BMW CHAMPIONSHIP

August 29, 2020

Dustin Johnson

Olympia Fields Country Club

Press Conference

JOHN BUSH: We'd like to welcome Dustin Johnson into the interview room. He is currently tied at the BMW Championship with Hideki Matsuyama at 1-under par. If we can get some comments on a 1-under 69 today, please.

DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, it felt like I played really solid. Hit a lot of greens, had a lot of good looks at birdie. Even hit a lot of really good putts that I thought were going in. Had a few lip-outs there, but all in all, it was a really solid day in tough conditions, and obviously this golf course is very difficult.

JOHN BUSH: Speaking of that difficulty, what will it take to get your second straight victory in as many weeks tomorrow?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: I need to go out and do a lot of the same that I did today. Felt like I lit a lot of fairways, a lot of greens, and it really doesn't matter how far away you are, you've just got to be in the fairway. That's the only way to control the ball and control the spin, and even then it's still difficult to get it close to the hole.

Q. How would you compare how you're playing through three rounds this week compared with last week?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: I feel like it's fairly similar, just obviously these conditions and the greens are a lot more difficult, because even a good shot -- I hit a really good shot, had a 15-footer on 10, still putting up the hill, but I'm still play three feet of break almost. You never really -- probably the best look I had would have been on 14, and it was probably 17, 18 feet, and I played it a little more than a cup out left, and that was probably the straightest putt I had all day.

Q. Even though you know what you're in for when you got here this week, is it hard to get your hands around the fact that one week you're birdieing every other hole it feels like and this week it's not? Kind of in your head?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: No, it's not. No, just because obviously this golf course just demands different kind of shots and pars. It's a completely different golf course, completely different conditions. It's pretty easy to get into the mindset of 4-under is a good score. This is a pretty much a major championship venue, obviously, and the conditions, the way it's set up, it's playing just like a major.

Q. When you open with a bogey on a par-5, when you pull a putt through the green and over into the rough, is that easier to take than any other tournament, mistakes like that?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, absolutely, because you know it's going to happen. I know I'm playing well, so things like that are going to happen out here, so you've just got to be patient. I know I'm playing good, so just don't try to get ahead of yourself, don't try to be too aggressive, and just keep playing golf. Like I said, I've got a lot of confidence in the game right now. I'm swinging it really well. Just because I make a bogey doesn't really discourage me too much. Obviously the first hole I just hit a poor bunker shot. I was out of position off the tee, and then after my second shot, hit a pretty good third shot to get it into the bunker there and just hit a poor bunker shot.

Q. How did Hideki look, and did he talk your ear off at all today?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, he did. No, he's hitting it fine. Obviously the golf course is difficult. We both -- I felt like I played really solid. Obviously he got off to a really good start and I didn't, but I felt like I played really solid throughout the whole day.

JOHN BUSH: We appreciate your time, Dustin. Best of luck tomorrow.