PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

August 17, 2002

Justin Leonard

JUSTIN LEONARD: I felt like I played very solid today. Really set my round up off the tee and drove the ball well. Made some good decisions, which is always important, playing in difficult conditions, windy conditions. Honestly, with the rain last night, it made the golf course play easier than it would have, but just very challenging day and felt great to go out and shoot a good score. Bogeyed No. 5. Drove it in the right-hand rough, hit a 9-iron up to the front of the green and chipped it to four feet and missed the putt. Birdied 7. Hit a sand wedge third shot to 10 feet and made that. Birdied 10 and hit a 7-iron to about three feet. Birdied 15, pitched from about 40 yards to five feet. Then I birdied 16, hit a 7-iron to about a foot and a half.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I feel like I've got to go out and play a great round of golf. You know, it takes that to win a major championship. I've done it once, and I've lost a couple close ones. So, I've seen both sides of the coin, and I know I need to go out and shoot a good round. I feel like it depends -- I need to get off to a good start, and I think it will hopefully eliminate some guys' chances. But again, I don't plan on changing my strategy with the way I play the golf course. I felt like I've played it fairly conservative all week, and when I've had an opportunity to play aggressively, I've done that and I've been able to take advantage of that. I think that's the reason I'm at 9-under and I see no reason to change that right now.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I'd say that the biggest difference between today's conditions and those two tournaments that you mentioned was the firmness of the golf course. I feel like if we had not had the rain that we had last night, par would have gone up three or four strokes. The golf course would have played at least that much more difficult. With the fairways being softer, the greens were softer, it means even if you do get a shot a little bit off line, if it lands on the green or in the fairway, chances are it's going to stay there. So, there was some solace in the day, that, hey, you can play a little bit aggressively at times. But, obviously, you can't go out there and aim at every pin. I felt like my play today was as good, maybe better, than Troon '97 or THE PLAYERS Championship in '98. Just the ball-striking round, made some good putts, made all the putts that I was supposed to make, and just looking forward to the opportunity that I have tomorrow.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I really didn't focus too much on his play today. I felt like there was -- it was too much golf left to turn it into a match-play situation. Rich was in trouble a couple of times today and hit some really great recovery shots and did the same there at 15. My eyes were big because I hit such a good drive and I was able to hit it up there in front of the green and play really aggressively. But I don't think that my play on that hole had -- his play had no affect on mine.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I'd like to say that, but, then again, I came back from five shots to win a major championship. So, it's safe, depending on how I play. If I go out and play well, then I feel like it is safe. But if I struggle or stumble, especially in the beginning, I think guys are going to feel like they have got a chance. With the greens the way they are, I think tomorrow the weather is supposed to be a little better, guys are going to be playing aggressively. And you know Tiger is going to go out and shoot at the pins. So, it is safe, but it isn't. I don't think I can go out and just scoot it around. I need to go out and play some good golf.

JUSTIN LEONARD: No. It's because my putt lipped in. Sorry. Would have been a good story. (Laughter.)

JUSTIN LEONARD: I wouldn't say it's as well as I've putted. I would say that I've made all the putts that I was supposed to make. I don't remember too many putts inside of six or eight feet that I have missed. I missed a short one at 5 today from about four feet, but other than that, I don't think I missed anything inside of ten feet. When you can do that, especially in a major championship, chances are you're going to play pretty well.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I hit a good tee shot, pretty important to put it in the fairway there, especially today, and then hit a 3-iron lay up, which, the last few days, I've hit 6-iron and 7-iron to lay up with. So, the hole was obviously playing longer, and I had a good yardage. I didn't hit a great wedge shot, I hit it to about ten feet. But I think a big reason is that green, the pin was sitting pretty close to the water and there was nothing blocking the wind from, say, 60 yards, so I think the wind probably wreaked a little bit of havoc with the guys trying to putt on that green. I know Rich hit a great putt and it looked like his was going in, and I think the wind didn't get it's mark, but I think the wind would, and -- something like that. I'm getting all tangled up. Basically, because I think the green was difficult to putt because of the wind.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Your first question about the wind, I feel like I enjoy playing in difficult conditions. I think this golf course, today, played extremely difficult. I think this course, the scores, obviously, reflect that. I look forward to that. Whether it's due to wind or the greens are firm, whatever the conditions, I enjoy it when par is a good score. I feel like the game becomes more strategic. Your decision process is more important. And if you make the wrong decisions, it's more penal and those things were certainly true today. Today, the obvious difficulty was the wind and I've had some success playing in the wind, so I have to think I may look forward to it a little bit more than the average player. I don't know if I've ever been in the zone or if there is a zone. I strung together some really good golf shots right in a row, starting really with the chip I hit at 14. I felt like from there through to 18, I did not -- I didn't miss a shot. If that's a zone, then I was in it, but again, I'm not real sure on that zone thing.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I'd put myself in the Top-10. I feel like the tougher it gets, the more you have on the line. I don't know, I think I look forward to that. I look forward to a challenge. I'd sure like to make it look easier at times, I know that. It would be easier on me, it would be easier on my wife and friends and family. There's something special about gutting something out, and whether it's golf or whatever you may do, and it really proves what you're made of. I think I've been lucky in that I've come through a couple of times and I've got that confidence.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, I think that coming from behind, you can play a little more aggressively because you know you have to. You're kind of forced into it. And sometimes, that's a good thing because there's no real decision on whether, hey, should I aim at this pin, or should I play it safe? When you're coming from that many strokes behind, you kind of have to go at pins. That will be the real difference for me tomorrow, is that I don't have to go at pins, at least not in the early going. Again, I didn't go out today and play aggressively. I knew that par was going to be a good score and I took advantage of the good shots that I hit. I plan to do the same thing tomorrow.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Abilene, Texas, was probably the toughest wind I've ever played in.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, it was cold, too. On a scale of 1 being not bad and 10 being really, really bad, it was about a 12.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I wasn't feeling in this case. I was in "the zone." (Laughter.) Sorry. I hit some timely shots. Good drive at 15 really set the hole up. Obviously, a good shot at 16, and then two solid plays at 17 and 18. I wasn't staying on 14 tee thinking, "Okay, I'm one back, I need to get some momentum going into tomorrow." Basically, just -- sorry, as Calc would say, "Some typical athlete BS" -- but I was hitting one shot at a time and that's probably the reason I played so well on those last five holes is because I never got ahead of myself and just really stayed in the present.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I am a little bit surprised. But again, I'm a little bit surprised that I was able to shoot 3-under par, just because of the difficulty of the golf course and how it was playing. So, I'm surprised. I'm obviously happy about it. But again, I'm not going to get too worked up. We've still got one more round.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, I had already figured that out before this week. But for those that maybe didn't believe, I would say this week would say that. As far as when I started feeling comfortable, it was really about a year ago. I started to play well -- I missed the cut at the Open and came back and played really well in August. I think I had a stretch, three or four tournaments, where I finished in the Top-10, and I think I finished maybe 10th or something here, last year, at the PGA. So, I think being able to string a bunch of pretty solid rounds together like that last year, is kind of when I gave myself the stamp of approval.

JUSTIN LEONARD: When you look at who has won majors in the last five years, since'97 at Royal Troon, there's probably one player that really sticks out, so, yeah, I would say it's a lot more difficult to win majors than it was five or six years ago.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I thought he played pretty good for a "nobody." I think Rich has got a great chance. I don't think people were really thinking I had a huge chance, other than anybody, myself and a few family members, in '97. I think Rich is -- he played great today. You know, he made a couple mistakes late in the round, but he made some nice recoveries and just played a really solid round of golf, and I think his confidence from winning two weeks ago, has certainly carried into this week. I think he will take a lot of confidence away from today. He's got a pretty laid back attitude out there on the golf course. He's not afraid to go at pins, so I think he's got a great chance tomorrow, a great opportunity to learn a lot and possibly, but hopefully, not win his first major championship.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yes, I believe I am a better player. Why am I a better player and in what ways, I think because things are simpler, as far as my golf swing, my golf game. And I think I'm a better player because I'm fulfilled off the golf course, and that's because of my bride, Amanda. I didn't do that to improve my golf game, but it has. I think those are the two major reasons why I'm a better player and a better person than I was three, four years ago.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Probably be the one to watch tomorrow. The person I watch is the one closest to me. But, you know, I'm human, so, obviously, I'm going to look and see how Tiger is doing. Does he intimidate me? Sure, at times, he does. He hasn't done it this week, and if I go out and do my job tomorrow, then he won't tomorrow, either.

JUSTIN LEONARD: No. I try to stay pretty brainless out there, except when I have to pull a club or read a putt. Beyond that, I'm probably thinking about some old Saturday Night Live skit that I saw on the Comedy Channel. Hopefully, there will be a couple good skits tonight. If you see me chuckling by myself, I'm probably thinking about something that Will Farrell did later on this evening.

JUSTIN LEONARD: In terms that even I can't understand, basically, we shortened my swing and eliminated a lot of excess movement that I had before; from lack of size, lack of power, and through working out, getting in better shape, I felt like I needed to make a change and take my golf swing was based so much on having the proper timing, with all of movement I had, I had a very long swing, that it became very difficult day-to-day for it to feel the same. I think if you're going to put one word on it, it would just be "simplify".