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THE SHARK SHOOTOUTDecember 12, 2010Dustin JohnsonIan PoulterNAPLES, FLORIDA DAVE SENKO: Ian and Dustin, congratulations. Maybe just get us started. Just some thoughts on the win, and then we'll open up for some questions here. IAN POULTER: Sure, I mean, it was a good day today. I figured playing with Darren and G-Mack they were gonna go at us pretty hard; they did. We made a lot of birdies today, hit a lot of good golf shots, holed a couple of good putts at just the right time, and it gave us a lot of momentum going into the back nine to make a few birdies to finish it off. DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, well, we got off to a good start, which is what we wanted to do. We birdied the first four and then parred 5, but 5 was playing really tough, the par 3. We did exactly what we wanted to do. We played really well. We did miss a short putt on 9; that was the only putt we missed on the front, really. We had a lot of good momentum going into the back nine. I didn't know where we stood until we were about on No. 9 when I asked my caddie where we were at, and he said we were leading. We knew we just needed it keep making birdies, and we did. Q. Go through your birdies on the back nine, starting at No. 10. IAN POULTER: Yeah. I hit a shot in to probably seven feet; Dustin rolled the putt in. And then 11, hit the shot to about 15 feet; I rolled the putt in. Par-3 we made par. Birdie on the next was a two-putt birdie. The par-5, Dustin had a great third bunker shot to -- DUSTIN JOHNSON: A foot. IAN POULTER: -- a foot. It was stiff. I hit a wedge to I would say -- DUSTIN JOHNSON: Six feet. IAN POULTER: -- six feet on the next; I holed the putt. Then 16 was a difficult lie. Well, it wasn't difficult. We just missed the putt from about 18 feet. And then I hit a little chip shot to about six, seven feet; Dustin rolled the birdie in on 17, and I cozied it down to the hole on the last. Q. Talk about the chip on 17. How hard was that? Didn't look like you had a lot of room to land it, and a pretty skinny lie. IAN POULTER: There wasn't -- I mean, I didn't feel Dustin hit that bad a chip shot. I mean, I just felt probably half a yard too far right, but it got on the downgrain and just didn't stop. So mine looked a little more tricky after that, and it comes off the back edge of the green, so... DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah. It was definitely a lot harder than it looked. Standing there we were like, Oh, this is a piece of cake. I hit one, and I just hit it maybe six, seven feet right of the hole. But when I hit it, just thought it was going to be pin high, just six, seven feet right of the hole, and it just kept on rolling. I'm like, All right. It definitely was harder than it looked. Q. 15, was that the pivotal one? Darren hit that beautiful shot, and you guys didn't seem like you were in great position off the tee there, and then you answered. Was that kind of the pivotal one? DUSTIN JOHNSON: We were in a good position. We had a straight -- I mean, we were looking dead at the flag shooting straight up the green, so couldn't have been any easier. We had a great angle. We knew he had already stuffed it in there, so we knew we had to get one in there close and make the putt. Q. Pretty good play obviously by both of you to do this, but Dustin, Ian really come through on a lot of shots today for you? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, he hit some good shots. You know, he holed a couple good putts. Me putting first, too, it's a little tricky, these greens. So it definitely helps Ian get a good line. He executed very nicely today. Q. What about the shot on 15, Ian? IAN POULTER: The second shot on 15? Q. Yeah. IAN POULTER: I had a wedge from 133, I think the yardage was. It was downwind off the right and it was just a smooth wedge. Trying to hit it as close as I can. Obviously Dustin stuffed it in there, so figured that we don't want to lose any ground there at all. We had a two-shot advantage over those guys, and you know what, we needed to kind of keep that. You know, certainly with a par-3, par-5, and tough far 4 to finish, it was a good birdie. Q. Dustin mentioned that he found out at nine that you guys were leading. Had you known earlier than that, and were you surprised that the guys behind you were... IAN POULTER: I think my caddie said to me on the 8th tee, Have you seen the scores? I actually didn't see the scores at the time, but they sort of mentioned that we had a one-shot lead. Looking at the board now, they didn't get off to a good start at all, and our playing partners did. They kind of pushed us around. You know what, making the birdies that they did, it was kind of good for to us see good shot after good shot and good putts going to in. It's a lot easier for you to hole putts when your playing partners do. Q. (No microphone.) DUSTIN JOHNSON: Merry Christmas. Yeah, well, you know, the plan was I was going to hit it at the chair, which was about 20 feet right of the hole, and then Ian was going to have a go at the flag. I decided mid-swing I was going to have a go at the flag. (Laughing.) It worked out okay, though. Q. Satisfying way for both of you to finish out the year; couple wins, and then a nice fun way to cap it with another victory. Just talk about that. IAN POULTER: It's a nice week. It is my third one. It's right before Christmas. It's only three hours down the road for me, so it's nice to come have a relaxing week and have the family come down for the weekend. I had a great partner this year to go out there and have fun and make plenty of birdies, and we did. Q. Dustin, did you go first in all of the progressions here, take the first shot at it? DUSTIN JOHNSON: No, I tee'd off second every time, and then I hit first from the fairway and putted first. Q. There's a concern for you as far as defending Chevron next year, some possibly tournament conflicts next year overseas. Will this be a tough one for you to get back to with the way the schedules are? IAN POULTER: I really haven't looked at the back end of the year too closely. I know that there could be a couple of conflicts, so we'll just have to wait and see. I live in Orlando. It's only three hours down the road to this tournament, so that's fine. But other tournaments I haven't really had a really good look at the back end of the year. DUSTIN JOHNSON: I've got no idea either, so... Q. Definitely a partnership that you would like to keep together for a while, I would imagine. IAN POULTER: It works well. I'm happy with it. You know, I'll just nudge it down the fairway, that's fine. It opened everything up for my partner, and I think we've got good games to match as this format pans out. Q. (No microphone.) IAN POULTER: I liked it. Yeah, I mean, I'm not sure when Dustin knew he was playing. But I looked at a couple guys that had kind of committed, and Dustin was one that was thinking about it. I said, Do you want to play, because I think we have a great chance if we do? He said yes, and here we are. Q. Did you have to talk the tournament into it? Were they concerned about you guys being too strong of a team conceivably? IAN POULTER: No, I mean, look at the board. We've been pushed the whole way. There's good strength... DUSTIN JOHNSON: You can't have too strong of a team in an event like this. It's just not possible. All the guys are here because they're good. No matter what, there are gonna be a few teams that no matter how god you play, they're gonna be there charging after you. IAN POULTER: Even the senior boys went deep today, so, I mean... End of FastScripts |
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