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ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL PRESENTED BY MASTERCARD

March 7, 2020

Marc Leishman

Orlando, Florida

Q. Nicely done out there. Even par 72 on a day when there's only one score under par. How tough was it out there?
MARC LEISHMAN: It was really tough. I actually added my score up, my scorecard up in the scorer's hut there and kind of did a double-take. I added up to 72 and it felt like I shot a 65, not a 72. So, yeah, it was really tough. The greens were firm, fast. It was exactly how you wanted the golf course to play, really. Par was a great score and hopefully I can play like that again tomorrow.

Q. What was the biggest challenge out there for you today?
MARC LEISHMAN: I don't know if -- everything was hard. There was no one thing I can pick out. Driving was tough because of the wind and you know how brutal the rough is. But, yeah, I mean everything was just hard. There was no easy part about today at all.

Q. Having won here before you got to feel really good about your position heading into Sunday.
MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, I feel good. Sounds like I'm going to be at least one back there, with the roar on 18. I'm assuming that was a par from Rory. So, yeah, I feel good. Still a lot of work to do. A lot can happen in 18 holes here at Bay Hill. So, yeah, just need to play good, hopefully I can get the run of the day and see where we end up.

Q. Tough day out there condition-wise. If we can get some comments on that and your round.
MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, it was a really tough day. I just added my score up in there and I had to do a double-take on the card. It added up to 72 and it felt like a whole lot better than that. So, yeah, it was a, there was no, nothing easy about today, as a lot of the scores proved. So it felt like I shot 5- or 6-under and was even par was probably a good one to that, today.

Q. You've played a lot of really good rounds here. As far as the degree of difficulty, how does that one rank?
MARC LEISHMAN: That's probably as hard as I've seen it, really. Thursday afternoon was hard, but the greens were quicker today. I remember there was a Sunday about probably five or six years ago that was the same as today. I shot 77 that day and learned a lot. So, yeah, I mean, today's is probably as hard as I've seen this place play, which I enjoy. I like how when you have to play really well to shoot par and that was certainly the case today.

Q. What was the hardest shot you faced today?
MARC LEISHMAN: I mean, there's a lot of tough shots out there. I find the tee shot on 4 and the tee shot on 18 both pretty tough. Where else? I mean, yeah, that would be the two, I would say.

Q. What makes it so hard for you?
MARC LEISHMAN: I don't know with 18. 4, the trouble's right and I generally miss my driver right if I hit a bad shot. So that explains that. 18, I don't know what it is about 18. So I was happy to get a good one away there, got a good image for tomorrow and hopefully I can that again tomorrow.

Q. How much will you draw on the fact that you came from behind to win so recently?
MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, I don't know how many back I'll be at the end of the day, but it's nice when you can pull from your memory bank, I guess, coming from behind. And I'll be behind going into tomorrow, but a lot can happen on this golf course, the same as Torrey Pines. So just got to hang in there, really, around this place. Today shows what can happen and it happened to me a few years ago on a Sunday, so I just got to try and learn, draw from that and hopefully put it to good use.

Q. Do you expect it will play the same tomorrow?
MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, but there's no signs that it's going to rain or anything, so I wouldn't think that they would put too much water on it. I think it's how it should play. I love how tough it is. You have to think about where you're hitting your shots and where you want to miss them, especially when they're this firm, so -- and this fast. That putt on 18 was a very makeable putt, but it was also a good chance if I gave it a run I would put it 8 feet past. I lagged it and it still went 3 feet pass. So it's good. You just got to think about where you're missing it and try and minimize the big numbers.

Q. Do you feel like you're becoming a crowd favorite here? I mean, I've walked with you out there and you've got a warmer reception on most holes than Patrick did?
MARC LEISHMAN: A little bit, yeah. When you go to places where you've won you'll feel like you're a little bit more of a crowd favorite. But here, definitely. I love it here. I've played well here in the past and it's nice when you can sort of draw off the people as well. If you have a couple of bogeys or a few rough holes, and you can try and do that, it's definitely helpful.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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