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MASTERS TOURNAMENTApril 6, 2018Marc LeishmanAugusta, Georgia MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to welcome Marc Leishman to the media room. Marc shot 67 today in challenging conditions. It was a great round. Congratulations. He came hot out of the blocks with three birdies‑‑1, 2 and 3. But the shot of the day, his second on 15, particularly given the double bogey that we had on Thursday. Marc, can you talk us through what was going through your mind after you teed off and you were looking at the potential for that second shot on 15? MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, well, I started off well with three birdies. On a day like today, when it's going to be tough, you sort of know you're going to have to take your chances when you get them, it just happened that I had them on the first three holes. That was great. And where I hit my drive on 15 was not ideal. But I practice that shot every week, curving it big both right‑to‑left and left‑to‑right, and it was one of those opportunities where it fit the shot and I thought it was a good time to give it a go. Did it, and it came off. I will say, I wasn't aiming quite as far left as where the ball went, but, you know, when you get a break like that and hit a good shot, you want to take advantage of it, and I did that by making the putt. It was nice to walk away from that hole with a 3 and be even on it for the week. MODERATOR: Fantastic. Q. What was your yardage and club there, and could you describe how you pulled that shot off in terms of technique? MARC LEISHMAN: I think I had‑‑ well, it was 191 meters front I think, which is 210 yards. But with the way I hooded the club over to hook it that much, it turned it into like a 3‑ or 4‑iron. I hooded the club a lot and just swung into‑out, and the ball comes out like that. I don't really think about it too much. I just see a shot and swing it the way I‑‑ you know. Q. What club was that? MARC LEISHMAN: That was a 5‑iron. Q. Not to bring up a negative, but when you birdied those first three and hit the lead, did you think of 2014 at all, given the conditions? MARC LEISHMAN: Yes. Q. And how did you change the fact that that year you had lost ten shots in 12 holes and this year you're sitting in the final group? MARC LEISHMAN: That year, I think I bogeyed 4 and possibly 5. And then I started pushing to try and get them back. You can't do that around here, especially when the greens are as quick as they are. They tuck a few pins, or they tucked a few pins today. A few of the pins were in exactly the same spot they were that day, as well. You can never switch off here, and I think I switched off a little bit that day, unfortunately, but learned a lot from it, which is probably more importantly. Yeah, worked hard today. It was a fairly stress‑free round. You know, a few couple of good up‑and‑downs, but for the most part it was hitting into good spots and leaving myself reasonably easy putts. You know, they are the sort of rounds you want to have here and in majors because you need your energy at the end of the week. Q. Playing with Tiger is stressful, having the lead or being around the lead is stressful, but you seemed quite relaxed out there. How did you pull that off? MARC LEISHMAN: I don't know. I'm always pretty relaxed I think (smiling). You know, I've obviously been through a lot off the course, and I feel like that helps me on the course, just with‑‑ you know, this is one of the biggest tournaments in the world, if not the biggest. One that, you know, I probably want to win the most, along with the other three majors. At the end of the day, it's a game of golf, and that's how I try and look at it, just as a game of golf. If I'm having fun out there, trying to‑‑ you know, enjoying it, I feel like that's how I'm going to play my best. And if I'm stressing about what might happen or what might not happen, I mean, I feel like that's not going to help me. So I just try and enjoy myself, play some fun shots like I did on 15. And doing that stuff is fun for me. You know, I'm a professional golfer, obviously, but I still like trying stuff out, and, you know, especially when it comes off. So, yeah, that's probably the best way I can put it. Q. To follow on that, you played these first two rounds in a group where the atmosphere called to mind many weekends at majors in terms of the electricity and just the breadth of the galleries. How much more momentum does that give you having done what you did in front of those crowds the first two rounds, and does that‑‑ is that advantageous to you for the weekend, going into the weekend? MARC LEISHMAN: It certainly can't hurt. When I saw I was paired with Tiger, I really did look at it as a positive. We get along really well. If you are going to win this tournament, you're going to play in front of some really big crowds and you're going to have a lot of energy around your group, whether it's in the crowd or inside the ropes. I really looked at it as preparation for that later in the week, so it's ‑‑ I enjoy playing with him, I like playing in front of big crowds, and on the biggest stage, as well. Again, this is why, as a golfer, we do all our practice to be prepared for that. And I feel like I was prepared for it, and I'm glad I played well to show it. Q. Curious to know what you think of Patrick's game. He's developed a lot in the last few months, and have you had much to do with him in terms of playing in the past? MARC LEISHMAN: I've played a little bit with him. We've got the same trainer. He's a great player. He's won quite a few times. He's very good under the pump. You know, I expect him to keep doing what he's doing. Hopefully I can keep doing what I've been doing and give him a good run for his money. Q. Describe your swing in a few sentences. And when you're swinging well, do you feel like you're not going to get into much trouble most of the time? MARC LEISHMAN: Describe my swing? Q. Yeah. MARC LEISHMAN: Relaxed, I guess. I mean, I don't think about it that much. When I'm playing my best golf, like I said before, all I'm seeing is the shot, and then I swing to hit that shot. I don't really think about anything during my swing. Yeah, I would say it's pretty relaxed. Flowing, I guess. I don't know. It's hard to describe myself, I guess. But I think it's reasonably similar to my personality. Pretty relaxed and easygoing. Q. And do you feel like it doesn't get you into too much trouble? MARC LEISHMAN: It can certainly get me into trouble (laughter). It's been into trouble before. But when things are going well, it's nice to see the ball come out how‑‑ see the ball come out how I want it to. This week it has been so far. I'd like to hit a few more fairways, but the ones I've been missing, I've been missing in the right spot. So, yeah, hopefully I can keep doing what I've been doing and try and prove you're right. Q. Going back to the swing on 15, there are obviously other options, and given what happened there the day before, how seriously did you consider the other options, or, because as you said, you practiced that shot and you knew you had that shot and you knew you could play it? MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, I knew I could play the shot. There's a lot of trouble up there. If you lay up there, it's a really, really hard wedge shot, especially with the left pin. It's not very deep, that green. Short goes into the water and long you can chip it into the water. I was trying to get that to the right side of the green. It came out and it‑‑ because the wind was off the left, so I was hooking it against the wind, and whether it dropped a little bit or I hooked it a bit more, I'm not sure. You know, obviously ended up in a pretty good spot and, yes, I considered other options, but to win this tournament, you're going to have to take a chance at some point, and I felt like that was one where the reward was worth the risk because that's such a hard wedge shot, and it's probably hard to make par from that wedge shot, hitting off a downslope on to a narrow green. So I thought if I could get it up there somewhere and possibly 2‑putt for birdie, that would be a good outcome and it was a better outcome than that. Q. A couple of the best scores, in fact, the two top guys there, came late, late in the afternoon. When you started, the wind seemed to be pretty strong. Would you have thought that that would necessarily happen with you two guys up there, given the conditions, and how good is Patrick's round of 66 given those conditions? MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, it's a great score. The greens were getting really quick, quite firm. You know, and the wind was up and we were playing the tough holes down Amen Corner. Early in the day, I was looking at a few of the scores and what guys were shooting, and they were struggling. You know, maybe it did drop a little bit later this afternoon, the wind, so maybe that had something to do with it. You know, I saw the guys yesterday afternoon playing in very little wind, so that was mind of motivation for me, as well, this afternoon, to try and kind of get something going and shoot a good score in the afternoon, because that's when a lot of the good scores came yesterday. So I thought, you know, someone's going to shoot a good score. Why not me? Q. Your body language suggests that you're just comfortable and playing within yourself. Is this the most relaxed you've ever been at a major? And if it's not, what is? MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, this would be one of the most relaxed. I was probably more relaxed at the British Open in‑‑ was that in 2015? That was, I mean, so close to Audrey being sickthat it was‑‑ I mean, I didn't care about golf at that point. I was just happy to have a wife and all that. I was probably more relaxed there. You know, this is a bit removed from that, and I just feel comfortable around here. I've had good scores around here. I've had bad scores around here. But, you know, it's nice when you're playing good golf and you can avoid a lot of those bad spots. I feel like that makes it easier to be relaxed. Q. As positive as it is, have you grown at all tired over the years for being most remembered at the one tournament you'd like to win more than any other for your act of‑‑ your gesture of sportsmanship when Adam won? MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, not really. I was happy for him. It was funny, Martin Kaymer actually came up to me yesterday, and he's like, "Leish, did you have a chance to win on the 18th the year Scotty won?" And I'm like, "No, I wouldn't have been fist pumping if I did. I'm not that good a bloke." Yeah, at least it's something good I'm remembered by. Hopefully I can change that this week and be remembered for this tournament. But, you know, if it's not, I'm happy to be remembered for something positive. So, you know, like I always say, it's so much easier to be a good person than it is to be a bad one. Q. What did Martin say when you gave that reply? MARC LEISHMAN: He just laughed. I think he legitimately thought I might have either just missed a putt or‑‑ I mean, I wouldn't think he would‑‑ would have thought I had a putt to win after he made that or tied. But yeah, there was not much said after that (laughs). Q. Just on that, you said on TV to Scott Van Pelt that you learned something important that day, and it was how to win. Can you just expand on that? MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, I played with Scotty that day when he won. I saw firsthand what it takes to win around here, and, you know, that day, I think I played well enough to win that day, and I feel like I hit the right shots to win. I just didn't take my opportunities when I got them. Whether it was not making a putt on 14 or, you know, hitting a shot into the water on 15. It just takes‑‑ like I said before, you have to take a chance and have it come off, and you know, grab the bull by the horns rather than‑‑ it's not going to come to you. You have to go out and win it. That's how I've always played. I try and win tournaments. I don't try and‑‑ like that shot on 15 today, I'm not one to lay up if there's a chance I can get there. I saw it firsthand, know what it takes. I feel like I learned a lot that day and hopefully it will put me in good stead for this week and can be sitting here Sunday night. But if not, I'll give it my best shot. THE MODERATOR: Brilliant. Thanks, Marc, congratulations and great round today. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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