BUICK CLASSIC

June 21, 2001

Justin Leonard

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, pretty lucky to get finished. Got off to a horrendous start, just trying to hit 3-iron off No. 10. Hit it in the left bunker on the green, 3-putted. From there, I played pretty solid, a couple of nice up-and-downs, made a couple 6- or 8-footers here or there for par. 17, drove it in the left rough, hit 8-iron toward the back of the green and made about a 25-footer for birdie. 18, laid up my second shot, third shot with a sand wedge to about four feet, made that for birdie. Made about a 12-footer for par at 1. Then I guess made my way around to 7, just parred through, 7, after the tee shot we got called in for the first delay. Went back out. Hit a sand wedge to about five feet, made that for birdie. Made a good up-and-down at 8 for par. And then I just missed about a 10-footer for birdie on 9.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I had a couple of extra days to make that transition. (Laughter). So probably a little easier for me. For the guys that made the cut, it's certainly tougher because you get up mentally to play those four rounds under extreme conditions. And then after that, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday goes by awfully fast. All of a sudden you are out here going "Gee, I am already teeing it up." My case, I got to go home Saturday and hang out by the pool and work out for a couple of days, and so you know, I am more rested now than I was going into last week.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Not really. The first round -- the first probably ten holes or nine holes, I seemed to pull the ball and that hasn't been a problem, and it took me a while to kind of -- because it was something new to figure it out, the back nine, I hit the ball better, didn't score any better, but you know, I had good practice leading in. I felt good about it. I just didn't hit near as many good shots.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Saturday, I did not see a shot. Sunday, I watched Sergio with the waggle thing on 5. I remember that. Then I said: I can't watch anymore of this. So I turned it off.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I wasn't counting, but I just -- I think I caught him mid-sequence, and I heard the commentators talking about it.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, that drove me to hit balls. That's how bored I was at that point. I went out and practiced for a little bit. Came back, and I guess I flipped it back on, I guess the last group -- I watched Mark Brooks play 17 and 18. So I got to see the last group play about the last four holes.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Is everybody okay, by the way?

JUSTIN LEONARD: I didn't see any of the playoff. I was busy playing golf myself for an outing. Otherwise, I probably would have watched some of it. But you know, for me personally, after a disappointing two days I am trying to pretty much put it behind me. To sit there and watch it, I mean, yeah, I can see the shots are playing, and watch it, kind of commentate in my mind, but I am also thinking about the dumb decision I made to hit a 5-iron on that hole. Why didn't I just hit a 6-iron in the middle of the green? I continue to beat myself up. So it does me no good mentally in getting ready for this week to watch it. Had I not been in the Open, then yes, I would have watched much more than I did over the weekend.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Absolutely. For the last couple of months -- it started to feel better at Augusta and the last couple of months is -- I have been thought-free which is the way I need to play. Just out there trying to hit different shots and make the right decisions, and so it took a little longer than I thought, but it's -- I certainly feel comfortable with it now.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, when you are talking about a US Open, that's very different from a normal Tour event. Any time in the majors, you don't see things like that happen at a regular Tour event. It seems to take a major to, you know, the best players in the world who are playing the best that week, to do things that the normal golfer you know, says, "God, how can they do that?" Well, playing a major championship anything is possible. Sometimes at certain points during the game we are reduced to, you know, a 10, or 20, or 30-handicap level on some shots. It's pretty humbling. That is why it's such a great feat when you do win a match.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I don't quite understand what you are saying.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, Sunday is different.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, because in most cases I don't know if I have them this week with the weather, but you get into a rhythm, by Sunday, you probably played the same way the first three rounds. You feel more comfortable with the golf course. And you obviously, have built confidence through those three rounds. So playing the final round on Sunday is much different than the first round on Thursday.

JUSTIN LEONARD: The first rain I didn't notice much difference in the course. Greens were obviously a little bit softer, but you know, I think this is going to be pretty heavy rain. I don't know if the guys will get to go out, so the golf course will be much softer tomorrow.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, I think he hasn't played over here much. So I haven't competed with him that often. I think you look at his golf swing and it's -- he has got a beautiful swing; fundamentally it's very sound, it is very smooth. He seems like he has got a great short game and a good putter. Sometimes a player can have all the tools and maybe not even realize it; may just take those first five or six holes to feel real comfortable in the first round and you know, all of a sudden you go, "Wait a second, my swing does feel good," and I won some golf tournaments. I have beaten him before and I have beaten him, and you know, so you just kind of -- you get in that type of mental state to where you know, some players think about it quite a bit. Other players don't. Retief seems to me like a guy who would just go out there and play, probably not have much of an idea of what he is shooting, just playing so well and feeling comfortable that you know, it just -- it looked very natural to me. Looked like he had won ten majors, and so I was very impressed.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Thank God (laughter).

JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, it's building. Yeah, I read during a break I was reading an article about Hubert Green during his experience at Southern Hills and it talked about his kind of his mental approach going to the week; how he had won some Tour events and played very well but had never played well in a major. So I don't think because he didn't have a lot of opportunities before, he probably didn't feel that kind of pressure. He is like, well, I never played well in a major anyways, and all of a sudden, boom, he wins one. You know, the pressure that he faced I think would be totally different from what David and Phil are facing because they have been close and they have had some great opportunities and haven't been able to come through. I don't think, you know, there's timing involved and their timing hasn't -- timing that you can't control and obviously you look at the way they play and the tournaments they have won, and in the manner in which they have won, and you know they are going to get -- they are going to get theirs. But I mean, it would be pretty difficult to go into a major, you know you want to be -- try to be as relaxed as possible. I think it would be very difficult to do that with the pressure that they have on -- from themselves and from the public.

JUSTIN LEONARD: There's a double edge there. One, you are playing against obviously the greatest player in the world now and what some people consider will be the greatest in the history. So you are competing against the best there is but at the same time you can use that as say, well, you know, it's obviously more difficult now to win a major than it was five or ten years ago. But you know, at the same time they both had opportunities and you know, I just -- if I am not playing well then I am pulling for those guys because I want them to get the monkey off their back.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I only think about it when you ask me about it. (Laughs). It was an experience and I didn't play that well on Sunday. I did enough things to hang in there and give myself a chance. There's not really a certain shot I played on Sunday that I wanted back. Because I felt under the circumstances it was the shots that I had to try. But you come close. I was in great position 1997 at the PGA you know, Davis played unbelievably well, I have had some opportunities that I have missed on. In fact if there is one that you probably picked me not to win it was 1997 at Troon so it comes down to you can play as well as you want to because you are going to have a couple of bounces and timing always helps.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I am friends with Mark, so, I was nothing against Retief but I was pulling for Mark.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I am sure he would like to. But really I think he is a little bit away from being put in having the same -- being in the same category as far as pressure and when are you going to win a major as Phil and David. Sergio is only 17 years old, so, he has got a lot of time. (Laughter).

JUSTIN LEONARD: Par 3. 13.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Like you said PGA, 13, Davis, it is a kind of long and left in a bad spot and I have got about eight feet, I am over there licking my chops. I think I was two, maybe 3 back. He hits a great chip that actually hits the hole goes about three feet. I miss. We come out with a tie. Looked like it was going to be a 2-shot swing. Yeah, those little things it's -- we are dealing with such a small margin for error and it's amazing what winning and losing comes down to each week.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I like the four-hole playoff. I think you know, the guys that have never played in a US Open playoff I am not sure exactly how that feels, but I think the public and the media and probably the players would like to have an outcome on Sunday if at all possible and I'd rather see a four holes cumulative than sudden death.

JUSTIN LEONARD: No, I hadn't even thought at that point about, gee, when am I going to win a major. That wasn't, you know -- for me it was just competing, getting experience, trying to give myself a chance. Really it wasn't until -- well, I guess maybe at the PGA just a month later you know, I know Davis was dealing with some of those questions at that time. So yeah, no, I guess it didn't take long for me to realize that it is going to be nice not to face some of those questions.