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TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP

June 28, 2020

Dustin Johnson

Cromwell, Connecticut

THE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome Dustin Johnson to his virtual press conference after winning the Travelers Championship for his 21st career win. Dustin, how excited are you to capture this 21st win and how weird is it without having a huge crowd there to cheer you on?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, it's very exciting to get my 21st win and then get my first win of the season. It was big because I hadn't played very well. But I put in a lot of good work the last couple weeks after Colonial, and so it's nice to see the game just start coming around. Yeah, it was definitely strange playing with no fans, but you still can feel the pressure, you still can feel how important a golf tournament it is, and you're coming down the stretch, to me it felt the same, whether it was a million fans or zero.

You know, but it was strange not seeing a whole bunch of people around the 18th green.

Q. We were talking to you yesterday in the flash area; your demeanor is obviously so flat-line that we kind of wonder whether stuff gets to you and you're nervous and stressed. You did mention that you just don't show it, that you do feel the stress. Can you talk a little bit about what the stress was like for you? I know you mentioned on television that the hour layoff kind of made you think about things a little bit. But starting back at 13 when you hit that ball out-of-bounds, it just looked like it was a little wobbly down the stretch.
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I wasn't driving it good, wasn't driving it really good all day, but I was hitting my irons well, and I felt like all week I've hit my irons really good. Yesterday I drove it in the fairway a lot, and so obviously I had a lot of looks at birdies.

Today I didn't hit many fairways, and that was the big difference. But yeah, 13 -- I mean, it's a tough tee shot. I pulled it just a hair. It wasn't that bad of a tee shot. Obviously it just carried the bunker, rolled across the cart path there and was just barely out-of-bounds.

Yeah, obviously hitting the provisional, the second tee ball for that hole, I knew I had to hit a good one, and I did. You know, made a nice bogey there and then came right back and made birdie on 14.

Yeah, I mean, sitting there, obviously made a nice par save on 15, and so I felt good. I had the confidence. I was ready to finish out the golf tournament, and then obviously they blow the horn, so you get to go sit in the clubhouse for an hour.

You know, just coming out, we had a few minutes to warm up, so it wasn't like I was stiff or anything, but just caught my shot a little thin on 16. I knew I was not trying to hit it anywhere near that right bunker and I did. Yeah, it was just a poor shot but managed to hold it together and hit some really nice shots on 17 and 18.

Q. You kind of mentioned it on TV, but you said you didn't really enjoy the hour stoppage there. Kind of elaborate on what's going through your head at that point as you're waiting around warming up and anxious to get back out on the course.
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I was definitely ready to -- obviously you're in the moment, you're playing, you've already played 15 holes, and then you've got to stop and wait to go finish. 16 was a tough pin over there, but obviously I wasn't trying to hit anywhere near it. And then 17, the tee ball is difficult. You know, I knew what I needed to do, but sitting there, you're cold, you're coming out, you start on a par-3, it was difficult. But I managed to get it done.

Q. Streelman was playing well, was kind of right on you. How aware were you that he was at some points one or two strokes behind you? He's a guy who's had good back nines here before, obviously.
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, obviously I knew where we stood, especially after the break. But even before that I knew I was in the lead. I was one or two shots ahead.

But yeah, obviously when we had the break, then yeah, I definitely knew I had a two-shot lead standing on 16 tee. Supposed to hit that ball right in the middle of the green and have a 30-footer, but got a little greedy and tried to squeeze it over there to the flag and didn't hit a great shot.

But you know, hit nice shots on 17 and 18 to finish off the tournament.

Q. You said a minute ago that you haven't played very well. It's only been 20 tournaments since you've won before. In all honesty, have you ever played an entire season of bad golf ever in your life? Anywhere?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I don't think so. And I hope I don't start anytime soon.

Q. Is that consistency something you take pride in?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I put in the work, so I feel like I've put in enough hard work to where my game should be spot on all the time. Obviously coming off of an injury, or surgery last fall, and then only playing a couple tournaments before our shutdown, so I didn't really get a lot of golf to get back in a rhythm, and then coming out -- like I said, I probably wouldn't have played Colonial -- if it would have been a normal season I wouldn't have played there because I just wasn't ready. Like I said, I tweaked my knee, so I didn't get to prepare properly, and then I actually went home, I got an MRI and I actually -- I thought it was my surgery that was bothering me, but it was just a strained tendon. So worked on that and worked on the game during Hilton Head. I felt like it was really good, it was really close to being great at Hilton Head, and then obviously coming here, I really felt good about things.

Q. What did you hit on your tee shot on 15?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I hit a 3-hybrid very poorly. I don't know what was going on with my tee balls today.

Q. When you look at 21 wins, a major championship and this streak of 13 consecutive years with at least one win, which one of those makes you most proud and why?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, I'm proud of all of them, obviously. But I mean, winning the U.S. Open at Oakmont is my biggest win for sure. But winning 13 years straight on the TOUR is a pretty big accomplishment. You know, they're pretty close with what I'm most proud of.

Q. When you look at the 13 years in a row and you look at the other guys that have done it, what does that make you -- how impressive is that in your mind?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, anytime you're mentioned with those guys, with Tiger, Jack, I think Arnie, you've got to feel good about that because they're the best that's ever played this game. Anytime your name is mentioned in the same sentence with them, I'm very happy.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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