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NORTHERN TRUST OPEN

February 18, 2009

Dustin Johnson

PACIFIC PALISADES, CALIFORNIA

MARK WILLIAMS: Dustin, thanks for coming into the Northern Trust Open media centre this morning. Just talk to us about what your life's been like in the last three or four days since winning.
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, it's changed a lot. You know, obviously I made a big jump in the World Rankings, so it's a good thing, but it's been a little crazy, and now I'm in The Match Play and Doral, so it's just been a little different, because I was planning on going home after this week. But now I'm going To the Match Play, so that will be about six tournaments in a row for me. It will be a long road but then I get a week off and I'm really looking forward to that.
MARK WILLIAMS: Do you think that affects you much when you have to change your schedule, even though it's a good thing.
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I'm still young, it's okay. It's not too bad. Obviously you've just got to make sure I get good sleep and make sure I rest, just because I've been out so long.
MARK WILLIAMS: Tell us your thoughts about the golf course and being here this week and what your expectations are. I know you played pretty well last year going into the final round.
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, the golf course is in great shape. The rough is actually a little bit lower than it was last year so, that will help out a little bit. Last year it was very firm and fast, the fairways were and the greens were, so this is the first time I've ever played it with it being soft.
So I like the golf course. It sets up really well for me. I'm looking forward to a good weekend.
MARK WILLIAMS: Do you think your length will be a huge advantage here, given that there's been a variety of winners, short hitters, long hitters here?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, out here, you've just got to really drive it in the fairway, and then you're able to control your ball into the greens, because that's big, to have a good putt at birdie. I always want to be on the right side of the hole, because the greens are pretty fast, so you don't want to be putting defensively all day.

Q. Can you talk a little about getting that second win, and does it kind of validate things or make you feel differently to have collected another one?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, I really don't feel much different. I'm pretty excited about getting my second win. If it does, as you say, validate things, I don't really know.
I'm friends with a lot of the older guys, and they have just -- it's nice to get that second win. I've always known that I can do it, so it's really good to prove it.

Q. A lot of times they say a second win is harder that get than the first one, and yours came so quickly; that's got to make you feel pretty positive.
DUSTIN JOHNSON: It really does, because coming out last year, I started out the year very well, and then I played poorly through the middle half and then I started playing a little better towards the end of the year, and then winning at Turning Stone, and then I played well the next week, too.
Then I had a real good off-season, worked real hard on my game, so it was nice to come out. I had a few good tournaments, played good in Maui, didn't play that great at the Hope, but I made the cut.
Then I played well at the Buick, and then that kind of carried over and I played really good last week.

Q. What about getting in the World Golf Championships, were those events that you watched when you were in college?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I'm very happy to get in those events. That was a goal we set in the off-season was to -- well, actually, it was to play good enough this year to get in maybe one or two of those events and to play in the majors. So it's kind of -- so now we've got -- tonight I'm going to sit down with my coach and kind of reevaluate all of my goals, so I have something to start working for.
MARK WILLIAMS: How about The Presidents Cup would be on your radar, too. Has Fred Couples talked to you at all since you had your second victory?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I played with Fred at the Buick the first two rounds. We didn't really talk about Presidents Cup. We had a good time, chatted about who knows what, probably can't say all the stuff we were talking about.
MARK WILLIAMS: Well, if you were to make that team, that would be something that you would be looking forward to?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yes, it will be. It definitely will be a goal that I'm going to write down for the rest of the year.

Q. There is a 17-year-old golfer in this tournament; does that amaze you, and would you tell us what you were like at 17?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, it definitely amazes me. Obviously he's a great player and he's been playing good for a while now.
Obviously he's had the right people on his side to guide him in the right direction and help him through, because a lot of stuff comes with turning pro and especially playing well, and I'm sure he's getting all of the attention in the world, because you know, he's so young and he's playing so good right now.
So he definitely has a good team behind him to help him do everything. I've never seen him play golf, I've never seen him hit a golf ball really. I've seen a few things on the news, and you know, I want to meet him to say hello, and I think he's doing very well.
But you know, I really don't know much about him.

Q. What were you like at 17?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I don't know, I was kind of -- I was in high school. I played golf. I wasn't playing that much. I played on my high school team and maybe played in a couple of tournaments, but other than that, I wasn't too serious about it at 17.

Q. Do you have much experience in match play, and have you maybe looked ahead to see who you might play in the first round or anything next week?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I don't know who I'm playing, but I've played in two U.S. Ams. I played on the Walker Cup Team and I've played a couple other match-play tournaments. So I've got a little bit of experience.

Q. Is it something you like?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I like it. It's different. It's kind of fun that you can play -- since we all play stroke play every week, so it's kind of nice to have something that's different to play.
MARK WILLIAMS: I wanted to ask you, how have your peers reacted to you since your second victory? Have you seen a change or is there any difference in the way they perceive you?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: No, all the guys out here, we all respect each other in some way. So not really, not any different.

Q. Last week on Sunday you obviously didn't play, and Monday not playing again, does that have any effect coming into this week at all?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: No. I didn't play golf for two days. I went out yesterday and I was feeling good. We had a good dinner on Monday night with some friends, so it was nice, and then came out yesterday afternoon and played nine holes. Still feeling good.
MARK WILLIAMS: Thanks for your time.

End of FastScripts

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