PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

August 5, 2020

Dustin Johnson

Harding Park Golf Club

Press Conference

JOHN DEVER: Good morning from TPC Harding Park in San Francisco and the 2020 PGA Championship. We're pleased to be joined by Dustin Johnson.

Welcome to your 11th career PGA Championship. I'm sure you've noticed higher rough, colder temps, damp mornings. If you're going to win here at TPC Harding Park by Sunday, what part of your game needs to be on point this week?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: For me, I think to play this golf course well, you've got to drive it well. I think that's a big key for me. If I can drive it well this week, I feel like I'm going to have a really good week. The course is long. Rough is deep. It's cold. Ball is not going very far.

You know, I think for me, that's the game plan. If I can get it in the fairway, I feel like I'm going to have a really good week.

Q. With the fairways pinched in a little bit from when you saw it in 2015 and the rough up, does it affect how aggressively you can take this course on?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, the golf course for the most part is right in front of you. Obviously they give a couple holes, 16 and 7, I think, where depending on the wind, could be drivable. But it can't really be off the tee -- you can't be too aggressive. You just hit whatever line you can take to get it in the fairway.

But as far as from '15, to me, it seems like it's really similar. I know I think somebody was saying 12 and 13 are a little bit longer than they were in '15, which they're playing that way for sure.

But the golf course is in great condition. I think it's going to be a great week, and it's going to be a tough week, though, too.

Q. Justin Thomas talked yesterday about the challenge of going from one major to winning two majors. I'm curious your thoughts on the difficulty of winning your second major compared to the first.

DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, I had a really rough time winning that first one. It seemed like it was never going to happen. I was so close so many times.

Yeah, I mean, winning a major is just tough, period. You know, as far as the number, I don't think that really matters how many. Getting that first one I feel like is definitely the hardest.

But then, too, after you win the first one, you also -- you know you can do it so it definitely makes it easier, but it's never easy to win a major. Everything has got to go well. You've got to -- every part of your game needs to be on point, and that's the difficult part about winning a major.

Q. How do you explain winning Hartford, not being able to break 80 at Memorial or the next one, and then how important was last week to at least get back on the bicycle, so to speak?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, honestly, neither one, Memorial or Minnesota didn't bother me one bit. I was swinging terribly. My back was bothering me just from swinging back. I didn't hurt it doing anything. I hurt it swinging just because I was so swinging so poorly. So that didn't really bother me.

I knew, I went home, I rested for four days, got treatment, and then went out and practiced Monday at home and just went back to the basics, worked on the right things and started hitting the ball well again.

Going into Memphis I was fine and confident. It was a golf course that I like and have played well on, too. It was really close to being really good last week. I just felt like I could never get anything going. I made too many mistakes. It was like every time I got out of position I made bogey. I just couldn't keep the rounds going.

Felt like I played pretty solid. Still, iron play was just not quite as sharp as I would like it to have been. But this week I've put in a lot of good work, and I feel like the iron play is definitely back to where it should be, and I've got a lot of confidence in the iron game right now.

Q. You mentioned the ball not going very far. I'm wondering how do you go about calibrating differences this week? Is it looking at TrackMan and then taking it to the golf course?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: A lot of it's feel. Yeah, obviously TrackMan helps, too. I mean, we play in conditions like this a lot, so you know it just doesn't go very far. But yeah, a lot of it you feel it because out here, especially with this direction, you get a lot of crosswinds, so it's tough to get the right distance.

You know, you have to hit one over the green, so that's fine with me. As long as it come up short, usually you're okay.

Q. I want to ask you about the new generation of players, in particular, I'm from Chile, so I want to know about Joaquin Niemann. How do you feel the input from them, the difference may be between the younger generations and the more experienced players?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: Joaquin is a good -- I think he's a really good young player. I think we've got a lot of really good young players on the Tour right now. But there's a lot of good players that are, I guess you could say, in the older generation, too. I don't really understand your question, but I'll try to answer it as best I can.

But yeah, I think the Tour is in a really good spot. Like I said, there's a variety of different ages and a lot of really good players right now on the Tour.

Q. An interesting finish here with the drivable 4 at 16, then a short 3 and then 18 looks like it could be a monster. Could you talk about the finish and exactly what you've been doing at 18?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, right now 18 is playing downwind, so it's not too bad. But if the wind ever turns and comes into the wind, it's going to play very long. Just because it's downwind right now, I can cut off a lot of the corner, so it's not playing quite as long.

Yeah, it is a really good finish. So 16, obviously depending on where the tee is, you can drive the green, so you've got a chance to make a birdie or eagle there.

17 with the wind direction is not -- I think you'll take a 3 there and you'll be happy.

And then 18 obviously you can make a 3 or a 6.

Q. In terms of packing for this tournament, how is it different from what you do for the British?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: It's not different at all. I mean, you know coming here -- we've played golf up here before, so you know it's probably going to be chilly and it's probably going to look like it is right now outside. For me I packed the same way I do as if I'm going to the British.

Q. Last year Sunday afternoon at Bethpage you made that run, and it seemed like the crowd was really behind you. Where did that day kind of rank in terms of crowd atmosphere? I know you're an even-keeled guy, but do you feed off that?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I love having the fans out here. I like playing in front of them.

Yeah, Sunday last year at the PGA was a good day. It was a tough day, but I was playing really well and kind of had it going there, especially coming down the stretch. Yeah, you definitely feed off the crowd. I miss the fans being out here, and hopefully they'll be back very soon.

Q. Were you trying to make a swing change in particular that led to the back issue, and if so, why were you trying to make that change?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: I was not trying to make any swing changes. I just got into a bad habit. I think hitting the range at Muirfield was straight into the wind and it was on an up slope so I was just hanging on my left side real bad and just aggravated my back, that's all.

Q. To win this week, you have to do what the best?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: Drive it. I think I've got to drive it the best. And obviously always you need to putt well. I think if I can drive it really well, I'll have a good chance to win.

Q. You were here for the Match Play obviously, but is the way the course is set up, is that what you were expecting, or did anything surprise you in terms of thickness of rough or narrow fairways, whatever the case may be?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: No, I mean, like I said, I don't notice much of a difference from the Match Play except a couple holes are a little longer. And then obviously the routing is different.

But I think the course setup is great. It's difficult. I feel like -- it feels like a major championship. You've got to drive it in the fairway and hit a lot of greens or you're going to struggle.

JOHN DEVER: Dustin, thanks for stopping by. Appreciate it. Have a great week.