LIV GOLF TUCSON

March 17, 2023

Marc Leishman

The Gallery Golf Club

Ripper GC

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome Marc Leishman from Ripper GC. You are the solo leader in the clubhouse at 6-under. Tell us a little bit about your round.

MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, it was a nice day. Always good to get the tournament started off on a positive note like that. Played pretty well. The putter was the highlight of the day, I would say. Putted really well and read the greens well, which is important on a course like this.

Yeah, it was great to be out there in weather like this in front of a good crowd.

Q. I heard you guys had a team pickleball match. Did that have anything to do with your performance today?

MARC LEISHMAN: I passed on that one. Too much running for me in pickleball. No, but yeah, the boys did have a game yesterday, and I just went back to the hotel and chilled for a bit while the boys slugged it out.

Q. Tell us a little bit about the team dynamic with Ripper GC. Are you guys hanging out together, having dinners together, having breakfasts together? What's the vibe?

MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, all of the above. We're all really good mates. It's one of the things that I've enjoyed most about LIV so far apart from the golf, obviously. But all the camaraderie off the course and having guys that you want to play well on top of you, obviously. Having those dinners and the breakfasts like you talk about and just having basically someone built in to chill with.

It's been really fun, and yeah, we've hit it off quite nicely, the four of us.

Q. How were the crowds today? We were near sold out. Did you feel a good vibe out there?

MARC LEISHMAN: The crowds are great, yeah. I actually holed a nice putt on 16 in front of the Birdie Shack, so that was nice to make a birdie in front of there and get a nice cheer. Yeah, crowds were great. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, and I'm sure they'll be big on the weekend again.

Q. Are you a big fan of desert golf?

MARC LEISHMAN: I enjoy playing it. I'm generally not -- it's not my forte, I would say. I'm looking to change that this week.

Q. I'm sure you've heard, tomorrow is sold out and Sunday is closing in to be a sellout. I want to ask you, how much does it mean to you that the Adelaide event has already sold over 65,000 tickets and there's no more tickets. How much does that mean to you going back to Australia with golf finally there for the fans that they deserve?

MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, it's amazing. I know when I was home over Christmas, the buzz -- I live a six-hour drive from Adelaide, and the buzz about the event was crazy already. I think they've released more tickets since then and they sold. I'm really excited that we can get down there, play in front of home crowds.

I haven't been home during the year, apart from Christmas, for 16 years, so it'll be nice to be able to play in front of home crowds in Adelaide, which is a really cool city. They love their sport. Certainly excited to get down there and just showcase what we've got with LIV.

Q. In terms of wildlife, what's scarier, hitting your ball OB here in Tucson or walking down the street in Australia?

MARC LEISHMAN: Both are pretty scary. I don't know, do you call cactus wildlife? It hurts when it runs into your legs. I've heard there's a couple of rattlesnakes out here. I mean, I would say this is scarier because you're not going to make a double or triple bogey going down the street in Australia.

But no, there is obviously plenty of poisonous animals in Australia, and yeah, the cactus here are actually quite scary.

Q. I wanted to ask you about coming off the Mayakoba, you had a couple of rounds early, the first two rounds you played pretty well. Did you find something there, and did you feel like you had this in you today?

MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, I really enjoyed having an off-season, to be honest. It was nice to be away from the game for a little bit, but then also get back out and want to play golf socially and I was really enjoying that. I actually played quite a lot of golf during the off-season. Doing that I think helped me at Mayakoba. I didn't finish the final round the way I really wanted to, but yeah, I'm enjoying my golf a lot at the moment, and it's hard not to when you're playing in conditions like this on a great golf course.

I wouldn't say I found anything in particular with my swing. I'm just, I guess, playing with no consequences over the off-season kind of gave me a little bit of confidence with some of the shots that I hit and how they turned out.

Q. Were you also able to focus on your fitness a little bit more than you might have in the past?

MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, a little bit, actually. Actually set foot into a gym, which was -- I actually started enjoying it. We'll hopefully continue that. It gives you a bit of time between tournaments obviously playing a little bit less out here than I have in the past, and I'm certainly finding ways to fill in the time on the off weeks, and I'm finding it really -- I'm very motivated to improve everything that I'm doing.

Q. I'm noticing your green shirt. It's St. Paddy's Day. Was that deliberate on the team's part?

MARC LEISHMAN: It was, actually, yeah. I've got quite a few Irish friends, and I feel like it's a good reason to wear some green.

I think we were meant to wear it -- the plan was to wear it Saturday, and then obviously we knew it was St. Patrick's day today, so thought we'd change it up and wear it today.

Q. Is there any big plans for Ripper tonight? Are you guys going to have a few cocktails to honor St. Patrick's Day today?

MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, the boys were talking about maybe having a Guinness or two. We won't go crazy, but we like to enjoy ourselves, have a dinner together and maybe a drink or two. I would think Guinness would be in the cards certainly for me tonight.