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ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL PRESENTED BY MASTERCARDMarch 14, 2018Marc LeishmanOrlando, Florida EMILY TILLO: We're joined by Marc Leishman our defending champion of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. First of all, congrats on an incredible 2017 season. Tell us a little bit about how the win here last year propelled you to such a strong finish. You finished sixth in the FedExCup which was a career best for you, so chat about what the win here kind of did for you. MARC LEISHMAN: I think winning here -- well it had been five years since I won, so of course you're trying to win every week, but I think winning here made me really realize I could win against the best players in the world and know that, well, turning up to tournaments, I was just thinking about winning really, I wanted to win more tournaments, because that was a really cool feeling to win here and I wanted to do it more often. So managed to do it one more time and be nice to do it a lot more frequently this year. EMILY TILLO: Tell us a little bit about have you taken the red alpaca cardigan out to wear a few times or do you have it stored in a special spot, just tell us what that means to you to have that in your collection. MARC LEISHMAN: So the night I won I think I wore it out to dinner. Just one of those things, you're probably not going to wear it too often, but I really wanted to enjoy it and make the most of it. I haven't it framed yet, I'm going to eventually get it framed, I wanted to leave it out for awhile, just to enjoy it, I guess, it's up in my man room upstairs and it's just cool to see it up there and just know what it means. EMILY TILLO: Well it was definitely a good luck charm for you last year, I think. MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, it was. EMILY TILLO: Open it up for questions, please. Q. Curious about the man room. Details, please. MARC LEISHMAN: Oh, I got a room upstairs, it's got three TV's in it, my beer fridge, couple of couches, bar and got a balcony overlooking my backyard just off it. So go up there and watch the hockey at night or golf during the day or any sport. So it's good because I can take my kids up there and we can have cartoons on one of them and I can have sport on the other two. Q. Do they get into the beer fridge at all? MARC LEISHMAN: Only to get me beers. (Laughter.) Q. Any golf memorabilia in there? MARC LEISHMAN: Well I've got a few different footballs from things that I've -- I did a day with the Colts a couple of years ago in Indianapolis and they gave me a football with my name on it. So I got a basketball signed by Larry Bird. I got a few different jerseys and hockey sticks and that sort of thing up there. Q. Golf? MARC LEISHMAN: Golf? I've just got, I've got all the clubs that I've won with, I've left them in that golf bag, when I've finished using them they're in there. My Presidents Cup bag's in there. So there's, it's a pretty cool room. Got a dart board in there. It's a lot of fun. We have had some good times up there. Q. Talking about the Presidents Cup, what do you think about the captains pick? MARC LEISHMAN: I think it's great. Ernie was an idol of mine growing up and Tiger Woods, he's one of the greatest ever. So they had a good rivalry years ago and they were both contending in Majors it seemed like every Major. For me it's, I think it's really good to, it's going to bring a lot of interest to the Presidents Cup which I think is going to be good for the Cup and now the International Team as players, hopefully I'll be on the team, we need to step up and play better and really give the Americans a run for their money and hopefully beat them. But, yeah, certainly it's a big goal of mine to be on that team and contribute to that team. Playing under Ernie would be huge for me and at Royal Melbourne, pretty much my hometown, that's going to be a great event. Q. Speaking of Tiger, given how dominant he was in his hey day and how far things fell, obviously he's on the rise at this point as we have seen the last few weeks. If and when he is to win again, where would you rang that in terms of sporting comebacks that you've witnessed, not just in golf but in anything. The? MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, I mean it would be huge. I only know the American sports over the last probably five or 10 years, so I don't know any of the big comebacks after that, but I think, I don't think it would surprise anyone -- well when I think he wins again -- but, yeah, he's obviously had some highs and lows, but someone who is that good a player and has won that frequently I feel like it's probably only a matter of time, as long as his body holds up, which it looks like he's swinging it really good and it would be good for the game if he came back. Might not be so good for the players if he gets back to where he was, but, no, it's good. I was going through the airport on Saturday and every pretty much every TV in the airport was on golf and that's pretty rare for golf. So that's what he does for the game and I think that's really good to bring exposure to the game and good for the players as well and everyone that's involved in golf. Q. When you talk about your man room and going upstairs and watching the golf and that, you've come close enough in the Open, you led the Masters at one stage a few years back. With the great season you had last year, of course the FedExCup being one of those tournaments, how close do you think you are now to adding one of those Major trophies to that man room upstairs? MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, hopefully close, but you never know. There's only four a year and obviously you have to play well in the right week. But I feel like I've got the tools, I've just got to say get a course that suits me and play well on that week. The courses that are there this year, it's exciting but again you're playing against the best players in the world, so sometimes it doesn't matter how well you play if someone just plays better than you, it's not going to happen. But, yeah, I'm definitely, I feel like I'm closer than I was other than I've ever been, really, after the year I had and being in the mix and winning a couple of tournaments last year I feel like and having a couple of losses that hurt, I feel like I learned a lot and I know what I have to do now. So just a matter of doing it. Q. When you arrived here last year you weren't even in the Masters yet. Can you talk about how different you are as a player and how much freer you are with your schedule mapped out, able to plan around the Majors and how comforting that is to be able to play that relaxed this week. MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, it's nice. You can be a bit more aggressive and really not that you don't play to win on other weeks, but you can really play to win, knowing that you've got well all the tournaments that you want to be in, you're in, all the ones that you want to win, you've got a chance to win them if you're in 'em. So last year I guess there was that extra determination for me early in the year because I wasn't in Augusta and it's a course that I felt like that if I play well around there I have a chance to win it. I've contended there before and that was not one that I wanted to miss out on. It was very timely that I played well here, but, yeah, it is, it's great to be able to map out your schedule, plan for things a bit better, just certain shots that you need on certain courses or holes and to have them knowing that you're going to be there, you don't want to -- it was hard last year practicing those shots not even knowing if I was going to be at Augusta. Q. Have you been doing that this week, practicing some shots for Augusta around this course? MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, I mean mostly on the range, not so much on the course, but just thinking about it, like turning the 3-wood over and the tight little shots around the greens that you need to kind of with a lot of spin on them to stop it on them quick greens, which you're probably going to need around here too this week because the greens are going to get pretty firm and quick by the look of it. So, yeah, it's just nice to be able to like plan for it. Q. Can you talk to us a little bit about Royal Melbourne, composite course, what you think about the composite arrangement versus the course, the East and the West, and then what kind of success rate have you had there in your past? I'm sure you've played it. MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, I've played there a lot. I've only ever played one tournament on the composite course. It was the Masters, probably maybe four or five years ago, six years ago, I'm not sure. I think I finished top-15 or 20, can't remember. But yeah, I played a lot of golf around there. The composite course is great because there's, when you play the East or the West Course you cross a lot of roads and the composite course is all on the main paddock at Royal Melbourne, so and all the interest -- there are some great holes across the road as well, but all the really good holes tend to be in that main paddock. So it's a really good golf course, undulating, fast undulating greens. You need to know where to miss it. Then, depending on which way the wind's blowing, too, on how you play it. So a lot of the American guys have played a Presidents Cup there and hopefully I'll be on the team and I'll be able to contribute to a few points. It will be nice. Q. Kind of a two-part question, there's been some discussion out there about fan behavior this year. Have you ever had any reason to be concerned about that and B, how do you notice the difference in fan behavior at Augusta as opposed to maybe your average TOUR stop? MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, I mean it's 95 percent, 99.9 percent of the fans are great. Presidents Cup, obviously people are going to be more passionate and I get that. Augusta, they're very, I think if people do anything wrong at Augusta, I think they're out. I don't think that's the case at a lot of other tournaments, but I think it's good that there's a lot of people out watching golf. Yes, there's some stuff that's said, but you just got to have a thick skin and not worry about it. Obviously some things hurt more than others that people say, but yeah, it's just part of it, like all sports have to put up with it, I'm sure footballers they get stuff yelled at them. Baseballers, Michael Cuddyer told a great story to me a few weeks ago that, his first time playing in, I think it was at Yankee Stadium, and so he's got, I think every sport has to deal with it, I don't think we're used to dealing with it, so, yeah, I think it's fine. Q. (No Microphone.) MARC LEISHMAN: You get some stuff yelled at you, but that's all right, you brush it off and move on. Q. Like what? MARC LEISHMAN: Well it's not really stuff I can say in here. Q. What's the worst thing that you can say you've heard when you were in the stands at a game, Australia, here, anywhere? Have you ever heard anything even growing up as a kid? MARC LEISHMAN: Oh, yeah, in Australia people don't -- I mean, I think -- like the, unless you're Derek for Collingwood, people don't tend to like Collingwood, and they call them -- I'm not, I can't seen say it. Yeah, I've heard a lot. Q. What's it like listening to it? Does it bother anyone around a fan, do you think? MARC LEISHMAN: I think that it happens everywhere. It's just how, I guess it's some of it is culture, it's just not how you're brought up but how -- if you're a kid and you go to a football game and you see other, like see your dad and his friends yelling stuff at the players, I mean you think it's cool so you grow up and you do that your self. And I think that's, I think that's where it maybe comes from. I don't know. Q. When you get to Augusta, and you're playing, whether it's practice round or tournament rounds, are you more likely to think of shots that went wrong or shots that went right depending upon what hole you're on? MARC LEISHMAN: Both, I think. You try and only think of the ones that went right, but when you're over a shot and you know how bad it is somewhere and you think about the shot that you've hit from there that did go wrong -- because that happens a lot when you get yourself in the wrong position at Augusta -- I think that maybe helps you from avoiding it, helps you avoid it. But at the same time you don't want to be thinking too much about where you don't want to hit it either. You want to be looking at your target and then hope you hit a good shot. So, yeah, only a little bit of both is good, but too much of either is not, because you don't want it to feel too easy if you're only thinking about your good shots and if that makes sense. Q. You don't like to think too much? MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, I don't like thinking too much. Q. Also about Augusta, I mean after 2013 I know you've had a bit of a disjointed kind of you missed a year you had a lot of emotion when you came back, but are you disappointed that you haven't gotten yourself right back in the fray there after the experience in 2013 and do you expect when you go there to be in that position and really contend there? MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, I'm disappointed, I've had spells of good play and I've had stretches of holes that have put me out of the tournament in five or six holes. So I need to stop that, but I think every year I go there I feel like I'm, if I play well and things go right, I have a chance. But again it's the thing that you got the best players in the world and of the best players you got the guys who are playing the best at the top of the leaderboard. So it's tough to contend there, but, yeah, it definitely is somewhere I would like to be this year is contending in that. First Major of the year, it's always an exciting one and that's certainly the plan. Q. I saw they asked you about the Masters and you answered that you are practicing some shots. The best mind coaches say you need to be focused in the moment. So if are you in the tournament this week, how can you think about you're away from the moment? MARC LEISHMAN: Well, yeah, on the, it's mostly on the driving range that I'm doing that. On the course I'm not thinking about, like, I don't know, if a shot calls for a high fade with a 3-wood I'm not going to hit a draw thinking about Augusta in the tournament, I'm going to hit the shot that's required. But on the driving range -- because I naturally fade the ball, so I need to work a bit harder to draw it, to turn it the other way, so I need to have a few weeks practice of doing that to feel comfortable. So obviously we all want to win any, every event or any event, but the Majors are the focus and I would like to be try to be as prepared as I can. Q. What's it like to come back to a place like this as the defending champion and with the quality of field that comes here every year, how difficult is it really to repeat? MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, it's great to come back. It's a course I love, great city. Bring the family down here. They have a great time. Yeah, it is hard to win any tournament when you're playing against the best players in the world and on tough golf courses it magnifies mistakes and sometimes if you hit a good shot it doesn't finish in the greatest position. So you got to have your game in a good spot, you got to be mentally strong and then you need a couple things to go right. Hole some putts at the right time or get a good break here or there. You may or may not come out on top. So, yeah, it's hard to win, it's doable. Someone's going to win, so do the do the do the. Q. The year prior to your win Jason Day won here. Since then he's gone through quite a bit personally. You had your own personal challenges, I know. Are you close with Jason? Have you talked to him during any of this or supported him in any way being a fellow Aussie? MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, yeah I'm good friends with Jase. It's not fun dealing with that sort of stuff and golf's a tough game if your head's not where it needs to be, you're probably not going to play your best golf. Jase has shown this year already that his head's probably in a better spot and with winning he won in San Diego, I think. Yeah, so yeah, I've spoken with him, but I think he's doing pretty well with it. I think his mom's doing a little better. Q. Who was your favorite of all time your favorite Major championship winner and why? MARC LEISHMAN: Oh, I mean Ernie Els was an idol of mine growing up. I always tried to be like him. So I remember his win in '97 I think it was. Q. Congressional. MARC LEISHMAN: Congressional. Yeah, I remember that one. Then when he won the British Open, that was kind of, I was going for Scotty, but he won, because you never want to see what happened to Scotty happen to anyone, but, yeah, I would say most memorable one would be '97, him winning. Q. What was it about Ernie you liked so much? MARC LEISHMAN: I just liked his demeanor, just his golf swing, he was just I felt like he was someone that I wanted to be like and felt he was a pretty good person to try and be like. Q. So you were 13 when he won at Congressional. MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah. Yeah. Q. (No Microphone.) MARC LEISHMAN: My first Presidents Cup, no, my first Presidents Cup golf bag I got the whole team to sign it and he's on that. So he's coming to play a charity day this year in May, which is a pretty big buzz for me, for to have him there, so. Q. What time does the U.S. Open come on down there? MARC LEISHMAN: Oh, it's early, really early. I was probably up at 4 o'clock. I mean 4 o'clock would be what? Q. Did you go out and play that day? MARC LEISHMAN: Well when the U.S. Open was in California, I used to get to go to school late Monday morning, so it was always annoying when it was on the East Coast, because I had to go to school on time. (Laughter.) EMILY TILLO: Marc, thank you, we appreciate it. Play well this week. MARC LEISHMAN: No worries. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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