Q. ...on 17. I mean, was that one of the more impressive shots you hit here on this course?
ZACH JOHNSON: You can call it impressive, you can call it lucky, you can call it perfect, you can call it, you know, fortuitous. It's all of the above.
I think it would've had two chances of going in because it had a ton of spin on it. So I got fortunate on my lie, too. It was downgrain instead of into the grain, which means we can spin it.
There was significant white paint on my golf club, so it was a great shot. I mean, if it doesn't go in it's close, so I'm not complaining.
Maybe that evens out the lip-outs. I don't know. Maybe not. We'll see.
Q. I don't think you could've seen it go in. Did you?
ZACH JOHNSON: No, I didn't, but when I hit it I said -- I told my caddie, I said, do I have to get nasty with this? He said, you got to get nasty with this.
When it left my face I said, oh, my goodness. I knew it was going to be close, whether or not it went in. It was ridiculous.
Q. Zach, overall just first two days kind of up and down. Feels like you're hitting it good and you talk about some lipping out of putts. Seems like it's real close to being really good.
ZACH JOHNSON: Yes, it is. There is some patience involved there maybe a little bit. But, man, I think I'm controlling a lot of my emotions well, so, yeah, I mean, I'm waiting for it. Just hasn't surfaced.
I'm frustrated with my scorecard, but I'm not frustrated with golf ball in the middle of the face and things of that nature.
Hit a bunch of putts that left on the line I saw that didn't go in, and, you know, that's golf. You got to start them online with the right speed.
Q. What would like to see that scorecard with, with St. Andrews next week, and obviously just being here. I mean, tomorrow maybe put things -- be nice to put it all together, right?
ZACH JOHNSON: Yeah, I got another opportunity tomorrow. That's where my mind is right now. I've got 11, 12 days before St. Andrews, so I'll get focused on that next week.
I'm not there yet. Obviously a totally different animal, so my mind is still on tomorrow here.
Q. I'm sure you're used to it by now, but the amount of fans that were traveling around watching, wanting to watch you play golf, do you have any thoughts on that?
ZACH JOHNSON: It's amazing. I mean, every time I come here, doesn't matter what my scorecard shows, doesn't matter if I'm first or second off on the weekend or last off on the weekend, they're amazing.
You know what? I'm not going to sit here and say I'm surprised because I don't think it's about me. I think -- well, there is a little bit of correlation there, but that's just the people here. You know, they're going to (indiscernible) the round, and I do, too, regardless of what support that is or endeavor that is.
If it's somebody from this area, I know who they are and I'm going to follow them. You can call that pride, you can call that just love for your community, I don't know, but I'm encouraged by it. I appreciate the support. It helps a lot.
Q. You talk about fans. Even out here in general, I mean, there was some complaining early in the week about how good the field was and that to be here on a Saturday seems like -- and I know you only know what you see out there, but they're clapping after your despite the naysayers, if you will.
ZACH JOHNSON: Yeah, this event, especially with this weather, there is going to be thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people here. Again, no surprise. Obviously John Deere is a phenomenal host. People here want to support their community and the charity. The money those feet bring in goes straight back to the community. It's a win-win, right? You get to see some good golf on a great piece of property, grab a cocktail, some food. It's fantastic.
Sounds to me like we got a lot more guys here, people here than the other event somewhere going on, so...
But we should, because this is the best place to play.
Q. Help me set the stage for tomorrow.
ZACH JOHNSON: Sure.
Q. A lot of guys on the leaderboard that people aren't familiar with, they're going playing for all the stuff that comes with the PGA Tour win, trip to St. Andrews, as well, barring yourself going low. Set the stage for me. Why is this going to be a great finish?
ZACH JOHNSON: Well, it's going to be an exciting finish. I mean, bottom line is the finishes at this venue, the last -- I would say the last five holes in particular, I mean, you can be three shots off or three shots up and there is still -- oh, my gosh, so much golf left, and we've seen it and going to continue to see it.
It's going to come down the last hole or two. It always does. I'm not suggesting someone can't break away, but it's just rare here. I just think it's the nature of the golf course.
But, yeah, you said it. There are some guys that may not be household names on this board right now, but they will be. There is a lot of incentive right now. There are three spots I think; is that correct?
Q. Yeah.
ZACH JOHNSON: If they're in the top 10 or is it...
Q. Top 10.
ZACH JOHNSON: It is, okay.
Q. Yeah.
ZACH JOHNSON: So FedExCup points, Maui, climbing your way up to try to get to the The TOUR Championship and then you throw in this British Open, I mean, that's a lot of incentive.
You know, I think the one that comes out on top maybe has been in this position before. You know, I don't know who it'll be, but experience will pay off.
And then if not, it's someone that really can put away the periphery and stay right in front of them, and that's hard to do.
So, I mean, I'm excited. I love watching the finish here. I usually like it partake in it myself, but I enjoy watching it regardless.
Q. The depth of talent this week has been on display.
ZACH JOHNSON: Always. Yeah, I mean, shoot, we saw -- when was Hartford? Last week? We had an amateur up there, you know? He's not a normal amateur. He's a college all-American, you know.
These kids are really, really good. I don't know how else to explain it. I know we don't have the top whatever in the whatever index or world ranking or whatever, but the guys here are really, really good and they're hungry.
So the quality of golf is going to be spectacular. Again, I can't stress it enough, the guys you see here that win are going to be -- area they're going to become the next whomever. That's what we have here.
I think that's -- we have that every week. That's the difficulty. It's impressive. That's why the PGA Tour is the best.
Q. (Indiscernible.)
ZACH JOHNSON: Not many half balding 46 year old 5'10" guys out here, so that's true. (Laughter.)
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