrow, I'm going to have to play really good golf. Haotong is a good player and he's been playing well. So I'm looking forward to it.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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