KEMPER INSURANCE OPEN

June 2, 2000

Justin Leonard

JUSTIN LEONARD: Didn't play quite as well today as I did yesterday. Missed some tee shots through the front -- well, back nine, which is my front side. And then played a little better on my second nine, but, you know, I think I may have gotten into a -- gotten a feel for what was going on out there and I'll just go work on it this afternoon. But it's nice to be up near the lead. I really don't think I'll be leading by the end of the day, but, you know, certainly in good position going into tomorrow and Sunday.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, just I missed some tee shots out there, and I think that my rhythm just didn't seem to be very good. I think I was getting away from the ball a little quick, and that just kind of through everything off; so timing didn't feel like it was quite there. And usually that's because my takeaway is too fast. Just a little anxious, I guess. So I felt like I smoothed it out a little bit during the last four or five holes. Hit some really good shots. You know, didn't have a great putting round today, either, but made a couple putts coming in. So hopefully I can build on those things and get ready for tomorrow.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Well -- (Laughter.)

JUSTIN LEONARD: I don't know how big of an advantage it is but it's pretty warm out there. You can see that my shirt (indicating wet), even when I was hitting balls at 7:00 this morning. Certainly throughout -- it's cooler this morning than it will be this afternoon. But, you know, I don't know how big an advantage that might be. Just looking forward to the weather tomorrow, which I heard is supposed to be much cooler.

JUSTIN LEONARD: You know, usually the greens feel softer in the morning, and we noticed the balls releasing a little bit more today, this morning. You know, I didn't really think they were any softer. The golf course I thought played pretty similarly. You know, there may be a bit more wind this afternoon, but, you know, I didn't -- I thought the pin placements were, you know, equally as difficult. So not a real big change in how the golf course is playing today.

JUSTIN LEONARD: If the conditions stay the same -- I mean, without wind, the score will be below 10-under, I would think. I'm close, to a lot of guys at 6, 7, 8( -under). So I would imagine unless we get some pretty good wind, it will go below this week.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Hard to say. I mean, you know, certain times when guys are able to separate themselves and others when you're not able to. So I don't think it really has anything to do with the golf course or anything. I know if you get to missing shots, just by a little bit here, you can pay a big penalty and maybe that's part of the reason. I'm sure that's part of the reason why the winning score has been fairly high at 10-under. So we'll just have to see what the weather is like this weekend.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I was hoping nobody would ask this. (Smiles). You know, it's a pretty difficult shot. I had 201 to the front, which doesn't sound like much, and 228 to the hole. I was trying to decide whether I would be better off, because it's such a difficult green to hit from back there but I felt I could get it right of the green fairly easily and -- not thinking that I would have a very good chip shot at it. And also, I was kind of between clubs. You know, at one point we were downwind. We should have been into the wind. And just there were too many ifs in there, and that's a hole where I've -- there's been years where I've gone for it a couple times and played it fairly poorly. So, you know, I just kind of made up my mind the last couple of years that unless I felt really good about the shot I was going to hit in there, I was just trying to lay it up. And I birdied the hole the last few days; so it was the right decision. You know, just one of those holes you have to be really comfortable hitting that shot, and neither yesterday or today being --

JUSTIN LEONARD: No. I was thinking about it pretty much the whole time. That's kind of the nice thing there on the green because I could go through all the options. We talked about, "Okay, if I hit a 3-iron, if I hit a 1-iron, 3-wood, back to 3-iron." I said, "Forget it; just give me a 7-iron."

JUSTIN LEONARD: You know, that's a big part of it. And I think, you know, until the last couple weeks, I've had to hit shots at the hole because I'm making too many mistakes in other areas. But yeah, I hit a save shot on 7 past the hole and same thing at 8. You know a little bit right of the hole. Playing well, that's a luxury I can afford. It's a by-product of playing well and having made birdies and things like that that I feel like I can make a 15-footer; whereas, you know, some of my story this year was I felt like I needed to hit it in there three, four, five, feet to really have a birdie chance. So now that I'm making a couple more putts, you know, I don't have to play quite as aggressive all the time. And I'm not making as many mistakes.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Not really. My mental start got off with missing -- No. 10 was my 1st hole, missing that fairway and missing No. 12. So, you know, I didn't drive the ball as well today. I really wasn't thinking much about, you know, I need to get to 13-under or 10-under, whatever. I just was out there, basically hitting one shot at a time, trying to put the ball into play and give myself chances. So I didn't really think too much. I mean, had I been playing as well as I did yesterday, you know, I think I would have tried to stick a number out there to go at. But, you know, I didn't -- I wasn't hitting it well enough today to really think that way.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah. Yeah, it was. You know, I was able to -- I hit some really good shots the last four holes, and, you know, birdied two of them. Could have birdied the other two. So that's what I look on today was that, you know, I was struggling, trying to pull it back together. So go work on some things this afternoon and hopefully play like that tomorrow.

JUSTIN LEONARD: What did you say before you asked that question? I hope this is --

JUSTIN LEONARD: Oh, no, it's not getting old. Talk about me getting longer, are you kidding me? (Laughter.) That's not getting old. That's the first time I ever heard that. Usually, it's: "Well, you're a short hitter, so how do you" --

JUSTIN LEONARD: No. That wasn't a myth. I've never been considered a long hitter, and I've been, you know, certainly on the shorter side, average, but I think the things I've done physically and with my golf swing, I think that's -- I'm getting -- I think I'm an average-length hitter now. And certainly when I'm swinging well, like yesterday and somewhat today, you know, I can go ahead and take a rip at it and get it out there with some guys. So I don't feel like I'm only able to play a certain golf course. I mean, last week was a good example. That's always been kind of a haven for long hitters. You know, I competed very well there. So, you know, although the short hitting wasn't a myth two or three years ago, you know, I don't feel it's as true now.

JUSTIN LEONARD: No. I mean, it depends on the golf course. I think I'm probably a club longer, and that's really since -- since probably October, November. You know, usually with your irons, you gain a little bit . I think I've done a lot of good things physically and to get in good shape, get stronger, and it seems to be paying off.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I think it suits a guy who is hitting the ball well. There's some golf courses where you can kind of fake it around, and here I don't think you can. You know, you've got some room in the majority of the fairways, but you've got some places where you have to drive to be straight. And it certainly helps hitting the ball from the fairway, because the greens are for the most part small and fairly well undulating. So you have to -- distance control is very important, and just hitting the ball well and knowing what you're trying to do, you know, and I think if you look at the winners here, I think you see a lot of that. Started at No. 10. So I birdied the 11th hole. I hit a 7-iron about eight feet. Bogeyed the 12th. Drove it in the rough. Hit it short of the green, pitched it on and missed about a 6-footer. 15, I hit a 6-iron about five feet. Made that for birdie. 6th hole I talked about. Just laid it up, hit a sand wedge to about two feet. And 7, hit a 7-iron about 20 feet. Made that for birdie.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, I don't expect to come out and play great four straight days. You know, when I or anybody else out here is playing well, or they are having a day like today and where they are not hitting as good or things like that, they get a decent score out of it. You kind of feel like you're going to have one round -- if you're playing well, you're going to have one round that maybe you're going to be a little bit off, and then maybe three good ones. So hopefully, I got that one round out of the way today and I can come back and play really solid the next two days.