What they said: Zach Johnson

text size

SONY OPEN AT HAWAII: Transcript archive

MARK WILLIAMS: Zach Johnson, you said you wanted to come back and here you are. Thanks for joining us again at the Sony Open in Hawaii interview room. An opening round 65, 5 under, you got a bogey early in the round, but after that settled down and made 6 birdies. Just talk us through it and what you did well today.

ZACH JOHNSON: Yes, thanks, I really played pretty solid all day. I didn't have I made one good I take that back, I made a good save early on 4 for par. And I made a bogy on 5 from the middle of the fairway.

Other than those two little hiccups there, it was pretty solid. I made a nice par putt on 17. I didn't get off to the best of starts, but I was hitting it solid, remained patient.

I hit a close one on 7, par 3, missed it. And I hit one in there to about seven or eight feet in there on 8, and made that.

Birdied 9 and 10.

Made a nice birdie on 12, 16. And 2 putted 18.

So I kept the golf course in front of me, hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of greens. It was pretty solid.

MARK WILLIAMS: How close was that putt on 7 as you followed it up with 4 bogeys the next five holes?

ZACH JOHNSON: It's a tough putt straight down wind down grain. No more than 8 feet, probably 8 feet. Six feet? Six feet, no, it was further than that. Somebody said it hit the flag, did it hit the flag?

Q. It hit the flag. What club did you hit there?

ZACH JOHNSON: I hit a 5. Davis hit a 4 iron, and he didn't catch it very good as it got there. So I hit a low 5 iron. That's when the wind was blowing. The end of the round the wind died down which was a bit bizarre, usually it's the other way around.

Q. What was working best for you today?

ZACH JOHNSON: Quite honestly everything was pretty solid. I made my short putts, hit some 15 to 30 footers really good. I just barely missed. The greens can get a little grainy once the speed dies down.

But I think this golf course, I mean obviously you got to be on. I kept the ball down. My trajectory and control was the best part of my game today.

I hit a lot of choke up drivers today. You know, drivers that stayed low, took the spin off of it and just utilized the fairways for the roll. That was good.

All around, I hit a good number of fairways and a lot of greens on it. You know, pretty tight, windy golf course.

Q. Did it feel like a sequel to last year Sunday?

ZACH JOHNSON: No.

Q. Do you remember that far back?

ZACH JOHNSON: I'm trying to forget about certainly those results from last year, but I'm trying to remember the positive vibes, if you will. Some of the feelings that I had with my shots. So, yes, there was some similarities in that regard. But, you know, I mean if I dwell in the past too much, I usually start backing up in the wrong direction. Yes, I'm confident. I like the way the golf course sets up.

When it's benign, and it's not windy, it's still a good track. When it's windy, it's really hard. You just got to keep the ball in front of you. You got to keep it, you know.

There is holes here where you can be hitting driver, wedge, and the very next day you are hitting driver, 5 iron. Or maybe a 3 wood, wedge, and a driver, 5 iron. It's just strange on how this wind can play a factor and how the fairways roll and release. So I like that. I like being able to control my trajectory and as a result my distance control is usually pretty good and today it was on.

Q. Is it a course the more you play it, the better you get at it?

ZACH JOHNSON: I think you can probably say that about any course to be honest with you. This one in particular, yes, I think so, just because there are subtle nuances out there, little bumps and rolls, that could be a shot or 2 depending on where you landed, or what you're reading, the grain especially. Yes, I think there is some truth to that.

There is certain shots here where maybe it's a perfect 6 iron, but if you hit it a legal it bit hard it's down grain behind the hole and it could go long, so maybe hit a 7 iron and be safe.

So, yes, there is little things like that out here that I certainly think pays dividends. It helps having a caddy that's been here, too.

Q. When you played at Kapalua on a course that's so different than this, do you ever find yours thinking I can't wait to get to Waialae, do you prefer this kind of course?

ZACH JOHNSON: I much prefer this course. I enjoy Maui, and I enjoy Kapalua. It doesn't demand that much out of me in my opinion.

The fairways are massive. I feel like I'm swinging so hard on every tee shot, just trying to get it out there with some of the bigger hitters, and I have no chance of doing that.

Yes, it's a good test, and especially around the greens because you really got to commit. Sometimes the slope, a lot of time the slope is going one way and the grain is going the other way. So the commitment is out of it, and really just, you know, bearing down and saying, this is where I'm going to hit it, this is how I'm going to do it, you got to do that a lot at Kapalua.

But this golf course, I think, incorporates everything for me. High shots, low shots, working the ball a little bit. For me I think it's a better test of where my game is.

Q. Any groove issues? Anything that you would just know for sure?

ZACH JOHNSON: Today not so much. This is my 5th competitive tournament with the new grooves, and I still stick to it. I think the groove issue is more out of the rough, or intermediate cut, if it gets a little fluffy. I didn't find myself in that a whole lot. I shouldn't say that, I was in intermediate cut a couple of times, but I had pretty peachy lies.

So today, not a whole lot. There is a little bit of a roll effect out out of the fairway but it's minimal.

Q. So you played with Davis today?

ZACH JOHNSON: Yes, sir.

Q. Were you guys kind of feeding off each other.

ZACH JOHNSON: Well, he and Y.E. were feeding off each other early. You know towards the end of my front 9 I started to get things going. I felt good. Even when they were making a few birdies, and I wasn't, I still felt good about where everything was. I was hitting solid shots. It's just a matter of monitoring the wind and monitoring my trajectory. It just came along nice. Davis got off to a good start obviously, and putted really, really well today. He hit it good too, don't get me wrong, it was fun to watch. It was nice. We fed off each other a little bit, especially there probably at the end, I think.