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84 LUMBER CLASSIC

September 15, 2005

Zach Johnson

FARMINGTON, PENNSYLVANIA

DAVE SENKO: Zach, thanks for joining us. Maybe just get us started, talk about your day. You finished 5 under.

ZACH JOHNSON: Yeah. All in all, a pretty good day. Got off to a good start. Actually I played the back nine first. I probably played better on the back nine but I think I shot better on the front. I shot 2 under on the back and no bogeys, but I had a lot of birdie opportunities and I just didn't make the putts.

But the front nine, made all my birdies were fairly long putts, anything from like eight feet to probably 25 feet. I got the putter rolling on the front and finished well.

DAVE SENKO: Do you want to just go through starting with a birdie at No. 11.

ZACH JOHNSON: 1, I actually hit a poor drive, I hit it in the right bunker off the tee, but I only had like 55 yards to the hole or something like that, hit a sand shot out of there probably 28 feet. Do you have the numbers?

DAVE SENKO: Yeah, about 20 feet.

ZACH JOHNSON: 2, I made a bogey, three putted, missed a putt from probably six feet.

3, I hit a poor tee shot, par 3, an even worse chip shot, missed about I don't know, an 11 footer probably.

5, I hit a good tee shot, okay second shot, chipped it up there to about eight feet for birdie, made that.

6, I made probably about a 25 footer, 22 footer.

DAVE SENKO: 28.

ZACH JOHNSON: Was it really that far? Okay, 28.

Next hole was probably a little shorter, 25 feet.

DAVE SENKO: 23 and a half it's got.

ZACH JOHNSON: Okay. Then 9, I made a putt off the green from probably about 13, 14 feet. So those were the birdies.

Wait, I didn't do the other side.

11 I birdied, that was about five feet.

Then I birdied 13 from about six, seven feet.

Q. Do you have any hobbies?

ZACH JOHNSON: Well, yeah, absolutely.

Q. Do they get in the way of golf?

ZACH JOHNSON: They can. You know, my hobbies, I enjoy pretty much any and every sport, whether I'm watching or playing, especially basketball and football. Those are my two big ones. I'm a Hawkeye fan. A little hiccup last week, but hopefully they can recover.

Outside of that, I really enjoy downhill skiing. That's probably my favorite thing to do in the world. It's probably not the best thing to do as a golfer, but I'm not going to give up my loves. You've just got to be careful. I mean, you can get hit by a hook, right?

Q. You could break a leg skiing.

ZACH JOHNSON: I don't fish as much as he does, although I might be joining him this winter, I'm not positive.

And movies. I would say movies, sports, downhill skiing and then also just relaxing with the family. That's a big, big hobby of mine.

Q. Do you think at this stage of your career you could still stay focused on golf for longer periods of time?

ZACH JOHNSON: Relative to?

Q. Well, Mark (O'Meara)'s whole thing it sounds like is that he's just kind of burned out on golf.

ZACH JOHNSON: I see what you're saying. You know, no, I don't think I can. I think I've got to have more focus I'm still young in my career. He's a wily veteran. He's got championships beyond championships, two majors. You know, I'm not saying he doesn't care, I'm not saying he doesn't try because I played with him and he really does. Gosh, his short game is good.

But at the same time, he's fairly secure as a professional and fairly secure with his family. I mean, everything is I would imagine pretty darn good.

We're still trying to plan for our future. We just got married two and a half years ago, and on Tour I haven't finished my second year yet. I think I probably practice more than some of these other veterans. That being said, they probably understand their golf swing more than I do and understand the golf courses more than I do, and they've been out here longer. So there's a reason why I have to practice more and maybe even play more.

Q. But you find that intriguing still?

ZACH JOHNSON: Intriguing?

Q. Or interesting.

ZACH JOHNSON: I enjoy my time off. I definitely think having time off is a necessity, especially for me.

You know, I think there's a I want to play a lot of these golf courses. Some of them I haven't played on Tour yet. I want to kind of get to the point where, God willing, that I really pick my own schedule and play the tournaments that I feel best suit my game. I think a lot of veteran players do that, whether they're 35 and older or 40 and older or close to 50. I mean, they we all have a lot of goals, too. That's my big thing every year is I set a lot of goals, and if it means playing less or playing more, I'll do it.

You know, I still enjoy playing, there's no question about that. You can get burned out, I think the guys that have been out here longer understand their game better and understand when to take time off and when to play, and I'm learning about it, and I'm learning every week.

Q. There seems to be a fair amount of long putts being made today.

ZACH JOHNSON: Is there?

Q. Yeah, that seems to be the common theme long the leaders. Are the greens that good?

ZACH JOHNSON: Greens are good. They're pretty smooth, good speed, nothing outrageous. Firm, very firm, but I think they were resodded sometime this year. This type of soil and these type of greens, you give them about two, maybe three years, they're going to be really good. I mean, they're to hold a little bit better, once the ground kind of matures and settles is the word, I guess.

Q. Is it tough to get the ball close because of the firmness? Is there a little bit of guessing? And is a person who made long putts today maybe like yourself and Mark (O'Meara), is that why you're up on the board?

ZACH JOHNSON: Yeah, it could be. I still think if you get the ball in the fairway, you can definitely still be somewhat aggressive. The fairways are rolling so you're going to have a lot less club in say if you hit it in the rough, and also, the pins, like I said, they're a little difficult, firm; however, I think one of the beauties of this golf course is it gives you a way to get it close without having to hit it landing it within two feet.

I like that golf. It's kind of links well, it's not links style, but it's more intriguing in your head. You've got to mentally prepare before you hit the shot. In other words, you have 150 yards to the hole but you've got to land it 129 to get it close, or whatever.

I think it's a little more difficult, but it's fun, too. You know, you use those slopes to your advantage, use the spin to your advantage.

Q. You mentioned goals. How are you stacking up against your goals this year?

ZACH JOHNSON: Well, the way I like to explain it is I have some very specific goals and then one general goal. At the beginning of the year my specific ones were to win, and I haven't done that yet, or win multiple times, but I'll take one right now. And then I wanted to finish in the top well, play in the TOUR Championship, so Top 30 again, and I want to make The Presidents Cup, and I fell a little short there. You know, you can look at that as a downer, but middle of the summer I didn't play that good, and I made a fairly late charge for The Presidents Cup and ended up finishing 12th. So whatever.

But my general goal is to improve, week in, week out, month after month, year after year, and I've definitely seen improvement. It's not necessarily on the golf course, it's off the golf course. I'm learning more about my body, physically, my tendencies, my limitations, my deficiencies. Those are all positives. Fundamentally things are going in the right direction.

Q. Are you frustrated or mad or angry about not being on The Presidents Cup?

ZACH JOHNSON: No. I wanted to finish in the Top 10 and make the team. Mr. Nicklaus, Captain Nicklaus, picked Justin and Fred Couples, which, I mean, that's as valid as it gets right there. They're very, very legitimate picks, very good players. Justin has won twice this year, finished 11th on the merit list, whatever you want to call it, and he's got experience. Then you've got Fred, who doesn't play quite as much as I do and finished 17th, which is still obviously pretty good, and he's got a lot of experience and played well in a lot of big tournaments this year. So very I don't want to say no brainers, but pretty close.

That all being said, yeah, I'm disappointed I'm not on the team. Like I said, that was one of my goals. However, I guess I'll take first alternate, which is kind of made up, but it's kind of a safety net just in case someone cannot play. So you never know. I don't want to play based on an injury, but the team and Captain Nicklaus felt it was a necessity, so I'm waiting just in case.

Q. You'll wait at home for a phone call?

ZACH JOHNSON: Could be, yeah. I'm not playing next week in San Antonio.

Q. I guess for a guy like you, the only way to make the team is to make it. Do you think that you couldn't get picked as a captain's pick?

ZACH JOHNSON: Obviously getting picked would be an incredible honor, but I'd prefer to make it without having to be picked, yes. One, it means you're playing better, and two, you really earned it.

Q. Well, there's some people who have said there's all kinds of tough competition, that the theory is the person to make it the first time should make it, should not be a captain's pick.

ZACH JOHNSON: Oh, I've never heard it, but I guess there's some legitimacy to that, too. I mean, I'm young, too, so no one, there's more to come, and two, the two guys that he picked have been on this team before. So they're very experienced and I think there's a lot of truth to that.

I don't know what his thought process was, but it could be about pairing guys up. Fred is a very easy going, great guy to play with, and maybe there's some guys on the team that would prefer to play with him as a teammate. I mean, I don't know, I'm just thinking out loud. But that's a possibility.

Q. Well, in the case of Fred, he has a history in the Presidents Cup at RTJ.

ZACH JOHNSON: Yeah, he's got a great record. I don't know if I mentioned that. I knew that. Mr. Nicklaus told me about that. So yeah, like I said, that also makes his pick even more valid.

Q. Did Jack call you and talk with you about it?

ZACH JOHNSON: Yeah, I actually went he invited me to the meeting the team had in Akron, NEC. He just wanted me to have all the information, just in case.

I think that's like I said, I don't want to play based on an injury, but he felt for the sake of the team, it's best to have someone prepared, if need be.

Q. Given your background, maybe you could speak to how hard it is to make an immediate impact as a rookie out here and what you think of Sean O'Hair's season to do it at 22. Why has he been able to do it when obviously it's a very difficult thing?

ZACH JOHNSON: I can't speak on behalf of Sean. I actually played with him on Sunday when he won. I think the bottom line is there's so many good players. None of them are just out here. There's guys out here that a lot of us golfers know, well, some we don't, that are going to be studs, whether they're mini Tour, collegiate, foreign tours or what have you. There's just so much parity, so much depth in our sport, hearing stories of Sean O'Hair at 22, 23, or a guy that's been on the mini Tours for 15 years over 30 is just going to happen. You know, you can say Todd Hamilton last year. We knew he was. A lot of the media didn't, a lot of the fans didn't. It's a matter of making your opportunity, making the best of the opportunities you're presented.

I say it's very, very impressive at an age of 22 or 23, but he's got talent. He'll be out here for a long time.

Q. You mentioned you played with him on that Sunday at the John Deere?

ZACH JOHNSON: Right.

Q. What was that like and what was striking to you?

ZACH JOHNSON: Yeah, truly I just remember him hitting it well and putting well. I was too into my game, and I didn't play well on Sunday.

Q. Is there anything about the way he kept

ZACH JOHNSON: He made an awesome save on 18, I think, for par. I think he had to make the putt to be in a tie for the lead or sustain the lead, and he got up there and knocked it right in.

Q. He seems very composed, especially for 22 or 23. Is there anything striking to you about the way he carries himself?

ZACH JOHNSON: Well, you know, it's a Sunday round, late. That could be totally different than say a Thursday or Friday round. It probably shouldn't be, but it can be. I thought he was I thought he handled himself very well. We chatted, but at the same time he was very focused and very impressive.

DAVE SENKO: Thank you, Zach.

End of FastScripts.

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