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FEDEX ST. JUDE CLASSICJune 5, 2013Dustin JohnsonMEMPHIS, TENNESSEE Q. Can you tell us a little bit about your expectations from last year? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, I like this golf course, and I liked this event last year. It was my first time ever playing here, and I had a very good result. Yeah, I just enjoy being here. I enjoy being in Memphis. I like this golf tournament. FedEx does a great job with the St. Jude Children's Hospital, and just everything that this golf tournament does is very good. They do a great job here, and the golf course is a great golf course to play. Q. Can you talk a little bit about playing it today and how it played for you today, the course? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, today was the first time I've ever played it with no wind, so it was a little different because the wind wasn't blowing. Usually the wind blows pretty hard here and comes out of the south. Every day last year we played it was coming out of the south and blowing 15 to 20, which makes the golf course play fairly difficult. Today was a little softer than it was last year, the fairways, for the most part, but the golf course is in really good shape. I think they've had a lot of rain, so it's been just a little bit softer than it was last year. Q. I was going to ask you again, what is your policy about playing the week before a major? Is it something you routinely like to do? DUSTIN JOHNSON: It just depends on whether it fits or not. It's not something I'm against or for, either way. If it's a week that fits in the schedule and it works out well to play before the major, then I don't mind at all. So it's not a big deal either way for me. This golf course for me I think it's a good test of golf. You've got to hit good golf shots on every hole off the tee; the fairways are narrow and the greens are small. So you've got to drive it in the fairway and hit your irons the right distance. That's what you're going to have to do next week. Q. Could you talk about Guan Tianlang. You had played with him at the Masters. What do you think about him and do you have any suggestions for him? DUSTIN JOHNSON: You're talking about the young guy? Yeah, I played nine holes ‑‑ I played with Tiger and him at the Masters. He's obviously very talented. He's only 14 years old, so for him to even compete a little bit at this level is pretty spectacular. He's got a lot of game. He's young, very young, obviously. I played with him. He hits it really straight, he hits everything really straight, and he's a great putter. So I think he's playing this week, so this could be a decent course for him. It's kind of firm and he hit a kind of flat, straight ball, so it should get out there pretty good. But I think he's very talented. It will be interesting to see as his career progresses how he does. Q. It's obviously a somewhat rare thing for a guy to win a tournament the week before a major and then go win the major as well, and there is even a theory that if you win the week before it reduces your chances of winning a major. Number 1, do you agree with that? Number 2, when you do play the week before a major, do you kind of look at it and say I want to be top 10, I want to be 15, and just feel like my game is kind of coming on? DUSTIN JOHNSON: No, I mean, I want to win every week I play. I don't care if it's before the major or not. I want to win because that means if I win, I'm playing well going into the major. Last year I struggled a little bit at the U.S. Open after being here, but it didn't have anything to do with being a major anything like that. Just the golf course didn't set up well for me. It was really tough to get on the fairway and just wasn't everything it seemed like ‑‑ the dogleg at 260 yards, so... It was just a tough golf course for me to play. But I'll take a win every week before a major for the rest of my life. That would be fine. Q. It may seem stupid to ask how do you like the golf course because you've already‑‑ you won here just last year. But compared to most of the other courses on the TOUR, how does this one stack up? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I think it stacks up very well. It's tough. You've got a lot of gray holes that are tough. You know, the fairways are narrow. If you miss the fairway, it's hard to control the ball. The greens have a good bit of slope in them and they're small. A lot of‑‑ they've got a lot of corners and, you know, you've just got to hit a lot of good golf shots. You've got to hit a lot of good tee balls. I mean, out here it's really important to be in the fairway so you can control the distance of the ball coming into the green. Then, even once you get on the green, you don't always have the easiest of putts. So it's just an all‑around tough golf course, but it's fair. I mean, it's really fair because it's right in front of you, so there is nothing tricky to it. I think it's one of the better courses we play. Q. Can you talk about where you are health‑wise now? I know it's been a tough stretch since the Masters and just where are you? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I'm a hundred percent healthy right now. Yeah, after the Masters I was playing THE PLAYERS. It was just weird. I don't know. I went out on the range Friday and tweaked something in my back when I was on the range. I don't know what it was or why it happened, but it's fine now. No issues. I think it was just one of those freak things. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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