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THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

May 7, 2015

Marc Leishman

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA

MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, didn't hit a great tee shot off the first and cost me a bogey. Deserved to make bogey after that tee shot, and got things into gear after that. Solid round, hit a lot of good shots, had a pretty good string of fairways that I hit there after the second, and that's helpful around here. It's really hard to go into these greens out of the rough. Gave myself a lot of good birdie opportunities and was able to snag a few of them. A few didn't quite drop, but was hitting a lot of good putts, which was good.

Q. You've been hitting the ball off the tee really well lately. Is that something that you feel like the game is lifted in that regard?
MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, it has, definitely. Put a new driver in the bag at the Honda, a new Titleist D4, and that's working really, really good for me, it's just a little bit lower spin, doesn't go off-line as easy. I can still hit it off-line; don't worry about that. It's just the bad ones aren't quite as bad.

Q. And you've just been able to sort of attack free flowing, especially at a place where three years ago you had (inaudible) you love it?
MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, I do. I really enjoy it. It's a good place. I guess you tend to enjoy where you play well, and I didn't play well here the first couple years I was here, so that's why I wasn't a huge fan of it. But now that I've learnt how to play it a little bit, and I think -- it's such a good place because if you play well you can score well, but if your game is not on, it's just going to punish you, and I think that's a good thing. It punished me the first couple years, but my game has improved, learning where to hit it, where not to hit it, and yeah, feeling good.

Q. Obviously I'm not surprised and you're not surprised, but at what point do you think others will not be surprised if you keep doing it?
MARC LEISHMAN: Oh, when I keep doing it more frequently, I guess. I've got to keep popping my head up there on the leaderboards a bit more frequently. I know that. I seem to play well in the bigger events, and I haven't done a whole lot in the -- just the normal TOUR events, so I definitely need to change that. I know that. That's probably a goal for the rest of the year, to obviously keep playing well in the big events and try and get into contention more regularly on PGA TOUR events.

Q. What did you change in your approach for this course after the first couple years where you struggled?
MARC LEISHMAN: Well, I hit it in a lot of really bad spots the first couple years. I feel like that helps to learn if you actually learn the hard way and hit it in those bad spots. So I know where certain places if you hit it there, you're screwed; you're not making par. I'm just basically trying to avoid that, and my game has evolved. I'm driving the ball a lot better than what I was four or five years ago. I feel like I'm putting better, I'm more mature as a person, and things are going well now with family and just life in general, really. So I'm happy and trying not to let things worry me, and I feel like around here you're going to get bad breaks, and if you can not let that worry you too much, that's a big step in the right direction.

Q. I'd be remiss not to miss not to ask about Audrey being there on the 18th. Another boost?
MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, that was great. I didn't actually see her until I putted out, but yeah, that was really good to see her sitting up there on top of the hill. From where she come from about a month ago, it didn't look like she was going to be around, and then to -- four or five weeks later, to be seeing her up on the back of the green when I'm playing, that's pretty special. I took that for granted a little bit, and definitely not anymore.

Q. You've played well the last few weeks.
MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, the last few weeks have been good. I hit the ball well today. I didn't quite get off to the start I wanted being over par early, but hit some good shots to turn it into a pretty good round, and conditions are starting to get a little bit breezy.

Q. Seems like course conditions were really good today. The course is in good shape, don't you think?
MARC LEISHMAN: The course is in awesome shape. It doesn't get a whole lot better than this to be honest. The fairways are just absolutely perfect, and the greens are running at a really nice speed. We're pretty spoiled the courses we play on all year, but this is probably a step above that.

Q. Certainly our thoughts and players were with your wife's situation. Great news that she's feeling much, much better. I think that's maybe a good feeling for you as you're out playing?
MARC LEISHMAN: Oh, yeah, if she wasn't feeling good, I wouldn't be out there. It's important that she's healthy, and the boys have got their parents around. Yeah, we're really lucky with the way she's recovering. She's definitely a very strong girl, and we're all really proud of how she's recovering.

Q. You'd have to say that you were firing on all cylinders today, perhaps apart from that start.
MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, I played pretty well. Bogeyed the first and bogeyed the 10th, but apart from that, played really solid. Gave myself a lot of chances at birdies and gave it some good runs at it, too. Just a couple of lip-outs here and there. But feeling good over the ball, good over the putter, and looks like the conditions are getting a bit tougher out there. We were lucky enough to play the first six or seven holes with basically no wind, so that was nice.

Q. A massive putt on 4 and a great iron on 6. Maybe, again, that muffed chip on 10 the only other blemish apart from the start?
MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah. That was actually a pretty good chip, too. I actually hit it right where I wanted to and the grain just caught it and popped it up in the air, the one on 10. But yeah, holed a good putt on 4 to get it back to even par. Probably didn't get off to the start I would have liked, but felt good out there and gave myself plenty to build on for the rest of the week.

Q. Could have been an eagle, too, late in the round?
MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, that was a pretty weak attempt at an eagle putt there, but it changed grain right through the putt. It was into the grain and then downgrain, and it was one that probably could have easily gotten away from me, and I'd like to have that over again, actually. Still made birdie and then hit a good shot into 17.

Q. Being straight off the tee, it's so fun to play here, isn't it?
MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, it's so difficult to play into these greens out of the rough, especially when they firm up a bit. Probably today it wasn't so bad just because they were a bit soft, but I'm sure that'll change as the week goes on, and hitting fairways is going to be really, really important.

Q. Did Audrey get to see any of that today?
MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, she was on the back of the 18th green there actually. I saw her once I putted out, so that was a nice surprise to see her standing up there when I finished up.

Q. What color are you wearing tomorrow?
MARC LEISHMAN: Oh, who knows, whatever is clean.

Q. 3-under par, so first start off with your first in round. Conditions are never easy here. Did you get everything out of your round that you were expecting to today?
MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, pretty much. I putted pretty well. I had a few lip-outs, but that's always the way it's going to happen. I drove the ball pretty well again. We got to play probably the first six or seven holes basically with no wind, and then obviously it got up a bit and made the back nine pretty interesting. But was able to hit a lot of good shots and post a pretty good score.

Q. You always hit a lot of really good shots here. You haven't missed the cut here since 2011, so you have consistently solid play here. What is it about this course that maybe fits your eye or that you're always pretty consistent here?
MARC LEISHMAN: I don't know. I definitely made up for that in 2011, but I don't know. It's such a demanding course, and I guess it needs your full attention on every single shot. I've learned a lot from my bad play in 2010 and '11 and just knew that you can't take any shot for granted because it can jump up and bite you really quickly. You've just got to prepare a little bit better and make sure your game is on or it's going to make you look pretty silly.

Q. I know it was really exciting for us and I can only imagine how you feel to have your wife Audrey out here. She's back on-site traveling with you for the first time since a really, really scary sickness kind of took over. You took a step back from the Masters and all that just to be with your family and support her. To see her out here and to be able to watch you on 18, what does that -- what kind of perspective does that give you to kind of have everything back together for the first time?
MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, it's awesome. Things are pretty back to normal with her traveling. She's not able to walk the course at all yet, but just to have her out there is pretty awesome. I didn't actually see her until I finished out there, but quite a nice surprise when I looked up on the hill and saw her standing there. But yeah, it's awesome to have her here, especially after where she came from. It didn't look like she was going to be around, and then for only really a month later to be seeing her on the back of the 18th green there is pretty special.
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