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BOB HOPE CHRYSLER CLASSIC

January 19, 2008

Justin Leonard

LA QUINTA, CALIFORNIA

JOHN BUSH: Justin, thank you for joining us in the interview room. Our leader by four shots. Justin, continued your great play today. Just get some comments on your round.
JUSTIN LEONARD: Got off to a little bit of a slow start today, but hit some nice shots. One little miscue at 10, and after that played pretty well. So very pleased with today.
JOHN BUSH: Questions?

Q. In retrospect when things weren't going well on the first six holes, you made sand saves on 2 and 4, I believe. How important were they in retrospect, and what was the degree of difficulty on number 4, the buried lie?
JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, because it was a little bit on the up slope, I didn't think it was that hard a shot. Ball just came out a lot quicker than I thought it would, and it went about 20 feet past the hole. I got a good read from Doug Martin, one of my amateurs, and could see what the putt did at the end, and nice to make that putt.
Then I hit a couple good putts on the next two holes, neither of them went in. But if I learned anything out here, and especially here at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, you just stay patient and kind of sometimes you just got to wait until your streak comes along.

Q. You kind of opened up a lead a little bit on the back nine with that eagle on 14. Would you talk about the eagle and were you aware of what was going on behind you at that point on the leaderboard?
JUSTIN LEONARD: I wasn't really aware at that time. I hit a good drive and hit a 4-wood that probably landed 20 yards short of the green and bounced and rolled up to about six feet.
Then played the next hole, and I was able to see a leaderboard, and so I saw where I was. But it was nice to make a three. I had a couple putts on par-5s yesterday and wasn't able to make either of those. So nice to get one today.

Q. How far was the second shot?
JUSTIN LEONARD: Oh, it was 247 to the front, something like that.

Q. You mentioned yesterday, and, of course, you were always getting into that psychological part, but you don't regret going from Butch and coming back to Randy. Last year, if you just look at the stats, it's absolutely, I think, remarkable, you don't make a cut the first six tournaments, and you really do nothing until that Buick, and then from the Buick, you played very well to the end of the year. Could you go into that and when did you switch back to Randy?
JUSTIN LEONARD: In March. It was right at the end of the missing six cuts. And although I didn't do anything result-wise from March until the Buick, there was a lot of work going on. It didn't take a whole lot, but like I said yesterday, the last thing to come along was my confidence in my golf game. So then I got a little bit of that back in June and a little bit more in August, playing well at the World Series.
And then World Series, sorry, that's probably the name of it 10 years ago, I'll just say Akron. And then I knew at that time my game was pretty good. And I just got a little more self-belief, and it kind of crept back in.
Then October was a good month.

Q. You mentioned yesterday, obviously you won a Major, you actually won a couple more Majors, and you performed so well in the Ryder Cup. Was there any residual affect or were you really down when you were missing all these cuts, my God, I can't play?
JUSTIN LEONARD: I never got to that exact statement. I got to, why can't I play. But it was challenging. Also, I appreciate that time because it helped shape my character. I became a tougher person because of it.
It deepened my faith. I know that I couldn't have gone through that and come out eight months later the way I did without a lot of great support.
So I'm glad I went through that. I don't want to go through it again. I don't wish that on anybody, because there was some hard Friday nights there for a couple months. But I'm sitting here today trying to win a golf tournament. And I don't know if I would be in this particular position had I not gone through that.

Q. Watching you this week, you've looked almost serene. Is that kind of a function of the confidence or what is that, just because you're striking the ball as well as you are or what?
JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, it's because I don't have a lot of conscious thoughts going on right now with my golf game. Really, it's about making the right decisions. I know I'm not going to hit every shot perfect or the way I want to, but I know I'm going to hit a good number of them that way, not perfect, but the way I want to.
So I feel like I'm chipping and putting the ball well, so that just kind of takes pressure off of things. I look forward to continuing or trying to continue to play like this for awhile.

Q. Did you feel like you got away with a swing on 15? Did you think it might be wet when you hit it and were you surprised where you found it?
JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, kind of hit just a bad 3-wood there off the tee, and I guess fortunate that it didn't go in the water. It looked like it hit up high enough. I would have been very surprised if it would have. But it could have very easily hit one of the trees and gone in. So, yeah, to get up there, and I didn't have a totally clear shot, but I didn't have to really work the ball. I just had to keep it down. And I had a very nice lie, so that was a nice break. Glad to make par there and take advantage of it.

Q. Of the guys on the leaderboard right now, top-10 or so, you're easily the guy with the best winning resume: 11 wins, a Major Championship. Do you take that as an advantage going into tomorrow?
JUSTIN LEONARD: I take the advantage that I've got a four-shot lead. If I was the one at 19, and somebody else was sitting at 23, I would give them the advantage. I think that the challenge for me and the goal for me tomorrow is to continue to play with the same attitude that I've played with the last four days: Hitting the ball close when I can, when I'm comfortable, and I've got a good yardage and club and everything. And there's other times when, you know what, let's just hit it 20 feet and give ourselves a putt at it.
So I think that's my real challenge tomorrow, is just to go out and play with the same confidence and attitude and demeanor that I've played with the last four days.

Q. How much is four shots? Is it any different in this tournament than maybe at another tournament?
JUSTIN LEONARD: Probably so, because you can make a lot of birdies here. But I'm not -- whether it was one shot, two shots, ten shots, I've got to go out there with the same attitude that I've had. Just go play, and try and play well, and see if it's enough.

Q. Anthony said he's become a buddy of yours or admirer of yours. What do you know about him and what do you think about his game?
JUSTIN LEONARD: I know a lot about Anthony, and I love his game. I like the things that he's doing off the golf course. Anthony is a smart kid, but he's a kid. He's 21 years old. He's got an unbelievable future. And I had some guys out here, Davis Love and Tom Kite in particular, who they helped me out a lot my first few years out here. And if I could do that for a guy like Anthony, then -- and he's willing to listen, then I would be more than happy to do it.
So he's a nice kid. I'm not sure, am I going to play with him tomorrow? Okay. Good. So look forward to playing with him and we'll have a nice time out there.

Q. Do you consider him a protege of yours, then?
JUSTIN LEONARD: No. No. He's too good to be a protege of anybody (Laughter.) He's his own protege.
No. But I've just -- I've been out here for awhile, we live in the same city, we have the same manager, and he's a nice young man. And if all that wasn't the case, I would still be there for him if he asked me to. But he's a good kid and he's a heck of a player. But he's nobody's protege.

Q. You talked yesterday about trying to return to the feel with Randy. Is it night and day compared to a year ago as far as your feel and working the ball, and are there some examples out there?
JUSTIN LEONARD: It is. That's nobody's fault but my own. I got too wrapped up into golf swing and trying to make it better and more consistent and all those things. And I think you've seen some guys that have been guilty of that in the past.
But, yeah, with Randy, we have worked a lot on moving the ball around. And I don't have a perfect golf swing, and I don't want one. I want one that I know that I can hit any shot that I need to hit. And I feel like that's the way I'm swinging right now.
So I'm enjoying the game, I enjoy playing that way, and it's -- I don't want to look at video, I just want to go out there and see how it feels and move the ball around when I can.
JOHN BUSH: Let's go through your card. Take care of 10 and 14 already. Start with the birdie on 7.
JUSTIN LEONARD: 7, hit a good 7-iron to about four feet.
9, laid it up in a divot and hit a pretty decent shot to hit it to 20 feet, and I made that.
10, hit a 3-iron. It wasn't necessarily a bad shot; it was just the wrong shot. Got it up in the air and hit it in the water and made a nice up-and-down from about 85 yards for bogey.
11, hit a 5-iron to about three feet.
13, I had 70 yards and hit it to about five feet.
14, I hit a 4-wood about six feet.
18, I had 70 yards again and hit it to a foot.
JOHN BUSH: All right. Play well tomorrow.
JUSTIN LEONARD: Thanks.

Q. Did you have a buried lie on the 4th hole?
JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah. Did I what? I'm sorry?

Q. But, you got it up-and-down. I think you're perfect in sand saves this week.
JUSTIN LEONARD: I know I am (Laughter).
I think I've been in four bunkers this year. I was in. Oh, five? Five? Five. Five for five then. I thought the streak was going to come to an end after I hit that bunker shot.

Q. Were you buried there?
JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah. I was plugged.
JOHN BUSH: All right. Thanks, Justin.
JUSTIN LEONARD: Thank you.

End of FastScripts

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