U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 12, 2003

Ian Leggatt

Q. Does this sort of tell your story today?

IAN LEGGATT: I just kind of tried to play as conservative as I could, and with a U.S. Open mentality, the course doesn't really set up all that great for me, so I just decided on the two or three holes that you need to hook it off of, I decided to just take my medicine and hit a 2-iron off the tee and leave it way back, and it worked out okay today.

Q. You hit a 5-wood at the last hole?

IAN LEGGATT: Yeah, I got it out there pretty good. I need to hit a good one on that hole because if I don't I won't get it around the corner far enough for starters. That hole particularly is probably my nemesis more than anything because you have to hit a hook on it. The other ones you can sort of get away with.

Q. (Inaudible).

IAN LEGGATT: Absolutely. I felt like I gave one away on 17 or my 17th hole on 8. I probably should have tried to play it more into the middle of the green and the ball just carried a little farther than I wanted it to out of the rough. I was trying to play it onto the front right and 2-putt and it came out a little better than I thought, but all in all, I was pretty happy.

Q. (Inaudible).

IAN LEGGATT: I made 2 on the front nine. I can't even remember the holes out here. I started on 10 every round this week. I started on the back and I birdied 11 and 17. 17 was -- I hit my railer there to about, I don't know, 15 feet right of the hole, so that's stealing getting a birdie there today.

Q. (Inaudible).

IAN LEGGATT: I don't know whose putter I'm using, but the Taylor Made rep was walking across the range when I was putting that putter in somebody's locker who didn't want it, so I put a new Rossi putter in play today, a more mallety head than last night. They kind of gave it to me. They put another one in his locker, I guess.

Q. (Inaudible).

IAN LEGGATT: It was something that I did in the winter. I got into speed skating by trying to get more ice time as a kid to play hockey and I was pretty good at it, so it just sort of -- I didn't do much of it in the summer at all. You know, I lived really close to a golf course, used to ride my bike there in the summertime and that was what I did in the summer for seven months out of the year or whatever, and then I skated in the wintertime.

Q. How long did you skate for?

IAN LEGGATT: About eight or nine years.

Q. (Inaudible).

IAN LEGGATT: I've been struggling. I felt good. Allergies weren't too bad out there today. All in all I feel like my hand feels fine, I'm getting over sort of the mental hurdle now that I had trying to play with that injury for so long, but I think I'm kind of past that now.

Q. How does this match your expectations of what you might do here?

IAN LEGGATT: To tell you the honest truth I'm surprised the scores aren't a little bit lower. They might be lower, I'm not sure. I thought the scores might get 5 or 6 under par. They still could. It was very calm this morning and the greens are very receptive and the course is in perfect condition, so I thought the scores might be a little bit lower.

Q. Compared to what you thought it might be under this sort of --

IAN LEGGATT: To tell you the truth, the way my year has been going with injuries I come in with no expectations. I'm just happy to be playing again more than anything. I felt like the last four or five weeks I've been on the verge of starting to play better, so this is kind of the way golf is. You just never know when it might turn around.

Q. You said that the conditions were fairly benign today. Do you think you took advantage of it being benign?

IAN LEGGATT: I didn't birdie either one of the par 5s. That was one sort of letdown today. There's only two of them here this week, so that's one of the things you need to sort of take advantage of. By birdying 17 I feel like I probably -- that's probably one and a half on the birdie scale on the par 5s.

Q. What did you hit in there?

IAN LEGGATT: I hit a 16 degree railer, which is kind of like a 2-iron utility club.

Q. What about the birdie on 11?

IAN LEGGATT: The birdie on 11, I can't even quite remember the holes here. Yeah, actually I thought I drove it perfectly and the ball kind of went far and ended up just in the rough by a couple inches. I took a 7 iron and I had 168 to the flag and I was just trying to get it on the green. The ball landed 20 yards short of the green and rolled up there eight or ten feet, so that worked out nice.

Q. (Inaudible).

IAN LEGGATT: Probably four feet. I just kind of -- Dean was sort of on the same line as I was and he looked like he hit a good putt and it rolled it four feet back and I thought it might be quicker than I thought and I just didn't hit it far enough.

Q. You talked about injuries. Other than the hand what else have you had?

IAN LEGGATT: I've had some tendonitis in my elbow. Last year I started nosebleeds because of an allergy problem to grass. This year I got sick at Charlotte and ended up with a stomach virus. It was just something I picked up from my one-year-old, I think. I ended up losing about 11 or 12 pounds that week trying to play, so it's been a bit of a struggle this year. My nose has been running a bit but not like it has been. It's been like that for about five weeks now, so I'm almost getting used to it now.

Q. (Inaudible).

IAN LEGGATT: It started late last year and progressively got worse and worse and I was kind of hoping it might just go away or get a little bit better and it got worse and worse. I never really knew what it was until I finally decided to get away and get it diagnosed properly.

Q. They're related, right, the hand and the elbow?

IAN LEGGATT: The hand and the elbow were related.

Q. (Inaudible).

IAN LEGGATT: I've just been taking Allegra whenever it crops up bad. As long as I don't get a sinus infection from it. That's what happened last year. I have this allergy and I got a sinus infection which started nosebleeds. When it gets bad I've just been taking a couple Allegra a day.

Q. (Inaudible).

IAN LEGGATT: I had a bone in my hand that wasn't getting any blood to it. It's called avascular necrosis. I rested it and missed about nine weeks there. I was getting treatment and resting it, and it was kind of the end all and be all of it. The next thing was for surgery and I'm glad I haven't -- I hope I don't have to go through it. It hasn't bothered me for about six weeks now.

Q. Mike's win obviously has had a big impact in Canada. What would it mean if a Canadian won two majors in a row?

IAN LEGGATT: It would be unbelievable. Mike's win at the Masters, I don't think anybody realizes the significance of that unless you're a Canadian. There's not a lot of us out here, so the sporting public in Canada really -- it kind of like loves winners or whatever, especially when you're a Canadian. Mike's not a hockey player, so it means a lot to everybody, not just the kids growing up and the golfing public, but us out here, Glen Gnatiuk, myself, and all the guys that are playing out here.

Q. (Inaudible).

IAN LEGGATT: You know, it's something that -- I've never been hurt before and I've sort of plugged along. Like I said, I don't really have any expectations about coming out and this year possibly -- I'm just happy to be back playing again. I felt like last year was a good year for me to sort of break out and get going out here, now I'm just happy to be playing again.

Q. When did you take a break with the hand? Was that last year?

IAN LEGGATT: The last tournament I played was I think San Diego and I didn't come out again until Heritage. That was this year.

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