NEC WORLD SERIES OF GOLF

August 27, 1998

Justin Leonard

JUSTIN LEONARD: Pretty solid. Hit -- missed a couple of fairways. Made one bogie on No. 9. Three birdies. Actually missed a couple of pretty makeable birdie putts on the backside. Actually, I guess, three putts from about 10, 12 feet. But pleased with the day.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Course is playing longer. Tough pins out there today. You know, there's a little breeze. So I think that, you know, it's a difficult golf course. I think when it plays fast because it plays so much shorter that it may play a little easier. But with this kind of length and you throw a little breeze in there, it's -- you know, I hit a lot of 3-, 4-, 5-irons, today.

JUSTIN LEONARD: It's been, you know -- it's been a little strange. I mean, I played really well in the spring, you know, had some good tournaments, played pretty well at Bay Hill, didn't get much out of it. Won the next week. Played good at Augusta. And, you know, I had a couple of good results in May and June, but the last month or so or two months, it's been a little bit frustrating, you know. I feel like I've been playing okay. Not great, but I've been playing okay. Well enough to, you know, to shoot some good scores and -- but I just hadn't really been getting anything out of it. And, you know, so it's been a little frustrating. I missed 3 cuts in a row there, ending at the PGA, and had last week off. Made a couple of little changes and I've got, you know, a swing thought that I'm working on that feels really good. You know, I haven't -- I'm not letting the last month or so or few weeks -- I don't want it to creep in and affect the rest of the year. So I'm not going to let that happen. You know, it's nice to come out and play a good round today.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, they're all friendly rivalries if you're playing with somebody on Sunday. But I wouldn't be able to get into anything specific.

JUSTIN LEONARD: No.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I mean, I'd like to think so. Somebody else may say that, no, I don't have a chance here. I think because I drive the ball pretty well, I feel like that's a big advantage on this course because of the length, you know, and the greens are relatively small, so you need to be coming from the fairway most of the time. And I feel like when I'm playing well, that's really one of my strong suits.

JUSTIN LEONARD: This is a long golf course. When it's soft like this, you know, you've got elevation changes and everything and the par 3s are long. So, you know, you're going -- I knew going in I was going to be hitting a lot of those clubs. But, you know, if the golf course plays fast, it plays much shorter.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I like it when par is a good score, when the conditions are difficult and the golf course is difficult. You know, you don't have to hit 3-iron in every hole for a golf course to be hard. So, I mean, I think Augusta proves that. Now, let's not start comparing everything to Augusta, but... You know, it's nice -- I like knowing that if you make a par on a hole, you know, it's a good score. If you hit a couple of goods shots, you're going to be rewarded and I think that's the way this golf course sets up.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I birdied 2. I hit a 1-iron on the green side bunker. Got it up and down. I birdied eight. I hit a 4-iron about eight feet, made that for birdie. I bogied 9. Hit a 4-iron just right of the green. And I hit kind of a poor chip shot. Left it about 7 feet short, missed the putt. Birdied 11. I hit a pitching wedge about 8 feet. And then I had about 3 chances coming in at 14, 16 and 18, you know, all about 12 to 15 feet without much break that -- you know, I'm not expecting to make all three of those but maybe make one of them. Two them hit the hole, so, you know, it's -- I feel good about the day.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Not really. I mean, there's, you know -- I think there's a lot to play for. You know, this is a great golf tournament. You know, CANADIAN OPEN is a big event. TEXAS OPEN, in my home state. I've got some tournaments that I really enjoy playing in coming up this fall and they are a little more relaxed. I think that's one thing I like about them is, we're not talking about the PGA in two weeks or the U.S. OPEN next week. You know, nobody wants to talk about anything. They just let you go play golf. You know, obviously, the tour championship and, you know, there are various things that is guys want to finish on the money list and that sort of thing and then, with the President's Cup in December, you know, it's going to be -- it's kind of a longer year this year. But I've kind of spaced out my schedule from here out to where I'm really not playing -- I mean, I'm playing two weeks in a row maybe once or twice and, so, I look forward to this time of year.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, I'm still a little uncertain on my schedule. So I don't want to get into specifics.

JUSTIN LEONARD: No. I hit it one three-wood on 17, I believe. Thank you.