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SHELL HOUSTON OPEN

April 3, 2010

Justin Leonard

HUMBLE, TEXAS

Q. Good out there today.
JUSTIN LEONARD: Lots of good, little bit of bad. I kind of played my way back into the golf tournament. I would have loved to have played a little better over the last four holes. I'm still excited about the game, the way I'm playing. Today was a step in the right direction and made me feel good going into tomorrow and next week.

Q. Talk about the front-9 where you were really burning it up.
JUSTIN LEONARD: It was fun. Nothing more I can say. For the shots to go in at 6 and then again at 8, kind of like stealing a couple shots. Going to be close, but for the ball to actually go in, it was a lot of luck and so just nice to get off to such a great start, and, you know, would love to do that again tomorrow and then finish it off a little better.

Q. Talk about two eagles, what you hit?
JUSTIN LEONARD: I hit a 6-iron into 6.

Q. How far away?
JUSTIN LEONARD: What did I have, 168, I think. And then I didn't even get a yardage. I probably had 50 yards or so on 8.

Q. Did you think the first one had a chance to go in?
JUSTIN LEONARD: I hit it -- I could say I hit it perfect because I did, but it was on a really good line and just a matter if it was going to be the right distance. And then the shot at 8, you know, having to bump it into a little bit of a hill, I just wanted to give myself a close putt at it. And for that one to go in as well was, you know, a really big bonus, and I think I doubled my eagles total for the year in about 15 minutes' time, so it was pretty fun.

Q. Did it hit and roll on 6? Could you see it?
JUSTIN LEONARD: I seen it. Hit pretty soft and trickled in.

Q. Talk about your putting. Seems like you're starting to get good with the flat stick.
JUSTIN LEONARD: I discovered something at Honda the week before in the 3rd round. I was kind of moving my head, and, you know, my caddy, my instructor, they all been telling me to keep my head still, but I finally felt it during a round.
Since then, I've really been able to keep my head still and hit a lot of good putts and not really worried about making the putt, just wanting to hit a good putt.

Q. Like the course here and glad to be back in Houston?
JUSTIN LEONARD: Both. I enjoy the golf course. You know, if it's not -- it's certainly one of the top two or three conditioned golf courses that we play all year, and to come here and play it, it's a real treat.
And then, you know, on top of that, I love being in Houston. There aren't many cities that we play in where I will go eat Mexican food because I'm a little -- Dallas, I like my Mexican food the way I like it. It's nice to be able to come down here and eat Mexican food and feel good about it.

Q. You teed it up, like 67, you would be happy with. You got so low at one point, are you almost disappointed?
JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, there's -- you know, just off the golf course, yeah, it's a little disappointing, but, at the same time, there's so many good things to pull from today. And, you know, as the day wears on, afternoon wears on, you know, I'll see those a little more clearly, and, you know, just get ready to come play tomorrow.

Q. 68, great round, or do you think about what got away from you?
JUSTIN LEONARD: Right now, five minutes removed, I'm still simmering a little bit for the way I finished. I'm sure after lunch I'll go practice a little bit. I did a lot of good -- really good things out there to make a couple eagles, you know. Those are kind of like stealing a couple shots. You don't ever expect those to go in.
6-iron and 50-yard pitch. Happy about the day. Little disappointed about the last few holes, but there's a lot of good stuff. I've been in a lot more worse places.

Q. Today we open up with your 3rd shot at the 8th hole. Tell us about this shot.
JUSTIN LEONARD: I hit a 3-wood up there about 350 yards from the flag and kind of bumped it into the hill, and, you know, it wasn't -- those are bonus ones to go in.

Q. Special day shaping up. We go to the 10th hole now after the bogey at 9, birdie putting?
JUSTIN LEONARD: I hit a bad drive and good angle, hit a sand wedge about 15 feet. Hit a really nice putt after 3-putting the hole before.

Q. Seven 1-putts on this day. We move ahead to your second shot at the 11th.
JUSTIN LEONARD: Good drive down there, and just had a really solid 9-iron and hit just in the top of the slope and released down, you know, where I didn't have to think about it.

Q. You really didn't have to think about that. That got you to 8-under for the day, 9-under for the tournament. And then you came to the 14th hole, second shot here.
JUSTIN LEONARD: I'm not watching this, but I got too much ball and not enough sand. I hit it back there the first round, and so I knew what I was looking at, and, you know, just -- it was a hard shot, but I made it a lot tougher.

Q. Double-bogey there. You end the day on a good note here, your 3rd shot on 18.
JUSTIN LEONARD: Wanted to get something out in front of the green. Hit a nice little spinner, 30-yard shot out there.

Q. You started the day 7 shots back, end the day 3 shots back. Do you feel the pressure on you because among actually all these guys on the leaderboard, you're going to Augusta?
JUSTIN LEONARD: That's one extra thought that I'm not going to have, and, you know, I'm excited about Easter and knowing what that represents and the fact that the Lord took away all our sins. I'm excited about that.
I'm excited I got myself back in the golf tournament and, you know, my game, I didn't get off to a good start on the West Coast, but my game has really come around.

Q. Justin, 67, way to describe that round. Yours is the only one that counts. What did you think of it?
JUSTIN LEONARD: It was entertaining for sure.

Q. For us.
JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, you know, just obviously got off to -- I couldn't imagine getting off to a better start, and, you know, really stole a shot each at 6 and 8 by hitting those close enough to where they went in, and then, you know, it got a little sloppy. I miss -- not miss-hit, but just hit a couple shots at 14, 17 into bad places. And so I really didn't help myself out on those two holes, but other than that, I'm very pleased with the day.

Q. You played really well. You gave yourself some great opportunities except for 1 and hit a great shot there, too, but you were right in the fairways all day.
JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, even 10 the place to miss that fairway was left. Not necessarily 30 yards left, but still I had a great angle over there, and I'm really excited about the way I'm driving the ball. I got a Machspeed with a little less loft about three tournaments ago, and it's really paying off.
I'm not spinning the ball as much, and especially when we get in firm conditions like this, I can hit it throughout pretty good.

Q. After all of the up and down of the round, compartmentalizing, just put it away and head to Sunday, or some things you take out of positive and negative that you work on?
JUSTIN LEONARD: Nothing real negative. I'm not going to hit every shot perfect, but you need to miss it in the right spots, and 14 and 17 were two examples of that.
But a lot of good from today, you know, starting out where I did. Kind of hopefully, depending on what the guys do today, put myself back in the tournament.

Q. Probably nobody in front of you that has had the kind of experience you had. Probably nobody in front of you on Sunday who has been to Augusta and already got that taken care of. Little more pressures on the guys?
JUSTIN LEONARD: That's code for old. Yes, I'm getting there, but, yeah, I certainly have a lot of experience. I mean, there's some great young players out there. To watch Rickie Fowler, he didn't play well today, but to see the way he handled himself -- I was more impressed by how he handled himself today during a bad day than I have been by any of his good rounds.

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