THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

March 24, 1999

Justin Leonard

JUSTIN LEONARD: I don't know what they are going to do with this place. The course is great. I can't imagine it being any better. The greens are good. They are fast and smooth and the rough is up, so, it is another shape and chip week here. The week, it has been fun, and it has been busy, but I am looking forward to the Past Champions Dinner tonight. It will be my first time at a Past Champions Dinner, so, looking forward to that and just getting the week started tomorrow, and that is about it. I feel pretty good about my game. Coming in I have been playing okay, and hopefully I can get off to a good start and enjoy the week.

JUSTIN LEONARD: It would be a good story if we did, but, no, I didn't know that was over there until after I had won the tournament.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, I went over for Media Day and walked around and, actually, in a presentation yesterday, Steve Elkington gave me the placard that it has been hanging or resting by the flag pole. And then they put a different one up permanently. I will lug that thing home with me and find a great spot for it. But, you know, it is pretty special to be a part of something like that. And then the presentation yesterday to have -- it is great to have the trophy and then to have something else, I mean, I was trying to describe it to my parents last night. I said this thing is like one of the ten commandments, it is on this stone tablet, and it is pretty cool. It is definitely one of the little side perks to winning here.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, and because you have had some exciting finishes here in the past and it is held at the same venue. I think this course has obviously stood the test of probably the best field of the year. So this tournament means a great deal to all the players, and it certainly does to me as well.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, yeah, there is some places, especially in the low areas around the greens where water seems to collect a little bit and you can have trouble -- I mean, I threw a ball in there and had trouble finding it.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I don't have any specifics. It is kind of spread out all over. So there is going to be a bit of luck involved when you hit it in the rough. If it stays up in one of the higher places, you could be all right; but if it gets down low in one of the drains, then you are going to have a tough time, you know, just getting it on the green.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I don't think so. It is hard for me to say what -- I have never been -- never even tried to predict scores, but you know, I think the greens aren't overly firm right now, but it is Wednesday. We haven't had any rain all week. They are certainly fast enough. But I think as much rough as there is around the greens, if you start missing greens, you are going to have a tough time making pars. It is nice, some of the run-out areas where now you have got some options, you can putt it, bump it, or try to lob it, but you -- but get it in that rough, and there is just one shot and you better hold on to that club pretty tight.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, yeah, I am not thinking about: "I need to defend this title." I am approaching it like I did last year and the year before. It is a big week, but I just need to make sure that I am prepared to play on Thursday. This week, there are always some additional things that come with defending, and the junior clinic, then we had a player meeting, and dinner tonight -- things that normally I don't have every week. So it takes a little bit of adjusting, but I know all that going in. So it is just a matter of being ready to play on Thursday.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Thank for telling me that. I appreciate it.

JUSTIN LEONARD: That was your last question. (laughter)

JUSTIN LEONARD: I don't know. I will tell you tomorrow afternoon, maybe.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I don't know. If you play well, everybody is going to cheer for you. So I don't know -- that is usually not my motivation. But it is great when you have the fans on your side, especially coming down to a situation on Sunday and you can do something exciting and maybe steal some energy from the fans. It is hard to say if that is going to help or not.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Some timely 30-footers seem to work pretty well. I think, you know, a big hitter is going to have an advantage anywhere he plays -- if he is hitting the ball in the fairway. I think it is all a moot point, because you have to go out and play to your style, and I haven't tried to change anything in my game. I feel like I am longer than I was when I was here last year. Whether that will help or not, I don't know. It doesn't help any if I am not in the fairways. So I think a lot of patience here. You know, the scores aren't going to get too low and you just -- you need to place the ball in the right places.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I feel like I have been putting okay. Made a few putts; probably should make a few more. And that is the reason I haven't won this year, but I feel like my putting has been really solid. I haven't been struggling with it in any way. If anything, it has kind of kept me from -- kept me in some rounds and, you know, I have had some good results. I think a lot of that has been attributed to putting.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I mean, it is just -- the field here is so strong. I think it is difficult, and I think the golf course, it lends itself more to people who may have been in the position before, have played here before quite a few times. Last year even being in my situation with a nice cushion the last three holes, it is still quite nerve-wracking. Trying to imagine that like I was going after my first title, you know, you could play that 17th hole, it could take you an hour to play that hole. I would just say because of the strength of the field and a lot of guys, I think everybody puts a lot of importance on this event, you know. I don't know. I don't have an exact reason.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Absolutely. The course conditions, I think, thrown in there too. This golf course plays like a major championship course and in the setup - it is firm; there is a lot of rough, and the greens are fast and whereever you hit it is trouble. I think those kind of things tend to lend themselves to players with a lot of experience, and that is the best I can answer that one.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, you know, it is hard -- I can't imagine, I mean, how many cell phones are in here today? I am not going to throw any out. (laughter) I imagine there is more than just you that has a cell phone here. I mean, there is more cell phones in the locker room. I mean, everybody has a cell phone. You know, it is the people who leave them on that say: Hey, give me a call; I am going to be at the golf course. Those are the people that ruin it for everybody else who needs to have one. Leave it off and you go off in the woods and you call and check in. I don't ask people to not bring their cell phone. I ask them just to turn it off. But how do you police that? You can't go grabbing every cell phone seeing if it's on. I think it is a tough situation. But when you are talking a sporting event, I kind of lost it a couple of times on fans because of cell phones. I hear three or four during a round. We got through a stretch at Doral where I think I counted like eight different cell phones in about four holes that went off. Finally one of them went off on my backswing and then I went off on him. But, you know, it is tough. It is going to be very difficult to police. I think you just have to be real conscious of what is going on and if you have to have one, turn it off and then call in and check. Don't have it on to where somebody can call.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, I have heard that before too. You'd like to think that this game is a little bit above, you know, some of the other sports in that respect as far as sportsmanship and things like that. But you get this many people at a golf tournament and golf is appealing to such a wider variety of people, that you are going to get people out here that are used to going to Jaguar games and they are going to yell and scream. I'd rather see those kinds of things not happen, or those kinds of things not being said, but there is nothing wrong with coming out getting excited in a positive way.

JUSTIN LEONARD: You know, I stay fairly calm inside. I wouldn't say I am a very -- I don't think I have a nervous personality. I stay pretty calm and just get real focused into what I am trying to do on the golf course and worry about the consequences later on.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, I think everybody gets nervous. I mean, I get nervous, but there is a difference -- there is a point of nervousness where it becomes detrimental. I think I like that excited nervousness where I might be able to hit the ball a little bit farther, those kind of things, but, sure, there are times when I may be playing well on Thursday and Friday but I am not very comfortable with what is going on and I am a little more towards that bad side of nervousness. When I get comfortable in things like that, it is a lot of fun to deal with that.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I don't even try to. It is two different things. The British Open is -- has a history and close to 130 years old and has the title of being a major. THE PLAYERS Championship does not. So therefore, there is no reason to compare apples to oranges. This is one hell of an orange, you know, probably the best orange you could have, but it is not a major. But I think of all the tournaments, this is one of the most special because of, you know, Jacksonville is home to the Tour, you know, this golf course has had a lot of great events and having U.S. Amateur Championship and there has been a lot of great finishes here and you think -- if you look at the field, the players wants to play here and look forward to this tournament for so long, but I am not going to sit here and tell you that I am going to compare it to the British Open.

JUSTIN LEONARD: You know, I haven't played -- I bowed out in the second round, you know, it is tough to say. It is tough to compare match play tournament to stroke-play. Maybe after the last two stroke-play tournaments at the end of the year, I will be able to come a little bit closer. I don't know enough to compare the two. I would say they are a similar feel, but again it is match play and stroke-play.

JUSTIN LEONARD: It is a great golf course, one that I enjoy playing. Not one that gets a whole lot of my thoughts this time of year, but, you know, it is a nice week after Augusta because it is a little more relaxed and, you know, it is a fun week. I enjoy playing there, enjoy the golf course. It is certainly a week that I look forward to.

JUSTIN LEONARD: No, I am not.