PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

August 7, 2020

Dustin Johnson

Harding Park Golf Club

Flash Quotes

JOHN DEVER: Good afternoon. Welcome back to the 2020 PGA Championship here at TPC Harding Park. Pleased to be joined by Dustin Johnson who posted a second round 67 today. He is 4-under for the championship.

Dustin, you made a move today, and you're in the thick of it. What went right on what was a challenging golf course today?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, I scored well today. Actually, I felt like I played better yesterday. I scored really good. I made some key up-and-downs. I think I hit three or four fairways, not very good, but I drove it a lot just off the fairway, and you know, was able to get it up around the green, saved a lot of nice pars, but the three fairways I hit, did I make birdies on those three holes.

I feel like I'm swinging really well. I just need to, you know, over the weekend, I need to drive it in the fairway.

Q. How difficult is this getting overall out there?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, the fairways are firming up, so ball is rolling a little bit further, so it's not staying in the fairway as easy. The greens are definitely getting firmer.

JOHN DEVER: How much does the wind come into play? Seems to come in in the middle of the late afternoon. Does that change things from your front nine today?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, the wind was blowing pretty steady all day. Especially as it cools off late in the afternoon, the ball doesn't go near as far. You know, a lot of these holes, it's tough to get a real good judge on the wind because it's a lot of crosswinds. But you know, like I said, just got to drive it in the fairway, and then, you know, it definitely makes the golf course much easier.

Q. Any surprise about being able to score so well, hitting so few fairways? It does seem like the rough can really cause some problems.

DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I didn't have -- I didn't have great lies in the rough, either, but I was able to, you know, kind of chop it down the fairway and get it up around the greens, which is what you've got to do in majors, and you know, especially around this golf course is just, you're going to miss some fairways. Just when you do, I missed them in the correct spot, and like I said, I wasn't far off the fairways. I didn't hit any bad drives. I hit a lot of just okay drives that just a yard or two or there and I'd have hit a lot of fairways.

Q. Do you find you're having to hit your driver a lot?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: I hit a lot of drivers here, except for, you know, 15 and 16, really. I hit driver on I think just about every hole.

Q. What was your decision at 16? What were you looking at today?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, I haven't been driving it too great. I was swinging good, so it wasn't like I was swinging poorly. I wasn't hitting it all over the place. I was just a little off with the driver, and so I mean, I hit a 5-iron and I had 79 yards, and I figure, you know, I'm swinging well, like I said.

So if I can just get myself in the fairway, I feel like I can give myself good looks, and that's what I did. Almost holed it.

JOHN DEVER: Thanks for stopping by. Good luck.