“You can tell you are in a bunker here”: Dustin Johnson

The lanky, long-hitting Dustin Johnson arrived in Australia for the first time sitting at number 5 in the world and at ease with questions about bunkers on the sandy Lakes layout.
The press conference for Dustin Johnson followed the one featuring Tiger Woods but despite Johnson now ranked over 50 places higher than Woods in the World Golf Rankings, the media scrum had their Tiger story and were non-existent.
The inevitable question started things off, how was Johnson liking the country;
Yes, my first time down to Australia. It is a beautiful city. I have not seen much. I have walked around down town a little bit. We have a great hotel we are staying at, the the golf course out here is fantastic.
On using his driver this week, it sounds like he won’t be doing much else;
I hit driver just over the bunker. I’ll hit a driver on that hole…Even if I think it is into the wind, I can still get over it. Unless it is blowing really hard in my face. But then I’ll still hit driver and hit it short of the bunker.
I hit a pretty good bit of drivers. On the back side there are a few holes where I would lay up – 17, the little downhill short one. I’ll probably lay up there too because it is a severe green. At 10 I hit three iron. There are a few irons on the back side. I’ll hit a bunch of drivers on the front.
As one of the game’s longest hitters (Woods said Gary Woodland hits it much further than anyone) it is often curious to know how keen these guys are to be seen to be one of the longest drivers on tour;

Not really. I want it to go in the fairway. I don’t care how far it goes. As long as it is in the fairway, it is good with me.

On next week’s Presidents Cup;

It is a lot of fun. Last year at the Ryder Cup was awesome, even though we lost. It came right down to the last match. You could not ask for a better week or any more fun than that. It is good. We are always out by ourselves playing. You do your own thing every week. It is good to get together with the guys and have the camaraderie and have dinner every night and do everything together. It is really neat.

One reporter (not Aussie Golfer) threw in a reference to Dustin Johnson’s heartbreaking moment at the 2010 US PGA championship asking if he thought much about recognising bunkers on The Lakes layout;

Not until you said something. Thanks for that. I appreciate it. I don’t think about it too much. You can tell you are in a bunker here. If you are in a sand trap, you know you are in one.

A little cheeky I thought, but Dustin took it well.
More: 2011 Australian Open: Know your Americans

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