LIV GOLF VIRGINIA

May 7, 2026

Marc Leishman

Trump National DC

Ripper GC

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome Marc Leishman. 6-under 66, currently tied for second. Take us through today's round. How did it feel out there today?

MARC LEISHMAN: It felt really good. Obviously a great start to the tournament. The course was absolutely perfect. It was enjoyable. Temperature couldn't have been better. Yeah, happy to get off to a good start. Had seven birdies, only one bogey. Yeah, was lucky enough to make a few putts and get off to a good start, which is nice.

Q. This is the league's third year playing in Virginia, second time at this course, as you know, not far from where you call home. Does playing in your backyard a bit provide any extra comfort or confidence heading into the week?

MARC LEISHMAN: It's nice to be able to drive to a tournament. I'll have a lot of support up here over the weekend. I've got a few carloads of people coming up tomorrow and over the weekend. So it's always nice when you've got some familiar faces in the crowd, particularly when you're playing well.

I guess it works both ways. When you're playing bad, they can give you a bit of stick. And when you're playing well, they can cheer you on.

Yeah, it's really good to be here. We've played some amazing golf courses in Virginia. Like I said before, this is in as good a condition as I've ever seen it. It's a big, major golf course. So your game has to be pretty good.

Q. Marc, this course obviously isn't exactly around the corner from your house, though. Have you played this other than three years ago and obviously this week?

MARC LEISHMAN: So LIV Virginia, the first event we played here was the first time I played here. We actually had -- they were kind enough to let us play an event here for our foundation the Monday after that event. So had an event on the Monday on the course that we played, and then I played with another group on Tuesday on the other course.

That's the only experience I've had, but they've been kind enough to help us out with that and certainly appreciated.

Q. Obviously the Rippers got off to a great start this season. How's it been? You guys are still obviously top of the standings and playing well this week. What's it been like these last few weeks past Adelaide?

MARC LEISHMAN: We've been having a lot of fun. Obviously the start we got off to was pretty pleasing as a team. I think the courses of the last couple of weeks probably didn't suit us as well as the early ones did and maybe the next few coming up will.

I think we're happy to have a few decent finishes there, still be leading the standings. Certainly excited for the rest of the season. I think all the boys are playing well. We've bonded really well as a team. We have a lot of fun together off the golf course. We're really competitive on the course.

It's nice early in the week to have those matches with each other, drag each other along, and lift each other up if someone's not playing great. Yeah, it's been fun. Elvis has obviously been a great addition to the team.

Q. What are those courses that give you fits? What are some of the attributes to that? What is it about this course that you think fits the team's game?

MARC LEISHMAN: I think it's -- I think the bigger golf courses, where like Herby and Elvis both hit it miles. Cam's getting a lot longer as well. So I think that helps.

But I think just being a firm golf course where you have to control your ball on the greens when you're hitting into the fairways -- sorry, into the greens. You're not aiming at every pin. You're trying to get into position to try to give yourself a putt at it. I think courses that are more difficult, I think, suit us pretty well, particularly if they're firm.

Just growing up in Australia playing on firm golf courses, I feel like we really enjoy that type of golf. This is certainly going to get pretty firm over the weekend, I feel like.

Q. Kind of to build off that, a lot of times on a long golf course people think the longest hitters always succeed, but the fact that it's difficult and players are missing greens, does that give you an advantage? Because you are so good around the greens. You gained almost 4 around the green and 3 putting today, so 7 strokes on your short game.

MARC LEISHMAN: That's good to know. Yeah, it certainly helps. Then I think iron play is pretty important too. I think missing greens in the right spots is important. If you can't get it onto the green or close to the hole, it's missing it in the right position to leave yourself the easy chips so you can, I guess, gain shots easily, if that makes sense, rather than having really difficult bunker shots or impossible up-and-downs that make you kind of look silly. But it wasn't really your short game that was the cause. It was maybe your bad tee shot or your iron shot into a bad position.

I hope I haven't gone into too much detail there. I think iron play is very important on golf courses like this. Obviously hitting fairways when the rough is the way it is. You can do all that well, but if you're not making putts, it doesn't really matter. You're not going to have a good score.

Q. What about long golf courses? You won at Torrey Pines. You won at Doral. You're playing great this week. You answered it a little bit, but these long golf courses that suit you even though you might not be the longest anymore?

MARC LEISHMAN: I think my iron play is still pretty strong. I feel like I'm pretty disciplined. If I'm out of position, I can somehow get myself into a place where I can get up-and-down. When I do hit a good tee shot, I feel like my long irons are world class, and the rest of my irons, to be honest, as well.

I just enjoy tough golf courses where you're not particularly -- well, you're not necessarily aiming at every pin. A good shot might be 20 feet. If I hit a good shot into the last hole -- well, the 4th hole today, which was my last, but it was a great shot. It was 20 feet left of the pin, pin high, and leaves you an easy putt.

I feel like I enjoy that type of golf where you're not necessarily aiming at every pin.