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THE PRESIDENTS CUP

September 23, 2005

Chris DiMarco

Justin Leonard

GAINESVILLE, VIRGINIA

TODD BUDNICK: We have Justin Leonard and Chris DiMarco to the win from two of the winning U.S. Team today. Chris, a great halve on your part and Phil's, down two with four holes to play and you come back with halves, an opening comment.

CHRIS DiMARCO: Yeah, it was, any time you're 2 down to the two guys we played with 4 to play, you'll take a halve. We were fortunate to birdie 15 and 17 and get a halve out it. It's almost like a win.

TODD BUDNICK: You guys were down most of the front nine and squared it up at No. 9 and then took the lead at 12 and held on to win.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, neither Scott or I played great today. You know, if one of us is out of the hole the other one seemed to hit a good shot.

Scott made a lot of great putts today and, we, too, feel pretty fortunate to have won the match.

Q. Justin, when you and Scott came out here to play a few practice rounds, did that help, do you think, what you guys have done the first two days?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, we played so much golf together, I don't think it really helped getting to know each other's games. I think, sure, I mean, for us, getting to know the golf course a little bit better, the first part of a week like Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup can be pretty busy. You're excited to be here, and I think because we were here, nobody else was here, and we were able to really focus in on the golf course.

Yeah, I'd like to think that it's helped us out.

Q. Chris, Jack said yesterday that you and Phil asked to go off first. Can you talk about that and how you wanted to set the early momentum for the team?

CHRIS DiMARCO: We knew we were a point back and we knew if we could go out and win our match that we would be even, so that's all there was to it. I don't think any of the other five teams, they would have thought the same thing.

So, you know, we're pretty fast, too. Our group, I think we played, I think we finished three holes before the other group behind us. We just felt good, we just felt like we wanted to go out and keep the momentum going. Again, it was a hard fought halve out there and it was nice to get that.

Q. For both of you guys, could you sense after the rain delay there was like a 30 minute period, maybe shorter, 20 minutes where every putt the U.S. stood over was going in, did you hear that?

CHRIS DiMARCO: There was a certain sense of momentum going when the rain came. And it was definitely in our favor, and that's always hard to stop. Because that's one of those things that can carry over and go right in. We were fortunate to get three points out of today just like them and only stay one point back.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I think right before the rain delay, we got some momentum going. I know Davis and Kenny were 5 down, I think they got it back to 3 down. I know we won a couple of holes right before the rain delay.

You know, it was nice to have that momentum and then keep it going once they brought us back out.

Q. More or less what I was going to ask, how much do you sense momentum, because I guess you're looking at score boards or trying to hear other crowds and other galleries cheering, how much do you sense that there is momentum when you're out there playing your round?

JUSTIN LEONARD: For me, I try and keep an eye on it. I don't think, you know, my play or any of our play is dictated by what's going on in another match.

Now, I know in '99 in the singles at the Ryder Cup, we did kind of feed off each other. But you know, maybe it's because there were 12 matches on the course and, you know, with just six matches, I think you've just got to do everything you can and get your point or half point and then cheer everybody else on.

Q. Kind of along those same lines, when you had an hour and a half delay and the crowd has really got nothing to do but go to the concession stand, did you notice any change in the noise?

CHRIS DiMARCO: I'm just glad that they were cheering for us, that's good. I mean, I'm glad it's in America when they get like that.

You know that they are just it's contagious out there. It is, I think, when you're hearing cheers, you can hear certain ones for the U.S. and certain ones were not. When you do that, it definitely is contagious. It definitely pumps you up if you're down, or if you're up and want to put the match away.

Q. Chris, you had like a personal swing in momentum from 14 to 15, you had that power lipout on 14 and then you're in the bunker on 15, just talk about what's in your mind standing over that bunker shot, hitting it so close in?

CHRIS DiMARCO: The putt on 14, I hit a really good shot in there about eight feet right of the hole and hit a really good putt that spun out ask came right back out at me. I felt like that was a really good chance for us to get only 1 down with four to go and then come right back and hit a bunker shot in there with a gimmee to win the hole and to go down with three to play was really big and certainly gave us some momentum going to the last three holes.

Q. Chris, you played really well last year at the Ryder Cup and then again this year, obviously, you've played really well, 15 and 17, is that sort of typical of your performances in these things; what is it about this format that revs you up?

CHRIS DiMARCO: I love the team part of it. We only get to do it once a year. It is so awesome to be part of these 12 guys, these 12 Americans, just to be part of it. It just pumps me up, I don't know. It's just awesome. It's great to know that you have 11 great players and then, you know, great friends, too.

It makes you want to go out and play.

Q. For both guys, during the rain delay, Tiger and Furyk, I'm assuming, were being treated for their back problems. Were you guys aware of that, and did that happen in the team room or the house or in the physio trailer; do you know?

JUSTIN LEONARD: I thought Tiger was playing ping pong.

CHRIS DiMARCO: He was playing ping pong.

Q. That was Vijay.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I never saw him during the rain delay. I think it was a question whether Jim was going to play today and you always have to be aware of that wounded dog, and when you have two of them, I guess you've really got to be aware. That's a Texas thing. (Laughter) Just ask Bill what that means.

Q. Can you talk about your opponents today, Gary Player talked about them as being one of his two best teams yesterday, considering how really little you see them, did you and Phil, were you maybe a little surprised at how well they were playing?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Michael Campbell just won The Match Play last week and I think he beat Cabrera made it to the semis. Both of them are really good drivers of the golf ball. Angel is extremely long. You know, we knew we had a tough match today. You know, like I said, to get a halve against those guys, because they are both playing very, very good golf right now, was a plus.

Q. With the way that things have gone the first two days, are you getting the sense that this is going to go down to the last matches on Sunday?

CHRIS DiMARCO: I hope so. I think that's what we are all looking for. I think we all want that drama at the end and I would love it to end up kind of like it did last year with the winner. I think that's what we're looking for.

Q. Both of you guys are in partnerships that you really enjoy; how important has that been for you guys these last two days and do you think that will carry through for the weekend?

JUSTIN LEONARD: I know Chris and I played together two matches two years ago. You know, it's pretty hard to go wrong. We've got a bunch of great guys and we're all really close, closer than you could imagine. There's not really bad combinations. I think that obviously Chris and Phil are playing great this week. They are feeding off each other well. And Scotty and I are doing the same thing. Not to say that if the pairings were switched around that it may not be the same way.

But, you know, I think we are all pretty comfortable playing with each other and I mean, you know, you're talking about Chris and Phil, two of the best players in the world, it's hard not to get excited about them teaming up together.

Q. Justin, could you tell us about your earliest recollections of Scott, did you guys play against each other as junior players or college?

JUSTIN LEONARD: No. We were always just too far apart. I guess when Scott was in college and winning the U.S. Amateur, of course when he won the Western Open as an amateur I certainly it certainly caught my attention, as well as everybody else's. Really it wasn't until I got out on TOUR and we started playing some practice rounds together ten years ago that we started a friendship that's been very special to both of us.

TODD BUDNICK: Thank you.

End of FastScripts.

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