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HYUNDAI TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONSJanuary 2, 2014Dustin JohnsonKAPALUA, HAWAII KELLY BARNES: Dustin, you kicked off your 2013 with a win here and you did the same kicking off with a win at the HSBC Champions. How does it feel returning with a win under your belt already this year? DUSTIN JOHNSON: It's always great to get off to a good start. Obviously I played really well here last year, so hopefully I'll continue it this year. I really like this golf course. I think it sets up very well for me. I'm excited about this year. Unfortunately I didn't get out and practice yesterday or today but I'll be out tomorrow morning and try to get a little bit of practice in before I tee off. Q. How is your neck? DUSTIN JOHNSON: It's better. I went and got some strong anti‑inflammatory and it definitely helped. It was a little better this morning, but this afternoon, it's gotten a lot better. Q. How did it happen? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Just slept on it weird and then tweaked it. You know, just, I don't even know, someone called my name and I looked, and it was already‑‑ but it's definitely better. By tomorrow hopefully it will be gone. Q. Inaudible. DUSTIN JOHNSON: No, I haven't been doing that. I just‑‑ I tweaked it, I slept on it funny so it's stiff, and yeah, I just tweaked it and aggravated it‑‑ that was fun. I haven't the last two days. Q. Have you done any other off‑course activities this year? DUSTIN JOHNSON: No, just swimming a little bit, fishing a little bit. Yeah, just hanging out at the hotel on the beach. Q. Does this still feel to you like the beginning of a new season or does it feel like a continuation? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, it's the first year of it, so it's still, to me, still this is like the first tournament of the year, but you know, I'm sure after this year once you get used to it, it will feel normal. But as of right now, yeah, I mean, it's kind of‑‑ well, it's the new year. It's the first tournament of the year. So if you look at it as a calendar year, it is the first tournament of the year. Q. When you look back at July, August, September, do you have to go back to think‑‑ DUSTIN JOHNSON: It's tough, especially if it's a new year. I've haven't won in 2014 but I have won in the 2014 season, doesn't quite make season to me yet. Q. When did you play this week? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Played Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. Q. There's a history of guysrepeating here, Appleby, Stricker; why is that? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, this golf course, too, I think once you get a good game plan for it, you really have got to, if you attack the par 5s, you've got to play the par 5s really well, which I did. Last year I played them very well. There's a few short holes. Made birdies on those. There's a few difficult holes you've just got to try to get on the green and make pars, and if you can do that, you're going to shoot a good score every time you go out. Q. Was it playing long‑‑ DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, it was really wet. It dried out the last couple days and had not really rained. But the first four days I played, it was actually playing pretty long because you were getting no roll with the driver. Q. Just to make sure I understand this, your neck is stiff, but you don't feel like it's not going to be an issue starting tomorrow? DUSTIN JOHNSON: No, well, I went and got some medicine, I started taking them last night, so it's definitely helped. The aggravation has gone down severely, and Coach Noss, my trainer has been working on it, and it's feeling a lot better right now. Q. You don't have any apprehension about tomorrow? DUSTIN JOHNSON: No, I don't think so. Q. You didn't sell me on that‑‑ DUSTIN JOHNSON: I think it will be fine tomorrow. (Laughter). Q. You said you played four rounds, but I thought you got in earlier in the week and played a few more rounds. Was I misinformed? DUSTIN JOHNSON: No, I came over on Friday. I came over on Friday. Q. Did you make any changes coming into this part of the season? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I got new irons. We just got our new irons I'm hitting, so they are very good. The new blades are not really much different than what I was playing. They are new and they look a little different, the backs of them, but other than that, they have been very similar to what I was playing and playing the new ball, too, the new TPX. Q. With this kind of wraparound season kind of thing, are you going to change your schedule much this year going into the majors and the FedExCup Playoffs, or is it pretty much consistent with what you've done in the past? DUSTIN JOHNSON: No, I'll play the normal tournaments I usually do. I think I've got a pretty good schedule. I play a good amount of events. I play 22 or 23 events. But I'll play all the same ones. I'm not going to add any different ones or not play something. Q. Which ones are they before the Masters? DUSTIN JOHNSON: The only one I actually might skip this year is San Diego. I might skip San Diego, and then I'll play Pebble, L.A., match play, Honda, Doral. So I'll go five in a row, and then Houston, Augusta. Q. Inaudible. DUSTIN JOHNSON: I did try last year. Didn't make it. Q. When people talk about players needing to take that next step up and win a major, how large do you consider that group to be, yourself included? Seems like there's a lot of players that could be asked that question. DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of great players that have had a lot of big wins that haven't won a major. There is quite a large group, but you know, Majors are always difficult. I've been up there in quite a few and I just need to keep putting myself in that position. Obviously, too, the more I'm in the situation, the more I learn and the easier it gets when you are in that situation. I think the HSBC final round there, I think that's going to help me a lot when I'm contending in a major, just with the two guys that I was battling against, and you know, got off to a little bit of a rocky start there at the beginning but played really well from about‑‑ really three‑‑ from about four on to the house. And then the way I finished, I think was pretty solid. Q. If you could have one mulligan in a major, which one is it? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I need a few‑‑ I don't need one. (Laughter) I'd like to hit that shot at the PGA again. I wouldn't ground my club, that's for sure. Q. Would you like to see this tournament start on Thursday or can you find any redeeming value for it starting on Friday? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, I think next year it will start on Thursday. I don't know, it's going to be a week later, I think. Why wouldn't it start on Thursday if it was a week later? Q. Well, it's starting on Friday now. DUSTIN JOHNSON: Because New Year's Day would have been the Pro‑Am I guess, I don't know. That's the only thing I can think of. Q. You can measure athleticism a lot of different ways but you're regarded as one of the most athletic players on TOUR; does it concern you that you keep having these nagging injuries over the last couple years? DUSTIN JOHNSON: No. Every athlete has an injury every once in awhile. I don't have an injury that keeps happening, so I'm all right. Q. You mentioned 22 or 23 events‑‑ is there a personal ceremony that you have to get to, too? DUSTIN JOHNSON: What? I don't understand what you're saying‑‑ Q. Are you getting married? Did you set a date? DUSTIN JOHNSON: We don't have a date yet but it will be in the fall of this year. Q. After the Playoffs? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah. Q. Ryder Cup? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah. Q. Get that done? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, get that done. We're all good. Q. Is your brother on the bag now; is that right? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yes, he is. Q. Can you just talk about what you think he's going to bring to your game or how much he's going to be able to help you? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, I mean, it's my brother, so we get a long very well. He's my best friend. I like having him out there with me. He gives me a lot of confidence and he's still got a lot of stuff to learn about caddying because he hasn't been doing it for very long. It actually kind of helps me because then I pay more attention to what I'm doing, instead of just relying on Bobby to do everything. Now I kind of‑‑ I'll do my numbers and I'll kind of look where the flag is and make sure everything is correct. So you know, it kind of slows me down a little bit and makes me actually think about what I'm doing. Q. Why your brother, versus obviously there's a lot of really good caddies out here; why your brother versus one of those guys? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Because I actually like spending time with my brother. I mean, you know, a lot of times, doesn't matter how much you like somebody, when you're out there‑‑ when you spend as much time as we do together, traveling and on the golf course all day, people get annoyed. Q. Are you concerned about that relationship, the separation between‑‑ DUSTIN JOHNSON: No, he understands. I've told him, you know, this is a job. If it doesn't work out, then, you know, you're going to have to go find another job (laughter). Q. Do you think this will be the hardest Ryder Cup Team to make, for everybody? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, Ryder Cup Team is always hard to make. And right now, there's so many good players, so I don't think it's ever going to get any easier. It's just going to keep getting harder. KELLY BARNES: Thank you, Dustin. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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