U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 14, 2003

Stephen Leaney

Q. What do you make of this situation, being in the last group and all?

STEPHEN LEANEY: Well, it's the last group. I've been in last groups before and I've won tournaments before. Obviously it's a major championship and it's a major thing, but I have to draw on my experience from the past. I know I haven't been here before so I'm not going to try and kid myself, but I've got great confidence in my golf game at the moment and that showed today.

Q. Maybe by the end of this weekend people here in the States might get to know you and I think you might have achieved that.

STEPHEN LEANEY: They've been very good to me all week. There's actually been some cheers for Australia out there which has been nice, and hopefully I can keep them cheering today and tomorrow.

Q. A lot of the players struggled on the back just around the turn today. You had a couple of hiccups there but you were able to come back. What was the key to coming back there?

STEPHEN LEANEY: The key was patience. I didn't hit a very good shot to 12 and that probably turned the round back. I managed to get up-and-down from a very difficult spot and that stopped me from going -- stopped me from making four shots in three holes. You just have to try and hang on. You have to wait for your chances to come. I've been missing it in spots all week where I have the chance to get up-and-down, but it was pleasing on my behalf that I stuck to my game plan. I've been hitting 3-iron on the last three days and it's been tempting to pull the driver out but I've been playing by hitting 3-iron off the tee.

Q. Was the save on 6 another good experience after the trouble on that hole?

STEPHEN LEANEY: Yeah, 6 was good. It was just a bad miss. I knew I couldn't miss it left on the green and I did, and then I guess the one on 7 was even better because I really didn't have a shot on 7, and that's what's kept me going. I guess each day I've made two to three really big par saves and that's what's kept me round going.

Q. Are you able to quell emotions out there? Is that one of the strengths of your game?

STEPHEN LEANEY: I've been nervous over every shot. This is a major championship and everyone gets nervous and I'm nervous over every shot, but I've learned to control it in the past. It's no different than winning the tournament in Germany last year. You still have to go through the same procedures to win the tournament, I guess it just gets bigger because it is a major. I still have to go through the same drills and same pre-shot routine as I've done in the past, and that's all I'm going to try to do tomorrow.

Q. Will you be excited tomorrow when you hit that back nine?

STEPHEN LEANEY: I've very excited now. I don't know how nervous I'm going to be on the first tee, but that's why I've been practicing for a long time is to try and challenge myself in this situation so I'm happy to be there and I'm looking forward to it. It's what we all plan to do, and I hope that I do get some sleep tonight so I'm not too tired tomorrow.

Q. I read in your bio something about having had two ribs removed. I don't know much more about it. Can you talk about what you had to overcome and is this a steady progression towards where you are now?

STEPHEN LEANEY: Well, that was ten years ago. I was diagnosed with a blood clot in my arm and the only way to solve it was to have one rib cut off. I didn't have two ribs out. I've had worse things happen to me. It's just one of those things that you go through. Looking back I'm actually glad it happened to me at a very early point in my career because I realized I wasn't working that hard at the time. I just turned pro and I realized how fortunate I was to have the gift that I have and I've been working very hard ever since.

Q. It gives you a little more mobility without that rib there, huh? Thanks a lot, good luck.

End of FastScripts....