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MASTERS TOURNAMENTApril 11, 2013Dustin JohnsonAUGUSTA, GEORGIA THE MODERATOR: We welcome Dustin Johnson to the interview room. Great performance today, 5‑under, 67, four birdies and an eagle in your fourth Masters appearance. Maybe you can talk a little bit about your round. DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I had a great round today. Got off to a good start birdieing 1 and 2. Then kind of kept it going from there. Hit a bad drive on 5, but was fortunate enough to have a little bit of an opening and got it on to the front right. Made a good 2‑putt from there. And then hit good shots on 6 and 7 and 8. Then also hit my drive a little left on 9, but hit a great shot. I hit a hook 8‑iron from 180 yards just to the right of the flag and chipped it in. So, you know, I chipped in twice, actually. Played really well on the back. Played the par 5s really well. Eagled 13 and birdied 15, and then had a lot of good looks on the rest of the holes. Q. How did you eagle 13? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Driver, 9‑iron, 15 feet, somewhere around there; 12, 15 feet. Q. After missing the tournament last year, how do you feel about getting off to such a good start in your return? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, it feels great. Obviously this is one of my favorite events, or it is my favorite event to play. I only grew up an hour away from here, so it's always one that I look forward to playing and enjoy coming here. My friends and family get to come down and watch. You know, it's a lot of fun. I've played okay here in the past, just not great. Obviously not playing last year, and then coming back this year and getting a good round is really good. It feels good. I've been working hard on the game the last month or so. Q. You've said that you think this course suits your game; how much do you think your reverence for the place and how much you anticipate playing here has maybe kept you from shooting those low rounds? Has that played any factor into it? DUSTIN JOHNSON: No. I mean, this is one of those courses, the more you play it, the more you get to know it; not the easier it gets, but the more‑‑ you know, when you get in trouble, you kind of know where you need to hit it so you can actually have a chance to get up‑and‑down or you know what side of the fairway to miss it on at certain flags. Every time you play here, you learn something about the golf course. And then also, I've really looked forward to playing it. Maybe that had a little bit of a factor. But missing it last year and coming here this year; I didn't come up and practice as much this year. I came up Monday morning and played nine holes, played 18 on Tuesday, and then played four holes yesterday and the Par 3 Contest. I didn't wear myself out, but got a lot of practice in. Q. Do you think that anticipation you've had every year has adversely affected your performance at all? DUSTIN JOHNSON: No, I don't think so. Just obviously I'm getting older, getting a little wiser, and trying to understand the game a little bit more. Q. This is the only major where you haven't contended in the back nine on Sunday. If somebody were to look at your game, they would say the Masters would be the one tournament you would contend at; would you agree or can you explain it? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, this golf course, it sets up really well for me. I love the shape of all the holes, and for my game, I think it suits very well. The par 5s are all reachable, depending on which way the wind is blowing, with pretty short irons, except for 8. It's just a tough golf course to figure out like where to hit it, and using slopes, and then certain putts you have, what they are doing, is very tough. Like I said, you learn something new around here every day you play it. Q. I think a lot of us out here probably think of Sergio still as a kid. You're younger than him; what were your‑‑ do you have any memories of watching him when you were coming up? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, I remember‑‑ one of the shots I remember is maybe the PGA where he hit from behind the tree. That's one that sticks out in my head. He might have had a little bit of a temper I remember, a little bit (smiling). Obviously Sergio, he's a great player and a good friend of mine. You know, he had a great day today, too. Q. Can you talk about the two chip‑ins, describe the shots, and were they the result of missing in the right place where you had an easy leave? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, on No. 1, I hit it to the right off the tee. Got kind of lucky because I was standing on a sprinkler head and could have dropped it, got it to drop a little farther left, which was nice. I hit a really good shot. It kind of just trickled down the hill to the left, and you know, it was kind of up the hill and then over a little bit. But then I hit a great pitch and trickled right in the center. Then on 9‑‑ on 9, I had a pretty easy chip. It was probably only 12 or 15 feet away from the hole and made that one right in the middle, too, so it was nice. Q. You mentioned being friends with Sergio; you guys are wearing the same outfit today. Even though this is an individual sport, can you guys kind of carry each other throughout the weekend? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, we are not wearing the same outfit because we want to (laughter). This is Adidas; they script our clothing this week. We are wearing the same outfit because they told us to. Q. Can you guys carry each other? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, I'm not watching what he's doing, so I'm worried about myself and trying to get my golf ball in a position where I can find it. Q. When you had got to 17, you saw the other 6s that were still up there and you were at 6. I know it's early in the golf tournament, but do you think at all like, well, let me push this a little bit and let me get it to 7, and then what happened on 17 to create the bogey? DUSTIN JOHNSON: No, 17, it's a tough drive. I just pushed my drive a little bit, just hit it to the right just a hair and then hit a really good recovery shot from just under the trees on the right to just short left of the green, which is perfect because I couldn't go at the flag. I had to hit just like a low 5‑iron and roll it up to the front. Hit a really good pitch from short left and just it grabbed a little more than I thought and came up about eight or ten feet short. Hit a good putt that went right across the lip. Q. Would you like to be wearing the same outfit Mr.Nielsen is wearing on Sunday? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I would love to (laughter). Q. What iron did you hit into 15 and how much did you have to hook it around the tree in front of you? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I had a clear look at the flag. I had to draw it a little bit because there was a branch coming down but just a little draw, I didn't have to do much, but I hit a wedge. THE MODERATOR: Dustin, we wish you all the best this week. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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