|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
WELLS FARGO CHAMPIONSHIPMay 2, 2013Zach JohnsonCHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA Q. That was an interesting start to the round. I know the driver let you down a little bit, but boy, did you battle like a warrior out there. ZACH JOHNSON: Yeah, driver was a little crooked early, but I righted the ship, obviously, and then the driver was great. It was very reliable. It was just a matter of being patient and getting a couple of putts to drop early. That certainly helped the cause. Q. Was it the birdie at 6 that changed the momentum a little bit in your estimation? ZACH JOHNSON: I think it was three shots in a row. Certainly the approach shot on 6, followed by the putt, and then followed by the tee shot on 7. I didn't hit a great tee shot on 3, 4 or 5. After that, my driver was spectacular, and I was able to get more control of the ball and certainly the trajectory of it. Somehow I was making putts out there which was nice. You could say I left a few out there, but I made a few too. Q. How big to get off to a positive start here at Quail Hollow Club? ZACH JOHNSON: It's always big any week, but especially on this golf course because it's got so much teeth to it. It can bite you in any given stretch. I feel good. It's just a matter of staying patient. I had a good time with Westy and Lucas, so looking forward to tomorrow. Q. Zach, we spoke to a number of PAC Board members about a number of things. I'm not going to ask you about Vijay. I'm going to ask you about the greens. Considering everything, how would you define the way they were and conditions today? ZACH JOHNSON: Unfortunate. Essentially, I played nine holes on Tuesday, and it hasn't really changed much. I tell you, the overcast doesn't help. We haven't seen much sun this week. It would have been nice to have them dry out a little bit. But it's unfortunate. I feel bad for the club more than anything, certainly for our rules staff. If you're going to find a positive, it is the fact that we've all got to putt them and we're still making birdies, and I guess Quail Hollow is going to be changing to Bermuda shortly. It's just one more tournament. For every one bad one, there are five or six that are pretty good. All in all, we can deal with it. I've played the mini tours. It's not terrible. It's just not what you'd expect here. Q. Do you change certain putts because they maybe bump? Obviously, you have an interesting putting at address where your hands are, but are you more aggressive? ZACH JOHNSON: No, it's just trying to get the speed. You feel like you've got to be aggressive at certain putts because they're kind of bumpy. But you don't want to be overly aggressive because you don't want that two to four‑footer coming back. So it is speed still. What I've noticed is if you hit a solid putt, it will go in. So the staff here has done a good job with what they have to get them in playing condition, so we can play four rounds of golf. Truly, that's all you can ask for. Q. Some general comments on your round? ZACH JOHNSON: Yeah, it was certainly a solid day in the end. You can always say you left some out there; however, with the start I had, I think I was 1‑over through five holes. I don't want to say lucky to be at that, but that's where I should have been. My driver was a little errant early, and I was able to right the ship with the driver and make some putts coming down there. I just hit solid shots coming in. I think I missed two greens‑‑ three greens. I missed three greens in regulation, so not terrible. One bogey and five birdies, and made some good putts, missed a couple, but for the most part, I feel really good about things. Q. Lot of guys bunched up there. You have a bunch of guys at 5‑under and you with a bunch of guys at 4‑under. ZACH JOHNSON: What is in the lead? Q. 6‑under right now is the lead. Obviously, still out on the course. But there are a lot of guys in close. I guess, what was right with the conditions of the course? So much was talked about the greens, but there are still low numbers out there. ZACH JOHNSON: It's as long as I've ever seen this course play probably because of the saturation. We're not getting any roll here, and typically at Quail Hollow you get roll. Any sort of wind and sun, you're going to get some roll here. Now those, whatever it was, three to four inches I want to say Sunday, obviously don't help matters any. So the course is playing extremely long. However, the greens are holding, and as a result, you can be aggressive. I'm hitting a lot of 4‑irons and 5‑irons and even occasionally a 3‑iron or 5‑wood, you can be aggressive with those. Certainly middle of the green is never a bad shot with a long iron, however, if you get aggressive with it, it will stop and it will hold and you can make a birdie. What I've noticed is it's kind of point and shoot, and it kind of stops right there. That's fine. We can deal with it. The overcast is probably the biggest factor in that regard. Q. That probably applies to holes where maybe you normally can't be as aggressive, as you said, because of the conditions, right? ZACH JOHNSON: It has to do with two things. One, you fly your ball on the fairway, it stops, and then your approach shot stops. These greens are not flat. So when we're able to point and shoot at the pin for the most part with a lot of undulation, that's just rare. It's kind of a treat because you expect to play for release, you expect to play for side spin, or what have you, and take the 20‑ to 30‑footer, but now we're trying to get that 5‑ to 15‑footer. And that's fine. You've still got to make the putt, and that's never easy. No one's pulling away. I don't foresee that happening. That's Quail Hollow, so... Q. And as you said, it could be a situation where, depending on how the weather is the next few days, it could be a bunch of guys come even Saturday that would bunch up together. ZACH JOHNSON: Sure, there is no telling. It could be a bunch of guys, exactly. I don't foresee‑‑ I mean, if someone gets really hot, but it's hard to do especially to make a lot of putts on these greens. It's really difficult to do. But I expect a great leaderboard. Any given week it's a great leaderboard, but I expect a really good one this week. Usually when we play this tournament, Quail Hollow wins, and I don't expect anything less. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|