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PGA CHAMPIONSHIPAugust 10, 2011Dustin JohnsonJOHNS CREEK, GEORGIA KELLY ELBIN: The eighth-ranked golfer in the world, Dustin Johnson, joining us at the 93rd PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club. Dustin tied for 10th in 2009, his debut of the PGA Championship, tied for second last year at Whistling Straits. Do you feel pretty good coming into the season's final major? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, the game is getting there. It's not quite where I want it but we're playing some pretty good golf. I feel like I'm playing really well, just not scoring all that well right now on the golf course. KELLY ELBIN: How about some general comments on the Atlanta Athletic Club. The last four holes, do they stand out and are there any other holes that have caught your attention? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, the golf course is in fantastic shape. The fairways are probably the best fairways you can play on, and the greens are rolling really good. The last four holes, they're difficult. They're going to be challenging. There's a lot of -- you know, you can play good on them or you can really play bad on them. They're long and they're -- you know, 15 is a good par-3. Q. What are you hitting on that? DUSTIN JOHNSON: It depends. I mean, I hit 3-iron on Monday and I hit 4-iron yesterday from the back tee. But just all depends on the wind. If it turns around and blows into the wind, it's going to be really, really long. And then 18 is a great finishing hole. It's very hard. Q. What are you going to use on 18 to drive with? How are you going to play that hole? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, it depends on the wind. If it's into the wind, I'm probably hitting driver, but if there's any kind of helping wind, I'm going to hit 3-wood. Q. With driver, what would your second shot be? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, I hit driver on Monday, and I think I hit like 9-iron in with a driver. But I mean, the fairway is so narrow for where I'm going to hit the driver, so I'm just going to hit 3-wood -- between 3-wood and 5-iron to 7-iron is what I'll hit. Monday I hit 3-wood, 7-iron, and Tuesday I hit 3-wood, 5-iron on it. Q. You've been in contention on Sunday now three times in the last year in a major. You've been close. What do you see as the main thing you've tried to work on now to get over that hump and win your first major, and what are you doing to fix that or to try to make that happen? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, I'm just working on my game. There's nothing -- I just need to keep putting myself in the position to win, and it's going to happen. You know, I've had some good chances. I've played well in the final rounds the last two majors where I've really been in contention. I've played pretty well, and there's one shot here or one shot there, and I've probably got a victory. You know, just got to keep working on it and keep on putting myself in position to win. Q. I'm trying to remember all the places you've been in the last month or so. You've been England, Sweden and then Germany for that Schuco thing a couple weeks ago? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yep. Q. How did all that go? How was Sweden? DUSTIN JOHNSON: It was good. I ended up finishing okay. I didn't play too great, but the last day was really tough, and I shot 2-over and moved way up the leaderboard. It was probably the windiest day I've ever played in golf. But I had a good time. Sweden is a great country. Stockholm is a good city. Q. Did they know who you were? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, the fans are great over there. I had a big following, and it was a lot of fun. Q. What have you learned about yourself and your game this past year or so? DUSTIN JOHNSON: You know, my game, I mean, I need to -- obviously I've got some places I can improve, and I work hard on my wedges and short game. I think I pitch it and putt it pretty well, but bunkers is probably one of my -- I would say one of my weaknesses. To me it's almost like the harder the shot, the better I am at it, you know, the easy little straightforward bunker shots I tend to not do very well on for some reason. I don't know whether it's a focus or I just don't concentrate as hard. I don't know. It drives me crazy. You know, over the last year I've definitely learned that especially in situations where I'm in the lead or around the lead that I just really need to be patient, and I think I've done a very good job of that over the last year. Q. I have to ask you, do you look at the rules sheet any differently coming into this week? Is there anything about Atlanta Athletic Club that you need to pay attention to? DUSTIN JOHNSON: No, I've never looked at one and probably never will (laughter.) Q. Even now you don't? DUSTIN JOHNSON: No. I know the rules. The only time you ever look at it is if it's preferred lies or not, and that's the only time it really matters, or my caddie has always got one just in case. But I don't really -- Q. Having a bunch of extra bunkers out in the woods here, do you like the bunker situation here a little better? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, yeah, obviously you can tell if you're in a bunker here. If I go back to Whistling Straits I might put one in my yardage book so I can look at it on every hole. No, here the bunkers are all defined. It's not going to be an issue. Q. How do you think you were able to handle things so well last year? I think people were impressed that -- most people who would have been in that situation would have been a lot angrier or really felt they were dealt a poor break. Why do you think you've dealt with it so well? And since then have you thought back on it and thought, I got hosed there a little bit? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, it's kind of me, my personality. I don't ever get too angry or get mad, especially -- it was my fault. But I still -- the more times I look at it, the more I think it's even not a bunker. But things happen. Rules are rules, and I broke one, and I got a penalty. Q. Have you looked at that a lot, go back and look at the video? DUSTIN JOHNSON: No, just I've seen the pictures. Everyone -- it seems like all the pictures that people want me to sign are like me hitting that shot (laughter.) It's like, thank you. (Laughter.) Q. When you make a move with a caddie like you did earlier in the year, how difficult is that? How much thought did you put into it? And actually, I guess related, did Whistling Straits have any bearing on that decision at all? DUSTIN JOHNSON: No. You know, me and Bobby parted ways, and then obviously once everyone heard that I was looking for a caddie, you can Wink over there, he got all the requests and phone calls. But it was pretty easy. There was a few guys that I would -- that I would consider to loop for me. You know, Joe was at the top of the list, and fortunately he worked for me at THE PLAYERS and at Memorial, and I asked him if he wanted to work for me, and he did, so it was pretty simple. Q. But the decision to part with Bobby, was that difficult? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Not really. Q. Speaking of caddies, there's been quite a bit of talk about caddies this week, but I'll ask you, what's Joey meant to you in terms of having him on the bag, and what's he sort of worth a round since you hired him? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, it's great. I mean, caddies, it's huge to get along with them because you spend so much time with them, so you've got to get along with them. You've got to like spending time with them. I enjoy being around Joe, and we have a good time. You know, we always mess with each other, and we have fun. And I think that's huge. And then also trust; you've got to be able to trust your caddie. If he tells you -- if I've got a 6-iron and he's like, "No, I like the 7," you've got to be able to trust him and hit it. So I think we've got a good relationship, and I do trust him. So I think we've done very well. Q. I have to ask, whose idea was the tee shirt, and have you raised any money with the proceeds from it? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, the guy that owns QVC, a good friend of mine, Chip Smith, he kind of oversees my website, which is what it's on, and he's the one that designs all the tee shirts. Q. What does it say? DUSTIN JOHNSON: "What bunker?" Q. Have you had a lot of sales? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I think it's done pretty well. I don't know the numbers. He might. Q. TPC Myrtle Beach? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Chip. It's on my website. Q. Can you talk about how the course sets up for your game, specifically with being accurate off the tee and driving accuracy in particular? DUSTIN JOHNSON: It sets up really good for me, I think. It's long, and I can hit driver a lot. There's only a couple holes where I'll hit a 3-wood, you know, obviously depending on wind, maybe club selection will change. But I think I hit 3-wood on 1, and I'll hit 3-wood on 6, I think, and then 18 possibly. But other than that, I'm hitting driver pretty much on every hole. I like it. It doesn't take the driver out of my hands, and you know, it's going to pay especially here, the longer hitters; if you're driving it well you're going to play pretty good because it's a very long course, and coming into these greens with a shorter iron, able to control the spin a little bit more and keep it under the hole is going to be crucial. Q. I don't have the card in front of me; Tiger alluded to there being maybe a couple drivable par-4s out there. DUSTIN JOHNSON: 6 -- I think they're going to do 6 maybe, possibly 6 with the water left of the green. They're going to put it up on the very front tee. I think it's going to be about 285 front or something like that. Q. That's 3-wood. DUSTIN JOHNSON: For me it's a 3-wood, depending on wind, but it's going to be a 3-wood. And then on the back nine, I think it's 13. 13 they had a tee up there that they might play. Q. What's the number on that one? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I don't know what it is there. I didn't hit a shot there. I hit it on 6, I didn't hit one from the front tee on 13. Q. Completely unrelated, Kaymer said he was almost relieved last year the way things played out that you did not make that par putt on the last hole when you got it up-and-down. He said he thought it might have been worse for you to handle. Does that make sense to you? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I think it probably would have been a little -- I mean, it definitely would have been more difficult. The guy should have told me before I even hit the putt, I think, if there was an issue, he should have told me, because if I would have made the putt, I would have thought I won. A lot of people would have thought I had won. Q. You would have been doing cartwheels. DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I think it definitely would have been worse, for sure. Q. Or embarrassing. DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, just a little bit. I might have fought a little harder. You ain't getting this trophy. (Laughter). Q. What are you taking with you from the British Open from your good play and then the out-of-bounds shot on whatever hole that was and just how you played there? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I played pretty -- I mean, I played well. It played really hard every day. There wasn't any day where it played easy, so it was a grind from start to finish every day. You know, there wasn't any easy holes. Every hole was tough, even the downwind holes were tough. It was tough putting, it was tough chipping. So I thought I hung in there very well. I played really good. But you know, just one bad shot on Sunday, and if I hit that shot good, putting pressure on Darren, maybe get within a shot to where -- it was one of those -- that was my chance to press and make a birdie, and I hit a poor shot. That's golf, though; you hit bad shots. Q. Two unrelated questions: First, are you surprised that Americans have gone now six majors without winning? Something you think about much or does it motivate you at all? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Not really. I mean, it's -- the last six majors. If you look at the last ten years we've done pretty well. I think it just gives you guys something to talk about. Q. Does having Tiger come back in the field, does he have that same mystique, the same aura? Does it change anything having him back in a major for the first time since April? DUSTIN JOHNSON: He's Tiger. You can't ever count him out. You can't ever overlook him. He's still a fantastic golfer, and it's great to have him back. Golf needs him. You know, he's good for the game. He brings a lot of people out, and he's fun to watch. You know, you can't ever overlook him, though. He's still a great player. Q. It's obviously very hot outside. Is there anything that you've done this week differently to prepare to make sure to conserve your energy for the tournament or the week? DUSTIN JOHNSON: No, I prepare the same I do for all the majors, but I'm used to this stuff, so it's not that bad. Today was actually kind of nice. Q. How many holes have you played? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I played nine Monday, 18 Tuesday and then nine today. Q. In terms of difficulty, how do you rate this course in Atlanta compared to the other three majors? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, they're all different, so it's a different style of golf course than all the other ones. You know, they're different grasses, so it's hard to compare them. But I think it's pretty difficult. You know, anything under par I think is going to be a good score out here, and obviously depending on the wind, if there's no wind maybe a few under. But if it's real windy, even par is going to be a good score. Q. What do you get out of those Tuesday matches with Phil and the other couple of guys, other than good fun? I mean, he's got kind of a reason for doing it, and he's kind of adopted you guys as his, apprentices so to speak, to try to ramp you up and try to make you better players. Do you get anything out of it? Is it a good experience for you other than just laughs and giggles and winning the occasional thousand off the other guy? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, you know, obviously we have fun. That's the main thing is we have a lot of fun when we're out there playing. It's a fun day. You know, we play 18 holes; we practice. We're not just playing and going; we practice. We hit extra shots if we need to. It's not anything like that. We're actually practicing and working at the same time. But you know, to play a match, it helps you, especially on Tuesday, to put a little pressure on yourself when you know you need to hit a good shot or you need to make a putt, to kind of see where your game is at, to see what's going on. If you need to work on something that afternoon or the next day, then you kind of know what you need to work on. Q. Just to follow up on that, just specifically about Phil, what is it about him that you like playing with, and how is he playing? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, he hit the ball pretty well yesterday, so I think he's playing very good. He's rolling the putter pretty good. You know, he's always got a good short game. But I enjoy playing with Phil. We have a good time. You know, we talk smack to each other; it's fun. I just really enjoy playing with him. Q. What does he get on you about? DUSTIN JOHNSON: What doesn't he? We go back and forth all day long. It's fun. Q. Who did win yesterday's match? DUSTIN JOHNSON: We pushed. KELLY ELBIN: Dustin Johnson, thank you very much. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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