Q. DJ, to win this early in the season against this field with that second shot on the last, this has to be really special, even with what you’ve achieved in your career.
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, it’s a great win, and obviously today was tough. I knew it was going to be tough obviously with the conditions. But a lot of really good players were right around the lead. I knew I was going to have to play well if I wanted to win. Obviously making a clutch birdie there on 17 to give me a one-shot lead, then obviously did a great job at 18 and just had the two-putt for the victory.
Tough day; got off to a little bit of a rocky start. I was hitting really good shots, they were just ending up in poor spots. I was hitting the shots I wanted to, I just was not playing the wind right.
Q. What was your mindset when you saw the conditions? You just had to grind.
DUSTIN JOHNSON: You knew it was going to be a grind from start to finish.
Q. Is this going to be another vintage DJ year? You’re the big dog again do you think?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: We’ll see. It’s getting off to a good start so far.
Q. You finish at 12-under, just one shot away from the pack behind you. Were you feeling that pressure today?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, from the start, from the first tee. I know obviously conditions is going to be very difficult. A lot of really good players right around the lead. Playing with Bryson and Jon, it was going to be a tough day. It was going to be a fight all day, especially with the conditions.
The golf course played — I thought it played really difficult, and I had a really tough time early just figuring out the wind and how much it was going to move the ball.
But yeah, kind of hung around there, and then obviously played really good my last seven, eight holes.
Q. When I talked to you earlier in the week, we talked about the fact that you really hadn’t picked up clubs in the off-season. You had a great week last week, come in hot this week. Is there something in your game that just clicked for you?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, last week and this week, I rolled the putter really nicely, put a lot of work in on the greens, and I felt like I putted really well. I think that’s kind of the biggest thing from last year. I was struggling with the putter a lot, and then this year the first two events I’ve putted quite nicely, just making all the putts I need to make. Like the one on 17 obviously was a clutch putt that I needed to make there if I wanted to take a one-shot lead. So the putter has been very nice to me here for the first two weeks.
Q. I think it looks like you’re going to be a tough guy to beat at the majors this year. Are you feeling confident headed into Masters season in a couple weeks?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, the game is feeling in really good form for this early in the year, and so I’m excited for the rest of the year. Obviously still got a lot of work to do. Take a couple days off, probably Sunday, Monday, and then get back to work on Tuesday.
Obviously got a big stretch coming up with Saudi, Hong Kong, come back, Doral, and then the Masters. I want to be in good form for the foreseeable future at least. Got a lot of big tournaments.
Q. You had your whole family out on the green today congratulating you on your win. Does that mean something extra special to have everybody out there watching you take home that W?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, it’s great. Obviously I had my wife Paulina here and then mother, father-in-law, my dad was here, and obviously my brother is on the bag. So it’s always great when you have a bunch of friends and family around and you win. It doesn’t seem like it happens that often, though, when you win when everyone is there. It was nice to get to enjoy that with them today, and hopefully we’ll enjoy it a lot more.
Q. How are you going to celebrate tonight?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I have no idea. Probably not too much. I’m pretty tired, to be honest, and we have to go to the LIV event tonight from 7:30 to 9:30 and then I’m pretty sure me and mama are going to go back to the room and just hang out, go to bed.
Q. Obviously you guys had the marquee group. There wasn’t really a lot happening there, and then you went through that stretch between 6 and 11. When you walked off the 11th green, what was your mindset going into the rest of the —
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, I knew obviously the conditions — I knew the guys were 10-, 11-under, and then I think I dropped down to 9 at one point. But I knew obviously I had holes in front of me.
The biggest thing was just hit one in the fairway because I think the only fairway I hit was 7. I had a mud ball that went to the right. I was playing just out of the first cut or just in the rough all day.
Just needed to hit fairways. I knew if I could hit fairways, obviously it’s a lot easier to control the ball, control the flight and the spin. I knew I had some birdie holes coming up, and I just hit some nice shots.
Obviously a really nice one there on 13. Hit a good shot on 14, too. Hit a really good shot on — I hit really good shots pretty much from 13 on. Actually starting on 12, the par-3. I hit a really nice 5-iron that just went into the first cut there, but it was a great shot. The hole was playing really difficult.
Early I was just having a hard time judging the wind really.
Q. You talked about last year that it wasn’t the kind of season, the kind of results that you wanted. At this point of your career, you don’t really have anything to prove, but how determined were you to come back this season and kind of show the form that you know you’re capable of?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Yeah, last year I did not play very well. But also didn’t — it kind of goes with how much effort I put into it, too. I obviously could have worked a lot harder than I did.
This year I’ve got a little more drive and determination because I don’t enjoy not playing well. I enjoy playing well. I enjoy being up here talking to you guys after the week is over, and I really enjoy holding up the trophies at the end of the week.
Q. How much of a scoreboard watcher are you at this point in your career? When you were on 16, it was a six-way tie at that point.
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, I don’t know if — I couldn’t really see one on 16. Obviously I knew I was at 11 — well, I saw that I was T1. I did see that. I didn’t know how many ways it was. Yeah, there’s scoreboards everywhere. I’m always going to look, especially on a day like today because I’m playing okay but not really doing much. You know a couple guys are playing well. But all I really know is the guys in my group. So you’re kind of looking at scoreboards to see where you’re at. I don’t mind. I want to know where I’m at because I need to know what I have to do if I’m one back or tied or one ahead. I want to know.
Q. Does it really matter, though, when you’re at 17, you just want to put one in the fairway?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, no, I’m not thinking about it on the tee shot. You still want to know where you’re at because I knew I was tied there and needed to give myself a good look because that was probably going to be my best opportunity to make a birdie was 17.
Q. You’ve had about 20 minutes to reflect, but sum up LIV Golf Las Vegas. What’s the first thing that comes to your mind about the three days?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: It was a great week, great turnout today with the fans. There was a ton of fans out there. I felt like the energy was high. It was a lot of fun. Obviously it was a little chilly and really breezy, but the weather was really nice.
I think it was a great turnout and a great support. You could feel the energy out there for sure.
Q. It seems like LIV continues to gain momentum. What’s the first thing that comes to your mind about LIV Golf at the moment?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: If it you haven’t been to an event, then I would invite you to come out and watch because you’re going to like it. I think it’s just something that the fans really — all the ones that come, they all seem to like it. They all seem to have a good time. The more, the merrier.
Q. DJ, we’ve been waiting for your Super Bowl pick all week long —
DUSTIN JOHNSON: Nope.
Q. You’re still not going to tell us?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I don’t have one, no. It’s too close.