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STANFORD ST. JUDE CHAMPIONSHIPJune 8, 2008Justin LeonardMEMPHIS, TENNESSEE JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Okay. At this point we'd like too welcome the champion of the 2008 Stanford St. Jude Championship, Justin Leonard. Congratulations on your 12th career PGA Tour Victory. Also moved to No. 3 in the Fed Ex Cup standings between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Pretty good company there. Congratulations. JUSTIN LEONARD: Thank you. Yeah, it's been a great week. When I won here in 2005, I lead everyday and almost let it slip away at the end. David Toms played a great round, and I didn't play as well on Sunday. This week I've kind of been back in the pack a little bit and was able to shoot a really solid round today. Got the lead at I think 15 and wasn't able to birdie 16 and then -- just pushed my tee shot a little bit on 17 where I didn't have a play to the green and made bogey and gave myself a really good putt at 18 in regulation and hit a really good putt. I thought I made the putt and the ball was halfway there, and unfortunately it didn't go in but, you know, was able to hit some good shots in the playoff and make a nice putt there at 11. JOEL SCHUCHMANN: We'll take some questions now. Raise your hand, we'll pass the microphones, please. Q. Congratulations. Obviously this is a huge win for you. Big picture-wise, how much was the Ryder Cup on your mind? I think you were 12th in the standings going in, Azinger talked about "I want winners on my team." JUSTIN LEONARD: I played with Kenny Perry the first two days here. I read his comments last week. I didn't actually see Captain Azinger say it. I heard Kenny repeat it. So those words were with me this week. I didn't think about it a whole lot today because there's so many guys that had a chance. On such a difficult golf course, I just really focused on what I was trying to do. I knew where I was most of the day, but I didn't want to focus too much on winning the golf tournament because I sometimes can get ahead of myself. Just really try to stay in the moment today. I did a good job of that. And, you know, it's very nice to come out on top. And, like you said, this puts me in great position to make the Ryder Cup team, which is something I've been wanting to play. For the last nine years, I've been looking forward to one. Q. Justin, can you talk about just how you feel winning golf tournaments after some of the swing adjustments you've made? Do you feel any better to win, knowing all that you went through especially in '06? JUSTIN LEONARD: Yes and no. I mean, I feel like I've been playing some pretty good golf for the last eight, nine months and -- but like I talked about a little bit last fall, you can't always justify, you know, changes and good play with results. And I think when you can, when you win a golf tournament, you have to really hold on to that feeling and take a lot of satisfaction. Because I know the work that I've put in with Randy Smith and Dick Coop and my caddy, Brian Smith, and the support I've gotten at home from my wife and kids and parents and friends. And so when you can justify to them, you know, you're sharing -- I'm sharing this victory with all those people that, you know, that pushed me to get better. Q. When John Cook finished here 26-under, he said the course fit his eye. This is twice now that you've won even with the redo on the golf course. What's your explanation for your success here? JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, my success here has really come since they changed over, redesigned the golf course, put in bermuda greens and the golf course got a lot tougher. Before when we came here, it was -- I mean bent grass greens in Memphis in June are going to be pretty soft and, you know, these greens are anything but soft. You have to really -- you have to really plan not only what your ball does in the air but you've got to plan on what it's going to do once it hits the ground. And there were a lot of times this week like the 7th hole where I'm trying to land the ball 15 to 20 yards short of the green, hit something down to keep it out of wind and run it up. I hit the green three, four times doing that. You know, that -- you never thought of doing anything like that before the redesign because the greens are so soft. It's fun to come and play such a difficult golf course that is fair. There's no tricks out there. Everything is right in front of you. You just -- you have to really hit a lot of good shots and chip and putt to play well. Q. So how does all that set you up for the Open now and other players who played here? JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, I'll be a little bit tired the next couple days, but I feel pretty good about getting rested up for Thursday. My goal -- when I come and play a week before a Major or, you know, an event like the Player's Championship or Ryder Cup or President's Cup, the best preparation I can get -- the best way for me to prepare is to play well. And, you know, my practice sessions, yesterday, in my practice session I hit probably 30 3-irons and 30 4-woods practicing for the week. Not today. But I hit some today. I knew coming in here the best way for me to prepare is to gain confidence by playing well and then do those little things in my practice session that I may need for next week. I would say in that department, I did a pretty good job. Q. You talked outside about the support you felt from the gallery. Is that typical for you in places where you've won, and how does that manifest itself on the course? JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, I think it is. Playing with Kenny the first two days, he won last week, and he's been playing some great golf. You know, we had some nice galleries, and they were supportive of him obviously, but they were supportive of me as well. And the fact that I won here fairly recently, you know, just people tend to pull for you a little bit more when that's the case. Q. In retrospect, how important was that question that your wife asked you several years ago about "Why have we not played Memphis?" or "Why don't we go to Memphis?" and that sort of thing? JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah. I think it had been awhile since I played here, and we were kind of looking through my history at certain events, and I had a couple Top-10s here, maybe even a Top-5 and hadn't come here for a few years. We put this tournament back on the schedule, and, you know, I really enjoy the golf course a lot more now than I did when the greens were soft. You know, I enjoyed coming here. It's laid back. Obviously I like the golf course quite a bit and, you know, it's a good way to get ready. The golf course doesn't have a whole lot of similarities with Torrey Pines, but par is a good score. And you got to come here this week and grind out a lot of pars, and that's certainly going to be part of the task next week. Q. Well, then will you continue to let her pick your schedule in some situations like that? JUSTIN LEONARD: We're a good team. Nobody -- I would say since I'm the one actually playing the golf, I've got veto power. But when she makes a good argument I listen. Q. Justin, two questions. When you meet complete strangers, would they be more apt to bring up your British Open win in '97 or the Ryder Cup? JUSTIN LEONARD: The Ryder Cup. I hear more -- I either hear about the Ryder Cup putt. I heard it two, three times today. That and then not my play at the Open Championship but my speech. Those are the two things I hear most. It's probably 95 percent more as Ryder Cup. Q. And secondly, since it's been nine years since you made that putt, nine years since the American team has won, are you the missing link? JUSTIN LEONARD: Absolutely. (Laughter). I can't believe you're the first person to bring that up. You know, I'm looking forward to -- I don't know how much of a lock I am, but I feel pretty good about making it. I'm looking forward to being on that team, and I'm looking forward to us winning again soon. Q. Justin, can you talk about today. I mean, you started the day tied for 7th, but history here shows if you put together a good round, you could surge your way up. How was it keeping your focus in the heat and every time you looked at the leaderboard, there was a different group of people at the top? JUSTIN LEONARD: I didn't look at the leaderboard a whole lot because there were so many guys bunched up. I knew after 15 that I was in the lead. I knew at 17 that I had just fallen back into a tie. And I saw it somewhere else on the front-9. I just wanted to make sure nobody was really running away. But knowing that, I just really kind of focused on what I was trying to do. As far as the heat, I've been practicing in this heat in Dallas all last week. I got to where shorts, which was nice, and I was riding in a cart, but the heat really didn't bother me at all. Q. Kenny Perry, in essence, said the Ryder Cup is more important than a Major. You're talking about how much you've missed it for nine years and that seems to be more of a Europeans sentiment. Do you think amongst American golfers now that there is more of an emphasis being put on the Ryder Cup? JUSTIN LEONARD: I definitely think so. Not that there's been any emphasis lacking in the past but I mean, you know, after you get drummed enough times, it's time to get it turned around, and I look forward to being a part of that. Q. 11 kind of an interesting hole to end the playoff on. All three hit good shots into there. What are you thinking as you're approaching the green about maybe what you have to do and talk about the putt? You might have left it a half inch short and got another half roll there. JUSTIN LEONARD: I hit two balls in the water in the Pro-Am and hit a ball over the green in the water on Thursday. Friday I hit it right on the front fringe. So I didn't have a whole lot of good feelings. I hit a good shot in there yesterday right in the middle of the green, which is pretty comfortable. Today the wind died down a little bit. We were on the up tee. I had a really good club in regulation. It was just a nice, pretty firm 7-iron, turn it back into the wind a little bit and actually got it left of the hole, which I was not trying to do. I made birdie there in regulation. Then going back this afternoon in the playoff, the wind had died down and it was pretty much out of the same direction, but it died down quite a bit. So I hit a hard 8-iron and hit it about 20 feet, maybe just a little less than that, and I don't think that ball would have rolled another half inch. I just barely got there. The greens are so dry and fast. You saw Trevor's putt in the playoff on 18. He didn't hit it that hard. So I felt like just getting it just a little bit left of the hole and just give it enough to have a chance, and I don't think it would have rolled a whole lot further than it did. Q. Talking about your putt. For example, you had that and a couple other nice putts today. Do you feel like you're rolling the ball pretty well? JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah. This week has been very good. Friday I struggled putting a little bit and worked on the practice green a little bit and just kind of analyzed things and realized I was hitting some good putts. But after I missed a few early, I would say I lost a little bit of confidence and came out yesterday and putted very well in the front-9. I think those nine holes really carried me through this weekend. Q. Are you a big fan of Torrey in general, the golf course? JUSTIN LEONARD: I don't play there very often. In February it's generally pretty soft, plays very long. I did play very well there in February. So I think I'm looking forward to getting back there and playing the Open and hopefully playing a little bit firmer conditions. Q. Do the card, Joel? JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Birdies and bogies. Number 4 was a birdie on par 3. JUSTIN LEONARD: 4 I hit a 6-iron to about 4 feet. 11 I hit a 7-iron to 15 feet. 15 drove it just in the left rough and hit a sand wedge and hit it to a foot. And then 17 drove it in the right rough and just had to chip it out in the fairway. Hit a 6-iron about 15 feet and missed the putt for par. JOEL SCHUCHMANN: 18. Pretty good look at birdie there. JUSTIN LEONARD: 18 I hit a good 4-wood off the tee, hit a 6-iron about 15 feet. And, like I said, the ball did everything but go in. Q. 15, did you have a good lie on 15? JUSTIN LEONARD: Very good lie. Exact opposite of 17. Had a bad lie between a tree. Those two offset each other. JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Anymore questions? Justin Leonard, congratulations. End of FastScripts |
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