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FBR OPENFebruary 2, 2008Justin LeonardSCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA Q. Talk about your round today, how you hit it. JUSTIN LEONARD: I played really solid. I could have made a few more putts, but nice finish, shooting 4-under on the back side. It felt good. Q. Did you have some fun on 16 today? JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, yeah. You know, those people out there, you've just got to embrace them and they'll embrace you back, otherwise it makes for a long hole. Q. Possible rain tomorrow. Are you going to make any changes or anything? JUSTIN LEONARD: Put an umbrella in the bag and that will be about it, yeah. No real changes. Q. This is setting up nice, a little déjà-vu, the last time the Super Bowl was here, in contention on Super Bowl Sunday here. Talk about that and what was on your mind the last time back in '96 as we go forward here? JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, it's nice to be back in contention here. It is Super Bowl Sunday, would love for the outcome to be a little different than last time. Just glad I played a good round to give myself a chance. Q. You've been in the Top 30 the last nine events and you've had a great start this year. What's been the key to that? JUSTIN LEONARD: I think all the work that I put in last year. After struggling early in the year, I made a few changes and really worked hard at making those changes become more natural. And really, last summer, it was just a matter of me getting my confidence back in my game and in myself. I was able to do that with some solid play and carry it into the fall and on into this year. Q. Is this as confident as you've ever been on TOUR? JUSTIN LEONARD: I'm very comfortable with what I'm doing. I wake up, and I feel like I'm going to go out and shoot a good score. Those are two nice feelings to have. Q. What do you remember about '96 and the playoff? What's your biggest memory from that last hour of play, so to speak? JUSTIN LEONARD: I remember birdieing 18, the first playoff hole, and Phil birdied, as well. And then he made a great, I don't know, 20-footer or something for par on 10. I mean, I pretty much remember every shot. The atmosphere out here, like it is pretty much every day, was pretty electric, and to be playing against Phil like that in the last group and then in a playoff was a great experience. Q. How long did it take you to get over that, because there was some nasty stuff said during the playoff? JUSTIN LEONARD: Probably by the next day. It wasn't that tough. Q. Do you remember mentioning that this must be what it's like playing on foreign soil for the Ryder Cup? JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, but maybe worse. Ryder Cup there's only 25,000 people a day. Here there was 140,000 or something that day. Q. Speaking of the Ryder Cup, is that one of your big goals for this year? JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, I'm not thinking about it too much. I'm just trying to get myself ready to play each week, and the fact that I've got myself in position to make it, it probably helps me the way the points -- Azinger changed the points system so that it's weighted more this year, and that plays in my favor. If I keep playing well, then I've got a great chance to make the team. Q. (Inaudible.) JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, it was one of those kind of subconscious thoughts of throw the ball and then I didn't let go of it, so I had to show them that I had some kind of arm so I took another ball out. Q. And threw it over the top? JUSTIN LEONARD: I didn't throw it over the top, but I put a pretty good one on. Q. Because it looked like somebody threw a ball over the top of the stands there. JUSTIN LEONARD: Nick Watney. He might have thrown it on 10 green, I don't know. Q. What is it about this golf course, why you play well here? JUSTIN LEONARD: I think this is a golf course where you can shape the ball. You can work it into certain parts of the green. The greens are fairly small, so if you miss fairways it's sometimes difficult to hit the greens. So for me playing from the fairway most of the time, it gives me maybe a little bit of an edge there. Q. What's your schedule like the next couple months? Are you going to be down in Tucson at the Match Play? JUSTIN LEONARD: I'm playing next week at Pebble, then taking the next week off, and then I'm going to play Tucson and Honda and Tampa. Q. What would it mean for you tomorrow if you would win the tournament, considering 11 years ago all the stuff that happened? JUSTIN LEONARD: It would mean a lot, regardless of 11 years ago. Any win means a great deal. You know, this one with the energy that there is here and the way that these crowds embrace you, it would be special. Q. It's possible you may be paired with Phil again tomorrow. You've got right around the same number. Would you embrace that? JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, I would. That would be fun, all the energy that he has and with these crowds, it would be a lot of fun. Q. Do you have a target number you think you need to shoot? JUSTIN LEONARD: No, I'm just going to go try and shoot the best score I can and see if it's enough. End of FastScripts |
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