LIV GOLF TUCSON

March 18, 2023

Marc Leishman

Louis Oosthuizen

The Gallery Golf Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everybody. We've got the leader of the clubhouse after day 2, Marc Leishman, Ripper GC, shot a 5-under 66, currently at 11 under.

And Louis Oosthuizen from Stinger, currently tied for second, shot a 3-under 68 at minus 8.

Marc, start it off with you. You finished yesterday top of the leaderboard. We're two rounds in, and you're in the same spot. How do you feel?

MARC LEISHMAN: Feeling good. I guess the three round tournaments are a little different, a bit more of a sprint, and I guess more important to get off to a good start.

Today was nice to start the round the way I did. Cooled off a little bit on the back nine, but I feel like those birdie putts -- well, the par putts and the birdie on 17 are almost as sweet as the birdies early just to kind of keep momentum.

Q. Louis, for you, you obviously finished yesterday's round as hot as ever. Today looking back on this round, how do you feel things went?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: I kept it going a little bit in the beginning, but yeah also just the back nine really, I think sort of in the group, we didn't really play, didn't really make anything, that many birdies on the back nine.

Yeah, started nicely, and just need a better back nine tomorrow.

Q. And from the team component, both the teams are right there near the top in contention. Marc, I think Ripper GC right now in third, but how are you feeling from the team leaderboard standpoint?

MARC LEISHMAN: It's a really cool aspect of this Tour. I think, whether you're playing really well or not so great the first two days, there's so much to play for both individually and in the team side of it.

Yeah, obviously we haven't had a podium at a regular event. We were on the podium last year in Miami, but I think that's a big goal of all the Ripper lads is to get onto the podium and spray some champagne. Hopefully the top of the podium, but just to be on it would be a pretty good start.

Q. Louis, the Stinger obviously have had a fair amount of team success, especially early last year. Coming off today, what do you talk about with your teammates? Is there any extra game planning, or do things shift heading into the final day as opposed to entering days one and two?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: No, I don't think there's anything that's going to change. Nothing I will tell the boys will get them more motivated. They're pretty motivated to do well.

We've seen over the past ten events how quickly leaderboards can change out on the golf course with a team. Five, six behind is not a lot from the team aspect. You need three guys to play really well, and hopefully we can put three good rounds together tomorrow.

Q. Marc, when was the last time you slept on a lead going into the final round?

MARC LEISHMAN: Oh, geez, good question. I'm not sure if we were leading in New Orleans or you guys were leading. Possibly New Orleans '21. I know I slept on the lead all week at the BMW in 2017.

Yeah, there's been a few here and there, but it's been a year or two.

Q. Do you like being a front-runner, or do you feel a little bit more aggressive coming back?

MARC LEISHMAN: I mean, both. Obviously you play early in the tournament to try to put yourself into a good position, and I've played well enough to do my first part of the job, but there's probably more than half the work to do tomorrow.

There's a lot of great players that are just behind me. It's a golf course where you can make a lot of birdies, and if you're a little bit off, you can make a lot of others. So you can lose a lead quickly, or you can extend it.

So I just need to do my job, hopefully do as good as I can, and see where we end up at the end of the day. But I do, I enjoy the feeling of sleeping on a lead. Like I said, that's why we play to get ourself into that position.

Q. One more question for you on your start. Obviously you can't ask for a better start. Can you just talk about that first nine-hole stretch and what was going on there?

MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, it was really nice to start off that way. I hit really two great shots into the 1st. Me and Louis both did, both hit it off the back of the green. But to chip in on the 1st hole is always a nice feeling. Then make a couple of nice putts after that and keep momentum going.

It would be nice to get off to a start something like that tomorrow. Certainly not expecting the same sort of thing, but I know it's able to be done.

Q. Louis, the chase pack is three shots back. Do you see this course as being one that you can be aggressive and chase down people, or is it too penal?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: It's both. Like you said, you can get off a flier with 1st hole being a par-5. If I'm in the last group, you can start off like Leish did today with an eagle, and you can get going.

But it's a golf course where you can quickly, if you're a little bit too aggressive, you can lose shots quickly. So it's definitely one where you can make a lot of birdies. So I'll expect the top of the leaderboard up there to really be a bunch of birdies on the scoreboard.

Q. I think you hit driver off the deck. Is that right?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: 17? That was the only way I could get there (laughter).

Q. So no hesitation?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: No. I did it actually in the practice round, and I hit it to 20 foot. So I was very positive, and I just pulled it a little bit.

Yeah, saw the number was two yards different through the practice round, and I'm like I'm going again.

MARC LEISHMAN: That driver came out of the bag real quickly, didn't it?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: It did.

Q. You touched on this a little bit yesterday, and they mentioned it in the broadcast today, just about your elbow. Can you kind of just talk us through for everybody in terms of like how much pain?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: I'm not in any pain. It's something I need to do in the off-season. Hopefully I can get there. You know, it's fine now, and I'm managing it well. It's good. It's been really good.

Q. Louis, you had considerably your best round of the weekend today. Given that Marc has a three-shot lead, do you think -- first off, what's your mindset going into tomorrow? Do you think you'll play more aggressive, given the course is already tough enough, trying to get to that first spot tied with Marc?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: No, I won't play any different than what I've really been playing. I feel like I'm rolling it good enough to just give myself birdie opportunities. I'm seeing the lines pretty good on the greens. So not really going to be more aggressive.

I think all of us look to the last four or five holes, if you're right up there and you need to make an aggressive swing at a certain shot, then you will do it. Other than that, nothing will change from what I've been doing so far.

Q. Also, Marc, I know Australia has some of the most poisonous snakes in the world. What was going through your mind when you saw that rattler? All of the fans were chanting for you to jump over it.

MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, I was the first to go through actually. It was a big fella, five, six-footer. He'd been having a feed on something. He was pretty healthy. Yeah, I made sure I was out of reach when he went through. I've seen my fair share of snakes, though, in Australia.

Q. Great rounds today. My question is for Marc. Marc, this is a stacked field. You're standing next to a major champion. There's 11 others out here. Martin's on the bench with an injury, but that's 13 major champions accounting for 24 major wins. What does it feel like to be in that depth of field and see your name at the top for the last two days? Can you describe it?

MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, I guess it feels pretty good at the moment. I'd like to be standing here talking about that tomorrow. It doesn't really matter where I stand at the moment.

No, it's a great field. We've got a lot of great players that play every week, and to win tournaments, you have to put three really good rounds together. We've got work to do tomorrow. Obviously I started off the way I wanted to, but yeah, going to have all those guys chasing my tail tomorrow, hopefully for the whole day.

Like I said, I've just got to do what I can do and not worry about who's behind me.

Q. That's a great way to start, with a chip-in for eagle. What did it feel like standing on the 2nd tee with that big lead like all of a sudden right out of the gate?

MARC LEISHMAN: You don't really think about it, to be honest. I've got to do some quick math here, 35 holes to go after that.

Yeah, it's a volatile golf course. You can make a lot of birdies, a lot of others if you have the lead that early in the tournament. Just concentrate on your job.

Q. This is for both of you. We had a soldout crowd today. You both have been in a lot of different tournaments. How did this stack up in terms of atmosphere and support?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: It was good. Hat's off to the people walking around here. I said yesterday, I don't want to be someone walking around this golf course. It's a beast to walk.

Yeah, it was good. There was a great vibe on 16, on 14, on 18. It's great to see everyone out here.

MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, it's amazing. With the Birdie Shack there on 16, the atmosphere is great around the entire course. The guys that do walk down to that 8th green, 7th green, they've got chants and dedication. It's good the atmosphere is the way it is.

Q. And how does it stack up with anywhere else you've played, in terms of just crowd size?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: It's as good as any event we've played really. Like he's saying, the 16, the Birdie Shack was brilliant, and the vibe was good. That's what you want to see. You want to see the fans come out here and have a good time. Hopefully it encourages us to make a few more birdies.

MARC LEISHMAN: I think it was a sold out crowd, so you can't ask more than that.