WORKDAY CHARITY OPEN

July 9, 2020

Zach Johnson

Q. How would you assess your round out there today?

ZACH JOHNSON: It was solid. I mean, when it kind of got astray at times, I was able to right the ship, make some up-and-downs, that kind of thing. I actually had a lot of opportunities where I didn't make putts. I shouldn't say a lot. I had a few. But when I got in trouble, I was able to get out of it, and all in all, just very solid. I just kept the course in front of me.

Q. How did you find the course conditions today?

ZACH JOHNSON: You know, similar. The greens are very receptive. Not overly fast. Downhill downgrain you've got to pay attention, but there's slope here, so that goes without saying.

The rough is -- I was reading maybe it's just going to keep going up each and every day, so it's not ideal, but you can still manage it. I thought the course played about what you'd expect. I mean, there's no wind, so the last four or five holes for me just felt great, by the way. There was just no wind to speak of. In that regard, you had to take advantage of it.

Q. This is your fourth straight week. Have you seen the game continue to progress as these weeks have gone along?

ZACH JOHNSON: Four of five, yeah. I saw it during quarantine, too; I felt like it was on the right trajectory as far as quality shots and scoring and that kind of thing. It was just a matter of time. And it is just one round. I mean, I had a decent finish in Hartford. I actually played okay. I didn't play great. I felt like there were some things I needed to work on there, and I feel like I'm addressing those.

Yeah, I mean, I've felt good about everything, it's just a matter of it coming together for three or four solid days.

Q. Other than 2006, Muirfield Village hasn't been a great course for you. Is there a reason why maybe you played better today?

ZACH JOHNSON: I mean, I don't know. No wind. I hit a lot of fairways for the most part. For the most part I gave myself great opportunities. I took advantage of the par-5s when I had that ability. You know, I think 2006, this was pre-changes changes. We're in probably the second or third iteration of changes right now out here, and the tee boxes and a little more length and that kind of thing, but I'm hitting the ball as far as I've ever hit it. I'm still not going to wow you, but for me, if I can hit fairways and hit it the distance I'm hitting it, well, shoot, I mean, I can take advantage of my strengths. I can get a lot of wedges in my hand here, so hopefully I can keep hitting fairways.

Q. With this being your fourth week, obviously no fans, are you getting more used to it? What's the weirdest part of it?

ZACH JOHNSON: Yeah, I mean, it's odd. It's strange. It's not ideal. We want to play in front of fans. They're fans; they like the game of golf. We certainly have a distinct entertainment element to what we do, especially some of the young guys. So that part stinks. It's the right decision, it's just an unfortunate decision.

I hope it doesn't persist, but we're going to keep making responsible changes as a TOUR. I trust Jay and certainly our player board and the entire board. They're making the appropriate decisions based on data and what the experts are saying. You know, ideally we have fans out here, but it's not the case right now.

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