KEMPER INSURANCE OPEN

June 3, 2000

Justin Leonard

JUSTIN LEONARD: In a good position. A little disappointed with the way I played today. You know, for driving the ball well and hitting my irons fairly well, and I felt like I hit some good putts, especially early in the round. And couldn't seem to make anything. You know that needs to change for me tomorrow in order to have a chance to win. But, you know, I had some -- a couple of stumbles there on 12 and 13 and was able to come back with birdies at 14 and 16, trying to right the ship a little bit. At least be within good striking distance going into Sunday, which was basically my goal at the beginning of the week.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, but I think it's been a while. I think in '96 at the Buick, I think I may have been tied or maybe one stroke ahead going into the last round. But it has been a while.

JUSTIN LEONARD: No. Today was all me. The deer, the little girl running down the hill, those things are fun. There's a lot of people out here, it's a beautiful day, it's late in the day. There's going to be people making noise and some people that maybe forget there's a tournament going on sometimes. But it's such a small number of people, there's no point in -- you know, just something you deal with. And you don't just deal with it here, you deal with it everywhere. You know, I'd rather deal with that late on Saturday and late on Sunday than go out first thing in the morning and not have anybody out there.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I hit some good shots the first few holes. Other than a tee shot at 3, you know, I drove the ball really well which I felt like I struggled with a little bit yesterday. And, you know, I just -- I wasn't able to make the putts today. You know I made a long one there at 11. You know all these good putts, I felt like I hit and then 11 I've got this 40-footer with three different breaks and that's the one I make. Just proves this is a silly game we're playing. Sometimes you just have to laugh about it. But, you know hopefully I can get some good thoughts going into tomorrow and do a little work this afternoon, and come out and make a few putts tomorrow.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I just laid the sod over it. I don't even -- from that distance, I don't even have a yardage. But just try to basically hit, you know kind of a 30 or 40 yard -- almost a flop shot. Had the face wide open, the fairways -- it's bentgrass so it's a little soft. I hit behind the ball and just laid the sod right over it.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I do it in practice every now and then. There's a shot where -- one way is to hit it short and again the fairways, it's pretty soft. So I'd have to hit it pretty hard. I thought the greens are fairly soft, just try to land the ball on top of the hill. You know, it's a shot that I don't try all that often and I'll probably try it even less. (Laughter.)

JUSTIN LEONARD: Just knowing it was fairly soft. If I knew it was firm up front I would have been more likely to play that shot. But I didn't really think much about it, knowing that the fairways are somewhat soft. You know I wasn't trying to hole it. I was trying to hit it knowing that it would go past the hole. But I just, you know, hit a very, very bad golf shot.

JUSTIN LEONARD: You know, I could hit the ball the way I hit today and drive it, I'd be fine. I need to make some more putts. I felt like I hit a lot of good putts today. Maybe it's just a matter of seeing some balls go in tonight and getting a little bit of confidence back. But definitely the thing I need to do tomorrow, especially the way the leaderboard is shaping up and it's bunched up right there at the top, you know, whoever wins this tournament is going to play a really good round of golf tomorrow and make a lot of birdies.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Call a rules official. Pebble Beach, it's strange to play a round without seeing deers.

JUSTIN LEONARD: The 11th. The group in front of us was just walking up on the green and there was a deer that kind of got trapped on the green and the marshals escorted him or her off.

JUSTIN LEONARD: No. I don't think so. You know, I made that putt, so it probably did. Probably had a hoofprint. I think it was more in the front of the green. I don't know.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I'm not going to have a reaction. (Laughter.) I'm not going to read it. I'm not going to talk about it. All I know, he's written a book. I doubt it's very flattering about me or our Ryder Cup team. I've got a lot of good stuff. I'm reading fountain head right why would I want to read a Mark James book. Until it becomes a classic. If it becomes a classic, I might read it.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I don't know. You tell me. You're a writer.