JOHN DEERE CLASSIC

September 10, 2003

Justin Leonard

TODD BUDNICK: All right, we thank Justin Leonard for joining us today. Justin making his trip to the Quad Cities. He played the Pro-Am this morning. Give us some thoughts on how you liked the course.

JUSTIN LEONARD: The golf course is in very good shape. I think it looks really good off the tee. You've got to hit shots left to right and right to left, some pretty small greens. I think it's a good test. Hopefully it'll stay firm. I don't think that's going to happen, but I understand why the guys enjoy coming here.

TODD BUDNICK: You're 11th on the money list, picked up a victory at the Honda classic this year. Talk about your season and what you've got left remaining.

JUSTIN LEONARD: This year has been okay. I felt like I played really well through the early part of the year. The last couple months I haven't played as well, and for no particular reason, and now I'm actually playing this week and I'm most likely going to take six weeks off and then play the last two events, Tampa and THE TOUR Championship, so I'm about to head into some time off, so it would be nice to play well this week and kind of go into that stretch at home with some good thoughts.

TODD BUDNICK: Time off from the golf course but not necessarily time off. It sounds like you may be very busy with the upcoming birth.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, we're very excited. We're ready to go. I feel fortunate that -- we didn't plan anything, but it's at a time of year where I can take this much time off.

Q. What do you have planned during the six weeks?

JUSTIN LEONARD: You know, hopefully change a few diapers at some point. My wife is due October 5th. You know, get away from the game a little bit. I'm going to just be working with a strength coach and so we're going to be working out pretty hard. Probably get some hunting and other things in there.

Q. To be a little more specific, what made you come to this tournament?

JUSTIN LEONARD: I played this golf course in I guess it was kind of an opening exhibition, and I can't remember if it was three or four years ago when this course opened. I knew the golf course, and from what I remembered from that day, I knew that I liked the golf course. Other than that, you know, I've been wanting to come back since '94 because this event gave me a sponsor's exemption, and it's been way overdue for me to come back here and play. It fits well into the schedule, and again, it's just a very good golf course.

Q. Could you repeat the step by step process about coming here and the decisions you made?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Playing here three or four years ago in the exhibition before the course opened, I knew that I liked the golf course and I've just been meaning to come back. Since '94, they gave me a sponsor's exemption my first year out. You know, it's been long overdue for me to come back here and play, and just knowing that I would enjoy the golf course, and it's also a good week for me to play.

Q. Davis Love said earlier today that if he had the opportunity he would come back next year. Does that present something for you maybe, as well, what you've seen so far?

JUSTIN LEONARD: I don't know what I'm doing the next six weeks, so I certainly don't know next year. As far as the tournaments around it, it's more how it fits in the year. I think if it fits, this is a golf course and a tournament I'd love to come back to. I can't sit here and tell you I'm going to play next year because I don't know what the schedule is, but yes, if things work out, and yeah, I know this tournament may be moving around a little bit in dates, so hopefully it'll fit and I'll be able to come play.

Q. It's the week before the British.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Okay, that's not very good. Maybe the year after that.

Q. It's the week before the British the next three years.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Okay, maybe we'll try and squeeze it in there somewhere. Let's try and focus on this year this week.

Q. Do you have a girl's name picked out?

JUSTIN LEONARD: No, we're kind of between a few.

Q. What are the candidates?

JUSTIN LEONARD: I'll let you know when we decide.

Q. Do you like have the name book, you're going through it at night?

JUSTIN LEONARD: No, we haven't gotten any books yet. We watch the credits on movies and pick names from there. My favorite one is Grip, but I don't know Amanda is going to go for that.

Q. How do you think the golf course is going to play this week and what looks likes a good number?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, I'm not going to pick a number, but I'll tell you, it's pretty firm right now as far as the fairways. The greens are holding. It sounds like it's going to soften up a little bit with the rain. I don't know how J.P. shot, was it 22 under last year? The golf course seems more difficult than that to me. I know there's some short holes you can take advantage off, and again, I just finished on 9 where I'm hitting a driver and a 4 wood, so it's hard to say. I think if you get it going you can play aggressively and the greens are soft and you can throw the ball at the hole. If you miss the green a little bit, you can certainly throw some tough chips and you can make some bogeys out there.

Q. Still being relatively unfamiliar with the course, what do you like about it from where it used to be played?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Not comparing the two golf courses, just talking about this golf course, I think it looks good off the tee. To me I like to shape the ball, and this golf course, you definitely -- in my eye I definitely see tee shots that are right to left, tee shots that are left to right.

The greens are fairly small for the amount of land that's out there and pretty severe once you get off the green. So I think it's a real premium on hitting shots and putting the ball in play and then putting it in the right spot on the greens.

Q. How are the greens out there?

JUSTIN LEONARD: The greens are good. You know, I played so early this morning they were perfect. I imagine in the afternoon they might mark up just a little bit, but again, the greens are holding and they're in good shape and they're rolling at a pretty comfortable speed, so they're excellent.

Q. Do you feel you have something to prove at The Presidents Cup?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Not really. I think it's a two or three-year process, so I feel like I've kind of proved everything. I think everybody on the team should feel like they've proved it through that.

Q. I mean are you motivated by the record? You've had kind of a tough record.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, thanks (laughter). I'm very motivated to play The Presidents Cup. I think when I look at my schedule and all the tournaments I'm not going to play here in the next couple months, I'm going to play Tampa and THE TOUR Championship and then a week off and the The Presidents Cup, I think that sets up pretty well as far as getting ready to play.

Now, is that going to mean I'm going to go down there and play great? No, I've still got to do the right things and hopefully go down there and play well but hopefully I'll be mentally ready to go.

Like you said, not that I need any motivation, but the fact that my record is so bad, I'm sure I'll try just a little bit harder with that in the back of my mind.

Q. Did you play last time?

JUSTIN LEONARD: I didn't, no.

Q. You did not?

JUSTIN LEONARD: No.

Q. In 2000?

JUSTIN LEONARD: I played '96 and '98.

Q. So your last international team match then was when you made the putt at Brookline?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yes.

TODD BUDNICK: Thank you, Justin.

End of FastScripts.