TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP

June 24, 2021

Zach Johnson

TPC River Highlands

Quick Quotes

Q. Zach, how would you characterize that round?

ZACH JOHNSON: My round today was really, really solid. Created a ton of opportunities. I mean, you're going to miss some, you're going to make some.

I hit 16 greens in regulation, so drove it good, drove it well, with the exception of maybe one or two shots.

I just gave myself a lot of opportunities, and on a golf course like this, that's obviously beneficial.

Q. Does it feel like your game is trending in the direction you're looking for?

ZACH JOHNSON: Yeah, it has been. I been really encouraged with the work I been putting in with my team, with my coaches, that sort of thing, certainly my caddie.

Maybe it's a realization, I don't know, but I'm just starting to frankly enjoy the process of trying to figure this game out. You know, I mean, I feel like I've got some wisdom and experience, but at the same time, it's hard.

So it'll beat you up, but I'm trying to enjoy the process of that, taking the good with the bad and accepting the better part of your game; best part of your golf is in front of you.

Q. Did you struggle with that recently?

ZACH JOHNSON: I mean, it's not like I been playing poorly. Been playing pretty well. Missed few cuts here and there, but I would have a bad hole or a bad streak, and I made a 10 at the PGA championship. 10 doesn't really pan out very well on the scorecard.

Other than that, I played fine. Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I'm learning as I go, like I said. I'm also encouraged with everything I've done and everything I have going forward.

I feel like whatever is in my golf bag and what I'm doing with my team is good enough to win, but that doesn't mean year going to do it. It's not that easy.

So I feel like the way I'm processing things right now, every opportunity every day has been the right way to do it. I fully embrace the difficulty and the fact that my scorecard should frankly be irrelevant.

Q. Obviously none of us can ever figure the game out.

ZACH JOHNSON: Yeah, well I haven't either.

Q. Was there a moment where you decided, Hey, I'm going to enjoy this where you weren't before?

ZACH JOHNSON: Well, I don't mind working. Part of my job is outside of call it Monday through Sunday, is in my off weeks, in my down time, is trying to keep things simple but figure it out. It's a fine balance, right?

You can overthink it, overdo it, but if you don't embrace that and maybe don't even enjoy it, then it'll beat you up. So I'm going to enjoy it.

Now, in that, sometimes missing cuts can be a good thing. I had a really good missed cut last week. If I would've made the cut last week there were things I would not have figured out, if that makes sense.

Q. What did you take out of that last week? That's interesting.

ZACH JOHNSON: The work I did on Saturday and Sunday missing the cut has bled into this week. It may feel like miles from where I was, but it's probably that far. (Indicating.)

I'm not going to get into specifics, but what I'm alluding to is if we were to have just kept ongoing and going, shoot, I could have played well on the weekend, too. Don't get me wrong.

What I'm saying is the adjustments and the realization that I had that weekend are going to directly benefit me down the road.

Could be this week. Might be two weeks from now, might be two months from now. At some point it's going to surface.

Q. Did you do that at home?

ZACH JOHNSON: No, I took the charter so I stayed out there.

Q. Were you doing stuff at Torrey then?

ZACH JOHNSON: Yeah, I went to -- went and practiced at Torrey with my caddie at another facility up the road just to get off site one day. My coach just said, go try this, do this, so I did it.

Q. In general what does a week like this after the grind of the Open where there is a lot more birdie opportunities?

ZACH JOHNSON: I like par being hard. I've always enjoyed that. I thought Torrey was awesome. I think they did a great job in setup, rewarding quality shots, shall I say.

Q. Leaderboard pretty much represented that.

ZACH JOHNSON: 100%. I thought it favored no one. It favored no one. Fairways were fair. Rough was spotty. Probably 50/50 in whether or not you had a moderate to decent lie, which is a U.S. Open, and the greens were hard.