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WELLS FARGO CHAMPIONSHIPMay 4, 2011Dustin JohnsonCHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA MARK STEVENS: We'd like to welcome Dustin Johnson. You just got done playing your pro-am. If you want to talk about the course and your thoughts coming into this week and then we'll take some questions. DUSTIN JOHNSON: Course is in fantastic shape. The pro-am went really well. I love this pro-am. We play in about four hours, so that's unusual for pro-ams. You know, but the golf course, it couldn't be in better shape, even with the rain last night. You know, the greens are perfect, fairways are perfect, and there's not a lot of rough this year, which I was surprised to see, because the last couple years the rough has been pretty thick and deep. Q. Given the rain and these great conditions, without much rough, what kind of score are we looking at? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, it depends on the wind. It still played pretty tough out there today with the wind blowing, and it's kind of a cold wind, too, so the ball wasn't going that far. The greens are pretty receptive right now, but they're fast and undulated, so you've still got to hit really good golf shots. I'd be surprised if it was any lower than what won last year. Q. You had a quick turnaround from Korea. Do you feel any jet lag at all, and what are your thoughts on doing that and playing the week after? DUSTIN JOHNSON: No, I'm good. I got back Sunday night, so I've had plenty of time to rest. I don't really get too much jet lag. I'm fortunate to -- whether I'm going over there, coming back, usually you figure out if you need to sleep or not sleep so you can get on the right time schedule, so I've done pretty well. Q. I'm curious what you think about that rule that affected Webb Simpson last week. Is that a rule that you think needs to be changed? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, you know, it's a tough rule. But everyone knows the rule and knows what happens if something like that happens; it's a penalty. You know, it's a tough rule. It's one of those -- I think if you hover your putter it's not a penalty, but if your putter is on the ground then you've addressed the ball, so it's a penalty shot. I don't really have much of an opinion. I could care less either way. Q. What's your caddie situation for the next while? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Not real sure. Q. Do your best. Carry your own bag? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I'm looping for myself. I've got a caddie for next week, and then after that I don't know really -- I've got a week off, so I've got a little bit of time to figure out for the Nelson and Memorial. Q. Who is it next week? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Joe. Q. The proposed year-end changes they're talking about for taking Q-school and changing the Q-school and adding three events at the end of the year, you're one of the guys that would have been affected had they done that because you came out through Q-school. DUSTIN JOHNSON: Right. Q. What do you think about that? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I don't like it. I don't like it at all. Q. Because that would cut out guys like you and Rickie Fowler? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, there's a lot of guys that come through Q-school. It takes away like strong players coming out of college, giving them a chance to come straight to the TOUR. You know, it takes any opportunity they want to do that away. I don't really agree with it. You know, it's kind of -- it forces them to play a year on the Nationwide, which isn't a bad thing, but I think you should have an opportunity to make the TOUR. Q. Arnold Palmer is out here at 81 years old ripping it off the tips today with people going nuts. What do you think about that effort, and what do you think you might be doing when you're 81? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I hope I'm still walking when I'm 81. Yeah, I think it's great. He's a great ambassador for the game. He's a super nice guy, and he's been a great champion for a long time. I think it's very nice for him to come out here and do this. Q. Regarding your caddie, can you give us the reasoning behind the initial caddie change from Bobby and what you're looking for in a new caddie? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, obviously what I'm looking for in a new caddie, you've just got to find a good one and one that you enjoy spending time with on the course and someone that your personality matches up well with. You know, as far as me and Bobby, we're still really good buddies and still talk to him all the time, just it was time for both of us to make a change. Q. And does experience have anything to do with the new caddie? You mentioned just getting along with somebody, but -- DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I mean, I'm looking for a fairly experienced caddie. Q. Are you at all surprised at the amount of attention that the caddie search has received for you? DUSTIN JOHNSON: A little bit, but I mean, I kind of knew it would get a little bit of press, but I didn't know how much. See, I don't read anything, so I don't even know what's going on. I was in Korea last week, too, so haven't really seen any newspapers or been on the internet too much. Q. I'll ask you a fairly specific Myrtle Beach question. You're now a spokesperson for Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday. Is that a one-year deal, and what do you plan to do for them in the future? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, it just happened a couple weeks ago. I'm sure we're going to sit down and do a few things. But you know, I'm just kind of the ambassador for Golf Holiday, Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday. I went up and did a photo shoot and did a press conference down at TPC a couple weeks ago. We've got a few things we're going to work on and do over the next few months, and then I think I'm going to -- I'll be up in Myrtle Beach sometime in the next couple months and do a golf outing for them and a few things like that. Q. What might that golf outing entail? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I don't know. Q. Not sure yet? DUSTIN JOHNSON: No. Q. What does the golf course look like? DUSTIN JOHNSON: The golf course is great. Q. A lot of rough, no rough? DUSTIN JOHNSON: No rough, it's fairly short, and the greens are fast, rolling good, fairways are perfect. You know, it's perfect. There's not too much to talk about. The rough, I mean, it's a couple inches. Q. What's your philosophy on how to play 8? DUSTIN JOHNSON: 8? The little short one? It depends on where the flag is for me on that hole. If the pin is back, then I'll usually lay up, and if it's up in the front, or depending on what side of the green it's on, then I'll hit driver sometimes. Q. The greens were kind of a topic last year when Phil made some comments about those. They had planned some changes and weren't able to do those with some of the bacteria that hit around here. Your thoughts on maybe some of the pin positions on some of these greens? Are they fair, not fair? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, they usually give you one side or the other to be able to hit it on, so if you miss it in the wrong spot your ball rolls away from the hole and you've got a really tough putt. But generally if you hit a good shot, you're not going to get hosed or anything. Q. You don't play Hilton Head, so this is the only real -- other than Augusta the only real tournament where you're real close to home. What does that mean for you and how does it make it different for you this week? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, it's always good. I like playing Augusta because my family can come out and watch and all my friends from back home. I get a lot of fans there. You know, this is another week where it's kind of a home game for me being so close to where I grew up, and so everybody in the family gets to come out and all my friends get to come. So I've got a good crowd out there following me. Q. Beyond the tournament itself, what was different about your experience in Korea than a regular PGA TOUR event? Camaraderie with the other guys, all that stuff? Did you notice some differences? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I don't really pay attention. You know, I went over there -- I mean, it was fun. I had a good time. You know, it was a little -- the worst part was it was about 50 minutes to the course each way, so that kind of sucked. But other than that, the tournament was great. The golf course was pretty good, and the guys over there were really nice. I didn't know a lot of them, but I mean, I had a pretty good group. I played with Ernie and S.Y. Noh, so I know both of them, so that was fun to be able to play with them for the first two days. I didn't really notice any -- Q. Did you do a pre-tournament press conference? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I can't remember. Yeah, I did. Q. Was it translated? DUSTIN JOHNSON: It was translated, so that was not fun. It took a lot longer to do one over there. But I mean, it was a little different having -- every time someone asked a question, they had to translate it, and then whenever I answered something, then we had to translate it. It was a little strange. Q. Would that have been your longest press conference ever probably? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yes. I was talking forever. Q. What's the most impressive part of Bubba's game to you and why? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, I think he does a lot of things well. I mean, he curves it a lot both ways. He hits big hooks and big cuts. He doesn't hit too many straight. But I mean, I think it's pretty impressive to be able to move the golf balls nowadays as much as he does. Even as much as he curves it, he drives it fairly straight. Q. Is he as long as you or longer than you? Have you ever played a practice round or tournament round with him, and where do you feel that stands? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, we've played a good bit together. I mean, if we both hammer one, we're going to be within a couple yards of each other. It's not much different. Q. And from a short game standpoint, Keith was saying how much talent you have after caddying for you but that you really need to work from that 70- to 100-yard range. That was his observation. How hard are you working in that range, and what in particular are you trying to do better with your wedge? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, me and Butch spent a lot of time on the range this week working on it. You know, just got to get better at hitting my numbers and hitting -- just consistently striking it the same. So I've been working on that this week, and it's getting a lot better already. Q. Do you feel like you're leaving a lot out there at this stage with that? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, because even some days if you're not hitting it that well or say I'm not driving it that well, I've still got a lot of wedges, and even when I'm struggling you feel like it doesn't matter if you're struggling with the rest of the game, you should be able to wedge it close. I feel like I'm losing a lot of shots on days that I maybe don't play as well as I'd like to. But when I play really well, obviously I wedge it good. If I wedge it good every day, then I think my scores will get lower and I'll tend to compete a lot more. Q. As a South Carolina kid did you play any golf against Tommy Gainey at all? Do you have any anecdotes or memories? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I played a few times out at Northwoods and then out at Timberlake we had a few matches. But not too many. He's a little bit older than me. Q. General impressions, though, with that action he's got and what he's done this year, four top 10s? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, he's a competitor. I grew up kind of watching him, and I'll always -- when I was growing up or playing with him, he hit it a long ways. He doesn't hit it quite as far as he used to, but obviously he's toned it down a little bit, tried to get it more consistent, which I think he's done a good job of that. Q. Since you were here last year it was announced the PGA Championship will be coming here in a few years. With the difficulty of those last few holes, how much drama do you think it could set up for for a major on Sunday? DUSTIN JOHNSON: It could get interesting, especially being in the late summer. It's probably going to be firm and fast I would imagine. So it could get -- especially 17. 16 is a tough hole, but when you've got 17 and 18, there could be a lot of things going on there. Q. As an avid non-newspaper reader, did you hear about the whole bin Laden thing? And number two, we always come into these tournaments trying to think of who has a good shot to win and stuff. Other than yourself, do you ever have any of those thoughts? DUSTIN JOHNSON: What, who's going to win? I always think I'm going to win. Q. Other than you, do you have a feel for -- no? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, you usually know who's playing well. And yes, I did hear about the bin Laden thing. I think everybody heard about it. You didn't have to read a newspaper to hear about that. I mean, yeah, the guys on TOUR, they generally know who's playing well and who plays well at what courses. Q. After this, and I think you're playing at the THE PLAYERS Championship next week, are you going to take a little time off? What are you going to do in preparation for the U.S. Open coming up, and being at Congressional do you feel like that's a course that is made to fit your game a little better? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I haven't played Congressional. Q. You haven't? DUSTIN JOHNSON: No. Q. See, I love you on that golf course. DUSTIN JOHNSON: I haven't played it. I might go up maybe -- I've got a week off after THE PLAYERS, then I play Nelson, Memorial, and then I've got a week off before the Open. I might try to shoot up there maybe one day or a couple days in the weeks off that I have. MARK STEVENS: Thanks a lot, Dustin. Good luck this week. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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