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HYUNDAI TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONSJanuary 5, 2014Dustin JohnsonKAPALUA, HAWAII KELLY BARNES: Please welcome Dustin Johnson to the interview room. Dustin shot 4‑under today, a day that was tough for everybody. Can you tell us about your round? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I got off to a pretty good start and then I struggled a little bit on 6 and 7. Hit a poor drive on 6 and 7 I actually hit a pretty good shot. Just went right over the green, and then made a pretty good par putt on 8 to 2‑putt. I hit on the front right which is not a good spot because of that back left pin and I made a good 2‑putt there and kind of got it going. Eagled 9, birdie 10 and then had pretty good looks on 11, 12 and 13. Didn't make anything, and birdied 14. I was in great position on the par 5s on the back, 15 and 18, and made two fives, which is very poor. Other than that, I played pretty good. Q. To be honest with you, I have no recollection of last year at all except you guys played a lot of golf in a short amount of time. What's the difference between kind of that quick, two‑round day, and tomorrow, where you've got a three‑way tie and Zach right there and everyone seems to have a chance tomorrow. DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, last year, I think still there was‑‑ it was me and Strick I know in the last group. I remember that. Other than that, I've never double‑bogeyed on 13, and I think I eagled 14 right after that. I mean, last year, it was still a pretty good amount of guys right there. It was really windy. Q. What will it take tomorrow? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, I need to go out and just take advantage of the par 5s. Got to play those well. And then, yeah, I think it's going to take 6‑ or 7‑under. That would be my guess. You can shoot that in any weather out here pretty much if you get it going. Q. How comfortable are you feeling on these greens? DUSTIN JOHNSON: They are tough to read. So you try to leave yourself uphill putts as much as possible so you can be a little more aggressive with it. But it's still hard to, they are tough to read. They are always tough to read. Q. You're at 30‑under here in the last six rounds, in varying weather conditions; is this course made for you? Is it one of your favorite courses? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I enjoy playing it.  It's a fun course to play. Got four reachable par 5s and got two holes that are potentially drivable, maybe three. So for me, I enjoy playing it. Especially if I'm driving it good; if I'm not hitting the driver very well, it's not fun. But I've been driving it well, so it's been a lot of fun play. You've got to hit a lot of different shots, whether it's a wedge from 100 yards or a 6‑iron from 140. You've got to use a lot of feel and a lot of imagination around here. Q. You talked before the tournament started about your brother being on the bag and how his knowledge level isn't anywhere close to what yours is certainly and probably around here very little. How much has that helped you that you've had to more focus on some of those things this week than normal? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, it helps me, just kind of stay focused. I don't really‑‑ you know, I've got to always double‑check all the numbers. Sometimes I don't but most of the time I do and I've played here enough where a number, I'll know it right awaywhere if he gives me a number ‑‑ or I'll ask him if he's sure about that number‑‑ you sure about that. Q. How many times has that happened this week? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Maybe only once or twice, not too much. He's pretty good, though. Q. On 15, did you come up to the green and come down the slope or did you just kind of knock it up or what? DUSTIN JOHNSON: No, I got right up to the front and then worked its way all the way back down. I actually hit a really good pitch to get it up there from, whatever, six feet and hit an awful put. Q. And 18, talk about that what you had left and how you played it? DUSTIN JOHNSON: 18 I had like 250 front with the down‑‑ and then downhill, 17 or whatever. I was trying to hit kind of a low drive and draw and I kind of floated ‑‑ a 4‑iron that kind of floated on me a little bit and I thought I hit a lot better pitch than I did. I landed right where I wanted to, it just hit really soft. Q. One last thing, last year the talk about Spieth and what he did, and now he comes out this week tied for the lead going into the final round. When you look at a guy like that‑‑ when you came out and you were young, people talked about you. When do you think about that guy and his performance in this period of time? DUSTIN JOHNSON: I think he's played unbelievably well. It's good to see. I like watching, he's a good kid. He's a buddy of mine. He's a really good player, and I think he's‑‑ for how young he is, I think he's a really mature player, and I think he's going to do very well out here. Q. You've won every year but what is the difference between the guy who won in his first year and where you are now? Obviously you're playing a lot better in this recent stretch but what is the difference? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Starting to grow up, I'm getting older, so starting to, getting older and maybe getting a little bit wiser. Starting to do things a little bit differently, maybe more on the correct side. Q. Give us an example, just one. DUSTIN JOHNSON: Just learn‑‑ I'm going to the gym more. I think that's really important. I have in the past but I was kind of like sporadic with it. I'd go really good for a month and then I would take a month off. Now I'm starting to get into a little bit more of a routine. Staying in at night, too, is a good thing. Q. Do you ever think‑‑ we talk about guys with unbelievable potential and your name comes up a lot. Do you ever think about the fact that at some point you'll be 40 and 45 and you want to take advantage of the situation you're in now? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, for sure. I try to take advantage of every situation I'm in. You know, this is where I want to be. I want to have a chance to win going into Sunday. I'm 29; I'm going to be 30 soon. So I've still got a lot of room for improvement, but I think I'm moving in the right direction. Q. When you won Turning Stone and then your next win was‑‑ DUSTIN JOHNSON: Pebble. Q. You never had to play the final round, even though you had a four‑ or five‑shot lead. When did you ever feel validation after the first win? Was it Pebble the first year or did it take the second year? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Starting right out with my rookie year, I came out and I competed right away in the first five or six events I played at, I finished in the Top‑10 or had a couple times, had a chance to win. Right then that helped a lot just with confidence, knowing that I can win, and I kind of struggled there for a while. I think my head might have got a little too big‑‑ I don't know. It was, whatever, seven years ago, so I can't remember what I did yesterday, much less back then. But definitely I've played really well and competed, so I knew I could do it. And then you struggle all the time. I mean, all golfers do go through a bit of a period where they struggle, and you know, I did that and then when I won at Turning Stone, I really never even thought I had a chance to win until like the 12th hole, I looked up at the leaderboard and I think I was one back of Allenby who I was playing with, and then I'm like, okay, I can win this tournament. And I did. And then obviously winning again at Pebble shortly there after definitely kind of validated everything and I kind of knew I belonged. Q. You played with a guy today who plays golf differently from you, a big different. Would it surprise you if you were told that only Tiger, Phil and Vijay had more wins than Zach over a period of time? Actually I think it's only Tiger who has got more wins than Zach of guys under 40. Does that surprise you? DUSTIN JOHNSON: No. I mean, Zach's a great player. He's pretty steady. He drives it straight. He wedges it good and he putts it good and that's going to add up to a good score usually. Q. The emphasis on power‑‑ DUSTIN JOHNSON: I put more emphasis on getting it in the fairway. If you're hitting it out of the fairway most of the day, whether you're short or long‑‑ I mean, Zach's not short though. He still gets it out there pretty good. So he's I think just a good all‑around player. Q. As you've matured, what has been the hardest thing for you out here to learn? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Sometimes with me, especially out here, it's just patience and maybe not really patience but staying focused and I know when I've played my best, I'm really focused and I'm just‑‑ and I'm really patient. My routine is the same, and a lot of times out here, or what I've learned or I've looked back on when I haven't played very well, I get out of my routine, I'm not really focused on the shots I'm hitting and I'm not really just thinking that well. Q. So is it fair to say what happened at 7 and in turn what happened at 9 is part of that idea of staying in your routine and being focused and patient? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I mean, 7 I didn't do anything wrong there. I actually hit a good shot, I just hit it over the green. I actually had one more club‑‑ I had a 5‑iron and then when I saw Zach's go a little bit over, I'm like, well, maybe it's not hurting as much, so I went back to a 6‑iron and I still hit it over the green. It's just one of those, I hit it good and it went right through the wind. Q. Are there times when you have done that in the past that would have unnerved you that would have cost you down the stretch? DUSTIN JOHNSON: Probably, yeah. It's the same thing kind of if you go back to like the HSBC where I 3‑putted the first hole, missed a little short one, and then two, I drove it right down the middle, kind of pushed a 6‑iron into a par 5, end up making five, which was bad. So I got off to kind of a shaky start and Ian and Graeme, they birdie the first two holes and birdie three, so I think a couple years ago, that would have really rattled me. But it didn't and I just kept telling myself, just play your game, keep going through your routines. I'm playing good, I'm putting good, so just keep at it and see what happens. You know, it ended up working out where I've made really well from about four on to the house. KELLY BARNES: Thanks for coming in, Dustin. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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