|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
VALERO TEXAS OPENOctober 12, 2008Zach JohnsonSAN ANTONIO, TEXAS CHRIS REIMER: We want to welcome Zach and congratulations to the 2008 Valero Texas Open Champion, Zach Johnson. We talked to you a couple times in here this week and you said that you wanted to use this tournament to kind of get ready for 2009 and you expect to be sitting here as the champion? ZACH JOHNSON: No, I didn't, but I guess that's kind of a good thing. I had two things in my mind this week as far as going into the week and one was no expectations. So, no, I did not expect to be here but I guess that's a good thing. The second was just to -- you know, I made some commitments to my fundamentals, to my golf swing and starting to payoff. So it's very encouraging. CHRIS REIMER: Talk about this event as a whole, your first time here, what you liked and what -- ZACH JOHNSON: First class. Obviously this year is not part of the FedEx but as you can see from the depth of the field, from the individuals that have played, it's still looked very highly upon. It is the Texas Open. I think Valero has been an is and will be, you know, a fantastic sponsor on Tour and in this day and age we need those. That goes without saying. And everybody that's associated with the tournament, you know, I can't thank them enough and being supportive of our Tour and certainly our charities. Q. Your round today. ZACH JOHNSON: First and foremost, this round and this week especially was for the State of Iowa. Especially in my home, Cedar Rapids, that community was devastated in June. Other disasters, mainly tornadoes. I'm dedicating this one to them. They mean a lot to me. They they've been with me supporting me unconditionally. I'm giving this one back to them. I can't thank them enough. But today, yeah, today was great. I felt at peace out there. I certainly -- I got off to a decent start and kind of let it slide a little bit but, you know, made a putt, I don't know what hole it was, I think it was 5, for par and kind of got me going. Yeah, all in all a great day. CHRIS REIMER: Questions. Q. I guess the birdies are always the Sports Center highlights but that one on 5 when you kind of cut in there and had to chip up close and you made that, you could tell when you threaded that one home that it was kind of -- ZACH JOHNSON: I hit a poor drive there and very, very difficult shot in the sand. I was actually somewhat pleased at where I got it, to be honest with you. Q. You had an elevation. ZACH JOHNSON: It was significantly below my feet and not sitting very well, either. I got it out, a 30-yard pitch shot and got it up there probably six feet and right in the middle of the hole. Kind of lead to the remainder of the round. Nice birdie on the next three holes. Then obviously some more on the back-9. You know, as much as my putter hurt me early on, it certainly helped me late. My caddy and I, we had a good thing going and good reads. He reads grains fantastic. It's helped a lot, what he sees. Q. Those par putts, those are always the hidden stats that people don't think about because, again, they're not the headline shots, but you got 4-footer, 5-footers, you had the really curling putt on 14, 15. ZACH JOHNSON: 15. That was terrible. Q. Could you go through that hole? ZACH JOHNSON: I made a good birdie on 14, two putted birdie on 14, good two-putt. I don't know where that put me but that put me either tied for the lead or close to the lead, and hit a great drive on 15. Absolutely horrible, 9-iron and still was okay. I had a good lie and misjudged the lie I guess but it kind of jumped off my wedge and thus a poor chip shot. But, you know, I told myself over that putt I'm like, you know, you may be -- I play some games with myself on the putting green. There's no reason -- pick your line and hit a solid putt and I hit it perfect and obviously it went in. That was a huge putt as well. Those par putts today, some three to five footers for par I hit them really good. Those are the ones that you can kind of get jittery on and I hit it really solid. Q. Do you watch the leaderboard at all? It was a shoot-out. ZACH JOHNSON: I didn't really need to see it early because there was so much golf left. I saw it -- I think Damon told me after -- somewhere around 12 fairway or something like that, he said that -- you know, "Do I need more birdies, do I need to keep the pedal to the metal?" He said, "Yeah, you're one shot ahead, tied, one shot back." We knew we were close and I didn't have any idea where I was. I assumed that I was pretty close to the lead but, you know, this day and age you don't want to assume with these guys out here. Making that birdie on 14, that just really -- that helped a lot. Q. Did you know going in when you were on the range or did you hear about Elkington shooting 61? ZACH JOHNSON: I did hear about it, actually. Q. Did you know, okay, it's out there? ZACH JOHNSON: Yeah. Yeah. I mean -- well, you're talking about a Major winner, world class player. Not that surprising, to be honest with you. This is a place -- if you hit the ball in the fairway and putting decent you'll have a lost wedges. 61 is 61. I don't care who shoots it and where it is, it's fantastic. But I could see it. Q. What does that mean to you right now? It's been what, 17 months since you have won? Is that right? ZACH JOHNSON: Was it June or May? Yeah. It means a lot. Especially -- I had a couple other decent finishes at the end of the year last year, I think. Q. You had some 2nds and 3rds. ZACH JOHNSON: Really? Q. Yes, at the end of the last year. I looked it up. ZACH JOHNSON: I'll trust you. So, you know, my game was good going into the beginning of this year I felt, but, you know, like I said, I think it was kind a Masters lag year, the beginning of this year even though I felt really good about my game, felt my ball-striking, I was in pretty decent control with that but I knew there was room for improvement and, you know, I really -- never really had -- my putting I kind of I guess I take for granted. I've always been a pretty good putter, statistically always been decent and I've always felt pretty confident but for some reason early on this year it kind of left me. You know, I don't want to say I tried doing different things because that's not accurate but, you know, when it weighs on you it kind of affects every part of your game. One part is lacking, one part is very frustrating, it can be frustrating all around. You know, I made the commitment, I had six weeks off or seven, whatever it was, since New Jersey. Much of that was forced off and some of it was choice. I made the commitment to go back to what I used to do, the way I'm supposed to do it and ball-striking and putting, and I didn't anticipate hitting me this quick but, you know, it certainly helped. Given that, I still see a lot of room for improvement which I guess is even more encouraging than anything else. Q. You talked about Iowa, what this meant. When you're playing a round like this, you know you're toward the lead and got all these things happening, knowing what happened September 12th when you had the tournament, did it enter your mind at all that boy, I wonder, probably the ratings in Iowa are pretty nice right now (laughter)? ZACH JOHNSON: Yeah. Q. Don't think about ratings but about the folks there. ZACH JOHNSON: Well, you know, the thing with -- the family, friend, the support, Iowa in general, I won this week but if I would have been in the Top 40 this week they still would have been pushing me. So, I guess, that's the beauty of that relationship. There's Iowa hats and things out there today. I think that speaks volumes to what the people are about. I'm not knocking anyplace he's. I know what Iowa is about and the people are about. I didn't have the great beginning of this year but they've been unconditionally supportive. You can't -- there's not much more to say other than that. That's where I'm from, that's my family. I don't live there anymore, my wife is not from there but she feels she's a part of it. Certainly my boy is too, he'll learn. Yeah. I owe them a lot. They started me off in the game and therefore this one is for them. Q. You knew there would be impact if you won this thing. ZACH JOHNSON: I don't know how much impact it's going to make. Frankly, if it doesn't make any impact that's fine, but I just want them to know that I don't go without thinking about them and, you know, we've had a rough year and this can add a little smile every now and then, that's great. That's all I want is smiles. Q. Made a little money too, didn't you? You made some money for every birdie and eagle? ZACH JOHNSON: Yeah. Birdies That Care, my charity. Absolutely. No question. It's been a rough year but those birdies help. No eagles. Birdies are going to help, thanks. Q. You hit the shot into 18, past winners love to do, being in control, go to the last hole. What did you feel like going to 18, did you feel confident? ZACH JOHNSON: I felt great. I felt great going into the last -- the back-9, I felt like my game was good. My whole mindset -- this week was just sticking to the process rather than the outcome. I told myself that was my key word on the back-9, you know, from approaching each shot, stick to the process, don't worry about the outcome. I thought I did a pretty good job of that, on the whole. It's easy to get caught up in the winner's circle early on and I knew we had a one shot lead. I think it was on 16 green my caddy told me one shot lead but there was -- it was up there Wilson, Mark who I'm actually flying with, and maybe Tim Wilkinson. CHRIS REIMER: Charlie Wi. ZACH JOHNSON: I won by 2? Okay. I was like, "Keep doing what you're doing, stay in the process." 16 you get a little overconfident you can make a bogey pretty quick. Certainly 17 with that pin, that's one of the better holes out here as far as I'm concerned. 18 is 18. It's not the most difficult hole as far as tee to green but it's 18 on Sunday. Q. How did you feel when you stuffed the ball in on 18? ZACH JOHNSON: Yeah. My tee shot I hit it solid, kind of pulled it but I hit it solid and we were kind of in between clubs there but we felt more wind into me so I went with the 8-iron instead of the 9-iron. Damon is just, "Stock, kind of easy 8-iron. Hit it solid with the wind, take it left." I mean I hit some solid shots today but that one was really, really nice under the gun. We play to be in contention, we play to be in those certain situations and when you can execute a shot like that under the gun, I really didn't need to but just to make a statement to myself that I could do it, that was big and not to be too proud but I was very proud of that one. Q. I have a question. I saw you pairing with Sabbatini. Very special pressure playing with him this morning because I noticed him in the first hole, second hole he was having some issues. Did that increase your boost as your confidence to say okay, this is pretty much my closest competitor when he was having some issues? ZACH JOHNSON: No. I mean actually I had some issues myself. No, I don't think so. Rory is a world class player. He's won I don't know how many times over here, quite a few. I'm sure he's won Overseas. I think he came 2nd to me in the Masters last year. One, I enjoy playing with Rory. We're pretty good friends. We travel together in our buses so having him and Kevin, his caddy, with us out there. Yes, didn't want him to play like that. Wanted to be -- I'd rather be us two going down the stretch and both us having a chance to win, but, you know, that's golf. That's Sunday. When you're in contention it's hard to hold that lead. He drew a bad lie on 1. I'm not going to say he hit a bad lie -- bad shot, excuse me. I wasn't concerned about him only because there were a lot of good players out there. I think after No. 2 I probably didn't even have the lead. I don't have any idea where I stood. I know there was a lot of guys right behind me. Q. When you see a guy, Elkington shoot 61, Wi shoot 61, is it like a heavyweight fight, as close to a heavyweight fight as a golf tournament when guys are throwing up 61? ZACH JOHNSON: Yes, you can make birdies out there. Yeah. You got to be patient. You get the ball in the fairway here, you've got a lot of wedges. I remember after Thursday's round including the par-5s, Damon and I counted and I like to pick courses -- I had ten wedges. There was even a couple where I had 9-irons and 8-irons. For me to have a lot in my hand -- I'm hitting my driver a lot better. For me to have a lot in my hand going into par 4s, that's huge for me. If I can stuff my wedges, that's where I can do some damage. That's what happens. Q. So Mark is just going to have to wait a little while? The flight is going to be a little delayed tonight? ZACH JOHNSON: Yes, he'll understand. Q. How many wedges did you have today into the greens, do you know? ZACH JOHNSON: Count the par-5s even though I hit them in two. One -- two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine -- nine but there's a lot of 9-irons and 8-irons as well. Q. So you've been pretty consistent with right around 9 to 10? ZACH JOHNSON: 8 to 11 everyday. Only two par-5s. I'm not saying that makes it easy but you get the ball in the fairway because it's not easy to hit the ball in the fairway here. That helps. Q. The idea that you like to pick a course apart, that was my point. ZACH JOHNSON: Yes, absolutely. Q. Pretty consistent all week. Yesterday Georgia, today Texas, tomorrow the world? CHRIS REIMER: Tomorrow Vegas. ZACH JOHNSON: That's right. We're going to fly out tonight with the Wilsons so they're good friends of ours. He played great, evidently. CHRIS REIMER: T-2. Going to be a good flight. ZACH JOHNSON: We're sad about that. The Wilsons are great friends and we're actually going to share a house tonight and get the babies to bed, hopefully, and stay up and have a few beers. CHRIS REIMER: Thank you Zach. End of FastScripts |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|