QUICKEN LOANS NATIONAL

June 27, 2014

Marc Leishman

Q. Second round of 66, fantastic play.
MARC LEISHMAN: Thank you. It was a good day today. Hit quite a few good shots and rolled a couple nice putts in for birdie.

Q. I know you're a Greg Norman fan, and I know you model your game on Ernie Els and he's won a U.S. Open around this joint. Seems like a major championship-type test. How is it playing out there right now?
MARC LEISHMAN: It does. The wind was down a little bit this morning, so it wasn't quite as tough as it was yesterday afternoon. The greens were a little bit softer. It's got potential to firm up again and it's definitely playing tough. You really need to get on the fairway, and missing it on the right sides of the pin.

Q. I thought I saw you close with the birdie on the ninth, your final hole to get under today and then you were bogey-free yesterday. Did you feel like you carried momentum from the close yesterday?
MARC LEISHMAN: Definitely. I was 2-over through ten and to finish under par, I was happy with that. It was a tough golf course and to fight back was pleasing. Today I felt like a little bit of a carry-over and hit it good on the range and hit it good warming up. Sometimes it's a good thing and today it happened.

Q. What was working so well today?
MARC LEISHMAN: Drove the ball well early on and putted well for most of the day. Holed a few good par putts early and rolled a few long birdie putts in. I didn't drive it as well as I would have liked on the back nine but managed to get around.

Q. Has this course played a little easier in the morning according to the stats; did you sense that?
MARC LEISHMAN: Definitely. Got quite windy yesterday afternoon and this morning there was really not much wind at all. So the greens are a lot smoother in the morning, a little softer, so I definitely think you've got to take advantage of the morning tee time.

Q. Coming off a tie for 11th at the Travelers Championship and you're playing well this week. Do you feel the momentum building for you right now?
MARC LEISHMAN: I hope so. I've been hitting the ball pretty well for the last few months. Had a bit of a lean patch earlier in the week, but turning things around and feeling good over the ball. Try and keep this going, and see what happens on the weekend.

Q. How were you so successful today?
MARC LEISHMAN: I drove the ball really well early on. Putted pretty well. So it was a good day all around. Conditions were a little easier this morning than they were yesterday afternoon, so I felt like I really had to take advantage of that.

Q. Were you surprised at the conditions making it a little easier? I've talked to a lot of guys saying this is a tough course, it's playing tough. Were you a little bit surprised?
MARC LEISHMAN: I mean, I wouldn't say it was playing easier. It was definitely easier than yesterday afternoon. I think it definitely plays easier in the morning. I think this afternoon, things are going to firm up and certain scores might be higher than this morning.

Q. How confident are you right now?
MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, feeling pretty good, but things could turn around so quickly in this game. And when you're playing well, you've got to try to make the most of it and keep it going as long as you can. Yeah, I'm feeling confident but I know there's a lot of work to do and hopefully I can have a good weekend.

Q. Some of the so-called big names struggled yesterday. Do you get the sense that this is a wide-open tournament right now? And obviously you're right in the middle of the mix.
MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, so much can happen on this golf course. Tomorrow you could shoot a score and get yourself right back into it and there's still a lot of people in it, so the guys up top have got a lot of work to do to stay there, and yeah, just a good golf course for a tournament.

Q. Can you talk about what was going well out there today for you?
MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, drove the ball really well early on. Gave myself a lot of birdie chances. I think I only missed one fairway, maybe two fairways and one green on the front nine. Didn't quite drive it as well on the back nine but holed a couple of nice, long birdie putts. That's a good way to keep the round going.

Q. What was the big difference between today and yesterday?
MARC LEISHMAN: The greens were a lot smoother this morning, and the wind, we had basically no wind this morning. So it was quite breezy yesterday afternoon. I felt like 1-under was a really good score yesterday afternoon that I had to try and really take advantage of my morning tee time, and was able to do it, which was pleasing.

Q. Were you a little more aggressive today than you were yesterday?
MARC LEISHMAN: Maybe a little more, just because the greens were a bit softer and there was no wind. It's hard to get too aggressive when the wind is blowing and you're not 100 percent sure what direction it's coming from. You tend to go towards the middle of the green to give yourself a bit more margin for error. I was definitely a bit more aggressive, and having fresh greens this morning, you're able to be more aggressive with putts, because you're not as worried about the 3- or 4-footers coming back like you were yesterday afternoon.

Q. Do you see the Aussie leaderboard?
MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, I see Greg and Oliver playing well. I know it's Oliver's second pro tournament, so good to see him up there. And obviously Greg is a friend of mine and it's good to see him up there, as well. Hopefully we can stay there.

Q. Do you know Oliver very well?
MARC LEISHMAN: I haven't had a whole lot to do with him. I spoke to him a little bit last week, actually, at the Travelers. We have a practice round lined up next week at the Greenbrier so I get to spend a bit more time with him there. But who knows, we might have a tee time on the weekend.

Q. Can you take us through No. 9, 127 yards out, what did you use and what were you seeing?
MARC LEISHMAN: I pulled my drive, and I had basically no shot. I had a tree in my backswing and a bad lie in the rough and couldn't get it to the fairway. Then had to lay up again after my lay up, which is never fun. And then had a really good yardage, hitting a sand iron from 127 and it landed right where I wanted to and spun back and in the hole. So it's a pretty unlikely birdie, but they don't happen very often and you have to make the most of them when they do.

Q. What does it do for the rest of your round, is it an extra boost of confidence or do you just chalk it up as happenstance and move on?
MARC LEISHMAN: I think it really kept the momentum going. I had had a pretty good start to the day. I think I was maybe 2-under through eight and I was looking at making either a tough par or a bogey there, and then to drop it in the hole, that just really kept the momentum going, and I was able to hit a few good shots after that. Yeah, it's nice when that happens. It's not very often that they actually drop in.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports