PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

August 16, 2002

Justin Leonard

JUSTIN LEONARD: I played real solid today. Got off to a good start, birdies at 3 and 4. Then my lone bogey at 5. About that time, I saw Mark was tearing them up on the back nine, which is good for me, because I was able to -- kind of felt like I was trying to chase Mark. I was able to string some birdies together and played real solid, just happy to take advantage of the pretty benign conditions that we had this morning.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Birdie at 3. Hit a sand wedge to about six feet. 4, hit a 5-iron just right of the green and hit a sand wedge and that was about 15 feet. Bogey at 5. I drove it in the right fairway bunker. Chipped it out. Hit a sand wedge to about ten feet and missed that putt. 7, laid out my second shot. I hit a sand wedge for my third to about four feet. 10, I hit a 9-iron about 12 feet. 12, I hit a 5-iron just through the green about an inch or a couple of inches past the fringe and putted it from off the green and made that. 15, I hit a sand wedge to about four feet. 17, I hit a 5-iron to about seven feet.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Better than what?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, the afternoon, we had quite a bit of wind, and probably the good thing about playing so late yesterday, I think I teed off at 3:45, was that the wind actually died down for the last, say, five or six holes. There, in the early going, it was pretty tough with the wind the way it was. This morning, there was no wind. The greens were receptive. The fairways stayed firm. It was probably about as easy as this golf course will play, certainly this week.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, I think it all really started with the swing change. You know, I felt like I was struggling too much; struggling with my golf swing, just having too many mediocre weeks. I'd have a few mediocre weeks and then play real well for a week, but then the following week, I was kind of back to middle of the pack. I felt like I needed to do some things differently. So, the first thing that came to mind was changing instructors and making a few changes in my golf swing. From there, caddie changes happen out here quite a bit, so I don't think that's as important. Obviously, I'm very happy with Brent Everson who is caddying for me right now. Getting married is probably the smartest thing I've done, and we're having a great time. That's certainly a change from where I was. So, I didn't go out and say, you know, I need to really shake things up. It's probably a very, very large coincidence.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I explain that by telling you guys it's a par-72, and most of the yardages are in those par 5s. Also, some fairly long par 3s. So, the par 4s are not -- you would think you'd have to have a bunch of 480-yard par 4s to get to 7,300 yards, but I think there's only two or three that are over 440. The par 5s are long and the par 3s are fairly long. But the par 4s, it's more position. You don't have to hit a lot of drivers, and this place is more about keeping the ball in play and hitting it in the right spots, which surprises me. I had never seen the course until Monday, and I was pretty happy to see that it wasn't going to be a bomber's week. I felt like there are all kind of players that have a chance this week.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I hit nine drivers today. I didn't go at any of the par 5s today, but that wasn't by plan. Obviously, three -- I hit driver, 3-wood to lay it up. But 7, I didn't quite hit a good enough drive to get there. I had 235 to the front, but kind of from a downhill, sidehill, which is not really my forte. 11, I could not get to. And 15, I hit it just in the first cut on the right and I could not get a cut on it. Otherwise, I birdied three of the four. But I'm trying to hit a hard drive, especially on 7 and 15. Those are two that if I hit a good drive in the right conditions, I can get to it. And I'm certainly willing to try, if I'm in the right position.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I'd rather see par be a good score. Difficult conditions, I feel like I've got as good a chance as anybody. If the course -- if it stayed like it was this morning, it would be more of a shootout, and while I think I can compete, I think I'm better -- my game and temperament is better suited to par being a good score, and for that to happen this weekend, I think the wind needs to pick up and the golf course dry out a little bit.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, it affects everything. It affects what clubs you hit from off the tee. The golf course starts to dry out, so it just adds a whole lot of factors into your decision-making process. You know, you can hit some good shots and not be rewarded for them when the conditions get difficult. But at the same time, I think it's going to separate the guys who are kind of getting it around and playing okay, it will separate those guys from the ones who are really playing well.

JUSTIN LEONARD: You know what, I honestly don't care. I honestly don't know.

You know, it's great to shoot 66 today, whether it's a course record or not. I don't know, I just don't -- they don't give any bonus money or any kind of -- I don't know. I'm sorry, but it doesn't make a big difference to me. I'm just happy to shoot 6-under par, happy that it's a major championship and that I'm in good position going into the weekend.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Probably. Yeah, I would say that the guys who hit the ball higher are going to have more trouble in the wind. But, again, I think there's ways to kind of equal the field out. I think Muirfield at the Open was a great example of that, where it was more about accuracy and playing through conditions and things like that, whereas, the U.S. Open was more about -- I felt like it was more of an advantage there than anywhere else I've seen, to be able to hit the ball 300 yards. Here, hitting the ball long is going to be an advantage. I don't think there's anyway to get around that. But when you start putting things out there at 260, 270, 280, that you have to carry, it's really taking more than half the field away. That's not the case with this golf course this week.

JUSTIN LEONARD: What's better for golf? I don't know. I know what's better for me. I know that if I was a fan looking from the outside, what I would enjoy more, I would enjoy more of a strategic approach; that a number of guys have a chance to win, rather than reducing the field to just a selected few. What's better for the game of golf, you've got me.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I don't know if I'm playing the best golf of my career. I feel like I've got the best chance to play the best golf of my career, which I haven't been able to say that in a while.

But the reason I made all of these changes was, yeah, to play better week-in, week-out. But to play well and compete in the major championships.

You know, that's everything that Butch Harmon -- everything that we worked on constantly said, you know, it has to hold up. You find out if it's going to hold up in the majors.

So, yeah, that's been a real focus of mine over the last couple of years, is to get back to playing well and competing in the majors.