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DEUTSCHE BANK CHAMPIONSHIPAugust 28, 2013Zach JohnsonNORTON, MASSACHUSETTS DOUG MILNE: We'd like to welcome Zach Johnson to the interview room here at the Deutsch Bank Championship, coming off the week with your brother's wedding. You're making a great start and coming into it playing really well. You haven't finished worse than 8th, I believe, in your last five starts. So with all that being said I'll just turn it over to you for a couple of opening comments. ZACH JOHNSON: Sure. I'm excited for the week. It's good to get back out here and play, especially when you feel like you're playing pretty good. Like you said, my last five starts have been solid, but also frustrating, in the sense that I feel like I'm playing well enough to certainly win, but, you know, or have the opportunity to win coming down the stretch, and I really only had that once, maybe twice. But all in all very solid, very consistent, very much seeing the hard work I've put in as of late pay off. I'm excited for the week. Q. Knowing how well you've been playing, was it difficult to sit last week? ZACH JOHNSON: No, I mean obviously I knew the schedule months, months, months ago. So I scheduled Wyndam strategically for that, and it was three in a row for me, it was Akron‑‑ no‑‑ Akron, PGA, Wyndam, and that was plenty. And prior to that I had one week off with two big tournaments on my calendar with John Deere and The Open. So five out of six, I needed another week off. It was strategic in that sense. Q. When your brother made his wedding date, were there any humorous discussions between the two of you knowing that it came on the weekend of the playoff opener, or did you try to talk him out of it? ZACH JOHNSON: No. There was some discussions. I'm not going to elaborate too much on that. They were aware of my schedule. Obviously he's aware, you don't touch the majors, that kind of thing. But bottom line is it's their week, it's their day. And it's my brother. So the humorous discussion probably wasn't even between he and I. It was probably more so with another family member. They set the date and then about two or three days later my dad called me, said, so did you hear about the date? I said, well, yeah, of course, yeah. It kind of stinks. Yeah, you know, it stinks.  He said, so how did he take it? I'm like, how did he take what? Well, the fact that you can't be‑‑ I'm like, dad (laughter) it's my brother. I'm the best man. What? We all got over it very quick. It would have been‑‑ I'm glad the scenario didn't surface, it would have been rough if I was 120 or 125 in the FedEx, that sort of thing, but still, even then, it's one golf tournament. Q. Can you just talk about playing up here and your thoughts of, I guess, the course, the area, just thoughts about being here this week? ZACH JOHNSON: Sure. I love coming up to this region. It certainly feels a lot like the Midwest, granted you have the ocean not too far away. But it's kind of a small town feel around here, with huge amenities, with Boston and Providence, one to the north and one to the south, and great fans of sport. I always love coming back. Q. You mentioned the great fans, obviously this area is known for the great fans, the Patriots, the Red Sox, do you notice that on the course? ZACH JOHNSON: Clearly you're local (laughter). Well, yeah, sure I do. There's no doubt I see that. But we see that every week. I'm not going to lie to you, there's great fans everywhere. But certainly this isn't any different. Q. This is obviously a big week with the FedExCup, but you're also playing for a spot on the Presidents Cup team. Can you talk a little bit about how much you want to play? ZACH JOHNSON: Yeah, I want to be on the team really, really bad. But you want to be on all those teams. Once you taste one of those, you want‑‑ especially if you lose, you want to be on another one the next week. It's that important and that much fun. But I've got work to do. The time will come when that will settle itself. And what I've learned over the years is that I can't control that. I can only control, certainly, to some degree, what I'm doing on the golf course, and let things fall where they fall. So my focus, I don't mean to be cliché, but it's Friday‑‑ typically Thursday, but it's Friday‑‑ and hopefully I get the opportunity to represent our country. That's one of the reasons why I played Wyndam, as well, if you want my honest opinion. Q. You talked a little bit about your frustration about not getting the win and all that kind of stuff.  Is there any one thing that you think has kind of held you back? ZACH JOHNSON: That's a good question. You get yourself into contention enough you feel like you've just got to be patient and you'll get there. But the patient side of things has been great. I've worked on that. I'm trying to nail that into my brain. Even since Colonial, I really felt like I've remained patient and just try to wait for good stretches. And the one thing I think that's kind of held me back is probably my putting, you know. I think anytime you see someone win they're putting pretty good. I'm not putting poorly, I just haven't made the putts coming down the stretch that it takes to win golf tournaments. And I don't think it's anything more than that, I don't think it's anything less than that. John Deere, in particular, I mean that's the one that kind of sticks out, certainly. I made zero putts the last nine holes of that golf tournament, and I didn't make any in the playoff, except for the 25‑foot bogey putt that meant nothing. I think I had a one, maybe two‑shot lead going into the back nine. I hit the ball great. I had opportunities, I just didn't make anything. I may have mis‑hit some putts, I may have misread some putts, but I didn't make anything. And I had one birdie and I two‑putted 17. In the other four weeks after that have been a little bit of the same. There's been times I've putted okay, and times I putted average. I'm not concerned about it. I'm really not worried about it at all, it's just a matter of executing, and maybe seeing one or two drop and seeing where we can go. The nice thing is my ball‑striking has been very consistent. Q. Have you put yourself in contention here before? What does it usually take on this golf course to do well and win? ZACH JOHNSON: I have no idea. I can't remember. DOUG MILNE: I think top 13‑‑ T‑13 in '04 was the best finish. ZACH JOHNSON: That sounds right. I don't feel like I've ever been in contention, the top five, coming down the last nine holes. This is one of those courses where it seems like, if you can carry that ball 285, 290, you have looks like‑‑ it's like a turbo, it just adds more to your round. I don't have that shot. Given that, if the fairways can be firm and the roll is prevalent, I feel like I can perform well here and play well here. There's not a whole lot of rough, but with minimal rough and firm conditions the flyers come into effect. So I'm hoping we get a little bit‑‑ or we don't get any rain, is my hope. And I hope that the greens dry out a little bit just so that that kind of golf comes into play. That usually is what suits me. You still have to drive it well, regardless of how far you hit it. You still have to hit fairways. I like that about this course. They're bent, for the most part, and they roll well. I see nothing wrong‑‑ there's no reason why I can't perform well. Q. Did you take all last week off from golf or did you get to play a little bit? ZACH JOHNSON: I took Monday, Tuesday off. I practiced just a little bit on Wednesday, just did some putting by myself at home. And then Thursday I practiced a little bit before we left for Chicago. Friday I played Conway Farms, which is where we're going to be in two weeks, with my father, my brother and my brother‑in‑law. And we had a good day there, Friday before the wedding, so I got to see that place again. And then I practiced a little bit the last couple of days. Conway, I was there in 1997 for the NCAA tournament. I remembered probably every other hole. I kind of remember the way the holes laid out, to an extent. It's a Fazio design, I think. Initially it was a Fazio design, I don't know if it's been redone or not, I can't answer that. But it was good. It had a mixture of everything, good character. Long, short, left, right. Surprisingly it seemed like the Faxios I play, I belong to one in St. Simons, usually the greens are pretty big, and that's the defense. The greens are pretty small. And I don't know if they've shrunk throughout the years or what, they're not very big, they're almost quadrant like. There's a few holes in particular where it feels like, especially if you have some loft in your hands, if you're going to miss, you want to miss long and in the rough versus 40 feet short, just because of the tiers and the undulations and that sort of thing. It was good. I it should be a great venue logistically and for the fans, and I think it's going to be a good test for us. Certainly better than Cog Hill. DOUG MILNE: Zach, we certainly hope to see you in here a lot this week. ZACH JOHNSON: Thank you very much. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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