What they said: Zach Johnson

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Q. 9 under par and only one birdie on the par 5s.

ZACH JOHNSON: Thank you. Appreciate you mentioning that.

You know, it was good. I just managed my game really well today. I hit a lot of greens. I think I hit 17 greens if I'm not mistaken and gave myself a lot of opportunities. You can always say woulda, coulda, shoulda, done better, but at the same time, I made a few putts.

One mishap with a 3-putt for par and other than that, everything is really solid.

Q. You had a couple eagles on the scorecard.

ZACH JOHNSON: Which is rare. I had three eagle putts today alone.

It was nice just having those opportunities. I'm hitting the ball solid. These tee boxes, there's not a level shot, and it's a matter of getting comfortable with your target and getting comfortable with your setup and just trusting it.

You know, I swung a little better today. My rhythm was better today and it was nice to see some putts go in.

Q. Was there a point where you thought to yourself, This is okay?

ZACH JOHNSON: Yeah, there was a couple times, I was just thinking, If I can do this -- you get ahead of yourself, it will bite you. That's exactly what I did. There were two par 5s I should have made birdie on and as a result I made par.

If you get overly anxious as to where you could go, this game can bite you, and as a result -- I know that. It's a learning process and I've just got to stay more in the present rather than the future and stick to my process and good things can happen.

Hopefully I'll have a nice meal tonight and a good night's rest and looking forward to tomorrow.

Q. Biggest difference between the first two days and today?

ZACH JOHNSON: I got behind the 8-ball the last two days, Thursday, Friday. I was 2-over on the front nine with no birdies until today. I shot 4-over on the front nine and just had zero momentum and zero confidence. I made a birdie on 2, and I just kind of got things going. I had a lot of opportunities and a great opportunity on 3, 6, and 9. I made nothing. Obviously, I 3-putted on 15.

So a lot of opportunities today, which is exactly what I want. I say all of this, but the greens are tough, and I made my share. Very happy with my round.

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