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CHILDREN'S MIRACLE NETWORK HOSPITALS CLASSICOctober 21, 2011Justin LeonardLAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA PHIL STAMBAUGH: Like to welcome Justin Leonard into the interview room this afternoon. Justin, 9-under 63 today, your low round in this event and low round since last year in the Wyndham Championship. You tied for second here losing in the playoff a couple years ago. Just a few thoughts about the round. You played the last five holes 5-under. JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, I had a fun, easy day today. Got off to a good start, and made three birdies in the front. Hit it by the green on 11 in two and got it to up and down. Laid it up on 14 and hit a good wedge that fortunately went in the hole. Then I hit it close the next couple holes, within four feet, and made about a 15-footer on 17 for the last birdie. PHIL STAMBAUGH: Maybe talk about your year a little bit. T13 is the best finish, and that was in Palm Springs. JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, it has not been a very good year. I've been working on some things the last three or four months, and, you know, kind of working with Randy Smith, of course, and been doing some work with Mo Pickens and changing how I practice a little bit and doing more drills and things like that. I went and saw Dave Stockton, Jr. a couple weeks ago. We had a little two-hour session in San Diego. That seems to be paying some dividends. So it hasn't been a good year. I'm looking forward to the year being over. But it's nice to have a chance this week to finish it off on a good note. PHIL STAMBAUGH: Before we go to questions, can you take us through the round today and the finish there with eagle, birdie, birdie, birdie. Q. (No microphone.) JUSTIN LEONARD: 110 yards. Yeah, downwind. It was a little sand wedge. I'll go through the birdies. 1, I had a sand wedge to about 10 feet. 4 is not a par-5, is it? PHIL STAMBAUGH: Par-4 on the Palm. JUSTIN LEONARD: Oh, I'm on the wrong -- okay, where am I? I'm up here now. Oh, there it is. Sorry. 4, still don't know what I did on 4. I know I made birdie. I hit a 7-iron about 15 feet. 7, I hit it up near the green in two; chipped it to about 10 feet. 11, hit it up pin high in two and got the ball up and down. 14, had 110 yards and was able to knock that in. 15, I hit a 6-iron to about four feet. 16, 3-iron to three feet. 17, hit a 7-iron to 15 feet. PHIL STAMBAUGH: Okay. Questions? Wait for the mic here. Q. When did you start working with Mo Pickens, Dr. Morris? JUSTIN LEONARD: Let's see I called him and we sat and had a good conversation on Sunday over in England at the Open Championship. So we had a couple hours there. You know, he kind of gave me his background and I told him a little bit about what was going on. Then he was at Greensboro and we worked a little bit there. He came to Dallas, I don't know, four, five weeks ago, and we spent the day together there, which was very beneficial. Q. You got your first invoice when, Greensboro? JUSTIN LEONARD: You know, I haven't gotten it yet. We were supposed to chat about it last week, and he was very sympathetic to how I played. So I think he's waiting for a good week and then it's going to come. You know what? I hope it (indiscernible.) Q. Secondly, you were working putting-wise with a guy from Dallas at some point, weren't you? JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, Marius Filmalter. I worked with him back in the first part of June and learned a few things. But I think in the process I got a little bit away from the way I normally putt when I putt well. So went and saw Dave Stockton, Jr. I called him after San Jose, and he was great. I called him Sunday night, and he said, Yeah, meet me in San Diego. We can work first thing in the morning. Flew to San Diego and we worked, and that was what, just 10 days ago. The things we talked about really resonated with me. I mean, getting back to being more natural and getting my hands a little more forward and really speeding up my routine, which has been great, because I'm kind of getting out of my own way a little bit. So it's good. Haven't gotten that bill yet either, but hoping for another phone call on Monday or Tuesday. Q. Lastly, at 140 whatever it is on the Money List, 1445, what were your expectations for the week realistically, and have you given much thought to beyond this week give how your year's gone so far? JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, I did call the TOUR a couple months ago and asked about my status. I'm exempt for next year, so I'm not playing with that kind of pressure. I don't know how, I just am. No, I gave the same look to the telephone. How is this guy still exempt? So I didn't question him very hard. I just said, Okay, if you say so. So, you know, just trying to kind of put together the things that I've worked on the last month. I mean, the last couple weeks I've played pretty well, I just haven't gotten anything out of it. Yesterday I had a solid round, and then today kind of caught fire a little bit, which is something that I've been waiting and trying to make happen here for the last few months. So, you know, this week, what did I want to do? I wanted to and still want to get comfortable with the things I'm doing and just go out there and play my game, and, you know, do everything that I can do and not try and do anything more than that. Q. Just a couple. Has it been mostly the putter? And what did you do with those long five weeks off when you were sort of sent to the sidelines and not allowed to play? JUSTIN LEONARD: It's been mostly the putter, I would say. My ball-striking has been fairly consistent most of the year really. You know, what did I do? I talked with Mo and did some drills to where I'm not just sitting there banging in 5-footers. I'm kind of moving around and, you know, each one kind of has a finish, whether it's making 90% in order to be done, or -- you know, there are six or eight drills. So kind of spent my time between those, you know, just trying to remember back to when I made a lot of putts and what those feelings were. You know, today I kind of felt like that again. Q. You said you found out about your status a couple months ago. Does it help or hurt you knowing that you're exempt for next year? JUSTIN LEONARD: I don't know. Honestly, I might have played with a little more urgency back in August when I was playing pretty good but, again, just not getting much from it. I don't know. It's hard to say. You know, I know I would probably be a whole lot more stressed this week if I hadn't been. But there may have been a little more urgency. Not that I was, Oh, I'm exempt for next year; I don't care. I always play with a little bit of urgency. But I don't know. It's a question I can't really answer. Q. Does banging in one of the biggest Ryder Cup putts in history help you in any way? With your recent struggles, can you at least go back and think about that and maybe that helps at some point in the thought process? JUSTIN LEONARD: Where you from? Q. I'm from down here. JUSTIN LEONARD: Okay. I thought I hinted a little Boston accent. I don't know how much it helps in the back of my mind when I'm over a putt, that Hey I -- what year is it now? You know, whenever that was, 12 years ago I made a big putt. But it's pretty rare that a week goes by that somebody doesn't mention it. I mean, I got done today and somebody said, Hey, I was right there when you made that putt. That's kind of nice. Does it help me play better? I don't know. I don't think so. But it puts a smile on my face when somebody mentions it. Q. Just to clarify, you didn't send a check in for Q-School, I take it. JUSTIN LEONARD: No, because I'm exempt for next year. No, no check. Q. As you've been dealing with putting and some other issues, have you considered or dabbled at all with a belly or long putter? JUSTIN LEONARD: I've not dabbled. The consideration lasted a couple seconds. Joe Ogilvie this week was trying it, and talking to him about it. He said with that putter, there is really one way to do things. I honestly believe there is more than one way to make a 10-footer. And depending on the break and things, you feel different, you might stroke it a little different. And so, I mean, you know, in talking with Dave Stockton, Jr., you know, there is a little difference in setting up a right-to-left putt versus a left-to-right putt. With a belly putter, you pretty much have to set up the same time every time otherwise you're going to -- I don't know what could happen, but it could be really bad. So that's just not the way I putt. I'm trying to get, and what Dave is helping me do, is to get more feel back in my putting and the way setup to it and the way I look at putts, knowing that there is more than one way to make a putt. Q. 20 years ago, you were the Bud Cauley out here on tour, getting your card without having to go to Q-School. Is your desire still what it was back then? Are you still as hungry to get back to the top and win majors again? JUSTIN LEONARD: It is, but it's in a different place. You know, coming out of college, I mean, all I had was the game of golf. I had lived and died with every round and every shot. Fortunately there were more good than bad ones. 18 years later, I've got a couple things going on in my life that are more important than this game. Doesn't mean that my desire is any less than it was, but the way I view the game and the way that I prioritize the game has gone down. But when I'm at the golf course practicing when I'm at home and when I'm at a golf tournament like this, when I'm on the course, that's my focus. So I do put just as much into it as I did then. The nice thing is that when I'm done playing, I've got other things that are more important. So especially a year like this and some of last year, it doesn't eat at me the way it used to. But do I have the desire to get back to where I once was? Absolutely I do. I want my kids to see me at my best, and they haven't. But I feel pretty good that they will. Q. Justin, you mentioned speeding up the putting routine. Was it just kind of a speed things up overall, or were there certain things in your routine that you cut out? JUSTIN LEONARD: No, you know, for years I've taken three practice strokes and a couple looks. You know, now I'm just -- he's like, Why do you take all those practice strokes? I said, Well, I don't know. Because everybody else does. (Laughing.) He had some good examples, and one of the examples was: You ever see a guy throwing darts sit there and practice like this and then step up to it? I said, No, but we're not exactly throwing darts. But it was a good example. So just trying to get back to more feel and not so analyzing it but just trusting in what I see. So, yeah, I take a practice stroke, look, set up to it, one good look, and then hit it. I'm just trying to make it more natural. Q. And then also, at what point this year did you get to the point where you were ready for the year to be over and for next year to start? JUSTIN LEONARD: You know, I mean, after I missed the playoffs in Greensboro, I knew I was going to play these three weeks and have six or seven weeks off. You know, still at that point wanting to - and knowing, and I did it a couple years ago where I played great in the fall and I started out the following year in good shape and played well - so hoping to do that again. Obviously the last two weeks I've kind of gotten off to a slow start. But, you know, yeah, I'm ready to start at zero like everybody else on January 1. But at the same time, you know, I've played my way into a great position here, and I'm looking forward to seeing how I feel and what goes on this weekend. Q. (No microphone.) JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, in some ways it is, these three tournaments. One of the things I want to get out of in this, the three weeks and the Fall Series that I'm playing, is to be more comfortable with my routine, and, you know, kind of analyze a little bit how my practice and doing some of the different drills, how is it affecting my game. Kind of taking stock and analyzing and preparing a little bit for next year. So in that way, yeah, this is kind of -- these three weeks have been geared toward getting ready for 2012. Q. Looks like if I've watched the leaderboard correctly over there, you're tied with Bio Kim who just turned 21 and has already been out here for a whole year. Just wondering in your experience whether the young pups are any different now than they were when you are coming up? JUSTIN LEONARD: I think there is a big difference. You look at how many really good young players we have out here, and like Bud Cauley was mentioned earlier. Patrick Cantalay, how great he's played out here in the events that he's played. You know, there has been a lot of emphasis placed on those younger players. But, you know, you see a guy like Darren Clarke win a claret jug, and, you know, there are some older guys that have played pretty well out here. I'm not 40 yet; I am getting close. I still feel like I've got some really good golf still in my future. PHIL STAMBAUGH: Thank you very much. Continue. Good luck. JUSTIN LEONARD: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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