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June 25, 2008

Justin Leonard

GRAND BLANC, MICHIGAN

JOE CHEMYCZ: We welcome Justin Leonard into the interview room, past champion, and tied for second here last year and winner on the PGA TOUR this year. Make just talk a little bit about the year so far, and how your game stands at this point and we'll open it up for some questions.
JUSTIN LEONARD: Okay. I've had some fun this year. Got off to a good start, and been playing pretty well of late and was able to win a few weeks ago in Memphis and yeah, I'm glad to be being about a here.
I won my first event here in '96. So it's been a while ago, and had a good week here last year, so looking forward to the week.

Q. If I remember right your resurgence started last year; was there something that clicked last year at this tournament?
JUSTIN LEONARD: I started to play better before this, but wasn't getting any results out of it. Came here after a week off, being in Colorado and just kind of came here pretty rested and I knew my game was in pretty good shape.
You know, maybe some of those familiar feelings from '96 kind of came upon me, but I had a good week. I think I just barely made the cut, maybe on the number and then played really well over the weekend. I think those two rounds on the weekend propelled me; I had a good end-of-the-season. And I believe it all started here. Not sure why but just kind of the way the stars lined up.

Q. When you struggled a little bit, do those struggles come from you trying to get longer or have you gone back to doing what you do, hitting fairways, make putts, great short game?
JUSTIN LEONARD: It wasn't a real surge to get longer. It was just I think I got a little tied up in my golf swing. My purpose wasn't really to get longer; it was just to improve. Made some changes that worked well really on and got a little wrapped up into that. Took me a little while to get out of it and get back to really just hitting golf shots and really knowing my tendencies and being able to feel my swing.
I kind of went away from being a feel player into getting more technical, and I've now gotten back into being more of a feel player and having a little more fun doing it.
I think a lot a little wrapped up into the direction the game was going and with technology and everything, I've now gotten back to playing the way I play. People talk about how the golf balls don't move anymore; I can still move the golf ball around. Maybe it's a swing issue; maybe it's because I play with blades; I don't know. I'm still able to shape the ball and move it around and play the way -- do the things that worked for me for a number of years.

Q. We just heard Rocco talk about his experience against Woods in the U.S. Open. Did you get a chance to watch that playoff, and what did you think about what he did against Tiger?
JUSTIN LEONARD: I watched the last five holes, and I mean, he played great. He played great all week. For Tiger to make that putt, I mean, you saw it; that ball was in the air more than it was on the ground, and for that thing to go in, is incredible. For him to make that putt in regulation, and then the playoff; the holes I saw, they both played very, very solid.
I honestly thought when Rocco made his putt on 15 and Tiger missed, I thought that was probably the golf tournament. Unfortunately Rocco didn't hit a great drive on 18 but still gave himself a great putt at it.
But Tiger is Tiger. He hit two great shots at 18 and a nice 2-putt and made a good, solid par at the first playoff hole.
So now that we all know what he went through makes his play -- I mean, you could tell all week he wasn't really on his game, but he's able to will himself to victory a lot.

Q. I think at one point you had dropped below 200 in the world, might have been early last year even; do you recall, was there a low point, or were you just too immersed in trying to get back to even think about that?
JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, I tried to get into the process of working hard and doing those things, but it's pretty hard not to look at the results when every Friday night you're missing a cut.
So really, probably the lowest point was missing my fifth cut in a row in my first six events last year in Tampa. And then that night, kind of deciding, okay, I need to make some changes, and that's when I started working with Randy Smith, my old instructor, and I've been working with Dick Coop for a couple of weeks and started working with my caddie who is still caddying for me, Brian Smith, the next week. So made a few changes.
But I stayed away from looking at the World Rankings and all that stuff, but when you're out on the golf course, you sign your card; you know what you shoot every day. So it was pretty hard not to pay attention and focus on those results.

Q. Can you talk about this golf course and yourself being one; there are so many first-time winners at Warwick Hills; do you have any idea what that is and why that happens? You have done very well and many guys don't win again. Any idea why that is here at Warwick?
JUSTIN LEONARD: I don't think there's any real recipe for playing well on this golf course other than just making birdies. I think it helps to put the ball in the fairway, but because of the trees and the depth of the rough, it makes it difficult to get the ball on the greens.
It's just a guy who is playing well and making a bunch of birdies who is going to win this week.

Q. Wanted to peak ahead to the second half of the summer and get your thoughts and perspective on playing the PGA Championship at Oakland Hills and finishing the season for the most part with the Ryder Cup?
JUSTIN LEONARD: I actually drove around Oakland Hills yesterday morning. I didn't play, but I played there in '96. And knowing two months from now it's going to be in different condition; the rough will be a lot thicker, the greens will be a lot faster, so I decided not to play. I just drove around it.
It was a very difficult golf course in '96, and with all of the length that they have added there, I think it's going to be a very difficult test in August.
You know, I think the hope is that the PGA takes a page out of the USGA's book and sets it up fairly to where we can play the golf course, because with the undulation in those greens and the length of the golf course, I mean, you could set it up to where ten over par might win. I don't think that will be the case because the PGA tends to let you play the golf course. They like thick rough but they don't try and get the greens so hard to where you've got to land it on the front edge.
But I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be a very difficult test. I don't want to look too far forward, but I'm hopeful to make The Ryder Cup team. I feel like I'm playing well enough to make that team and where I can contribute in a very positive way.

Q. On that Ryder Cup note, when did you even start thinking about it? Obviously you want to make the team and get back on the team and make more history like did you in '99, but when did you start thinking it was a possibility?
JUSTIN LEONARD: Really after the start I got off to after the beginning of the year. I really have Paul Azinger to thank, because he changed the qualifying system to where unless you played well in the majors last year, you didn't have any points.
So I knew that a good year this year would get -- whoever had good years this year would be on the team. And I think that's the way it should be. It should be weighted very heavily towards -- and even the few weeks right before the event.
I love the new selection process with eight qualifying spots and then four picks, and then he's going to wait till I think just a couple weeks before to make his selections.
So yeah, I think it's a great process. I think we've got a much better chance of putting the best 12 American players at the time out there, and that's what we need.

Q. Want to get your thoughts, the pros and cons of this being a Tiger-less TOUR for the rest of 2008.
JUSTIN LEONARD: I think the cons are pretty obvious. I read somewhere where the tournaments that he play, the ratings are almost 50 percent better. So that's obviously -- our viewership is going to decrease because he brought in a lot of casual golf fans.
For the summer, I think it will be fine, because, you know, baseball is kind of the only game in town, other than golf, and so I think that's the biggest con.
As far as pros, I don't know. I mean, we all probably have a little better chance of winning the events that he was going to play.
But you know, you still want to beat the best guys, and when you win a tournament, it's a real -- you've really accomplished something when you go beat Tiger Woods in an event. And that's not going to happen the rest of the year.

Q. Taking you back to the Ryder Cup, you've made one of the bigger putts in international competition in memory probably, and you know the rewards of that; what about the pressure of playing for your country, is there more or is it different than when you're playing for more than just yourself out there?
JUSTIN LEONARD: It's more and different, because you know you have 11 other players and a captain and assistant captains and wives and family and friends and people you've never met before are really pulling for you and counting on you.
But it's a fun week. It's a great chance to get to know those guys better, and you know, golf is such an individual sport that being part of that kind of team atmosphere, is a real treat. But you know, when you can go and represent your country like that, it's a very special week, and you know, once you get past the hype and the pressure and everything and get out there on the golf course, there's nothing better.

Q. Does it enter your mind at all, creep in at time with big shots or whatever, that other people are riding on that?
JUSTIN LEONARD: No, no. I think we all know what's at stake, and I think we embrace that. But you know, when you're hitting a shot, you're just trying to pick the right shot.

Q. Going back to the bomb you sank, when did you know it was going in? It was such a long putt, as it tracked, when it was halfway there --
JUSTIN LEONARD: No, it was three or four feet from the hole because it went up a ridge and it was breaking three or four feet and three or four feet from the hole I was backing up to get a better angle of it. I knew it was going to hit the hole but it was going pretty fast. It was just a matter if it was going to stay in the hole or not.
You know, fortunately, it did. But two or three feet out, I knew it was going in.

Q. Next week the TOUR is going to start the drug testing program, and curious if you're okay with the whole process. It's obviously been talked about for a long time now, and are you okay with it; do you have any problems with it or any fears or opinions one way or the other?
JUSTIN LEONARD: Any fears? No. (Laughing.)
I think it's kind of a necessary evil. I think in this age of sports with all of the scandals that you've had and the drug testing in other sports, I think it's necessary. I think it's unfortunate because golf is a game of honor and integrity, but I hope that we don't find somebody violating that honor or integrity, but I feel like it's necessary.

Q. No. 11, you had a hole-in-one, when you get up there, is that still in your mind?
JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, it not in my mind, but I kind of re-live that in practice rounds. You know, once I get in the tournament, I'm just trying to put the ball in the right place on the green.
The par 3s here are difficult. They are all fairly similar in yardage. But they kind of require different shots. And the greens are all a little bit different from one another. It's a very nice collection of par 3s here.

Q. How do you describe to people the atmosphere out at 17?
JUSTIN LEONARD: There's a little more pressure on 17 than there is on the rest of the golf course, because you know, you don't want to disappoint anybody. I remember last year on Saturday, I was playing fairly early, but there were enough people there when I was finishing on 17, I chipped in and it was really one of the loudest roars that I have been involved with.

Q. And being back in contention last year, how much did that help you gain some confidence back?
JUSTIN LEONARD: My play on the weekend, having a chance to win the tournament and making a 20-footer on the 18th hole to move into a tie for the lead, all those things played a significant factor in the way I've played the rest of the year and gave me a huge shot of confidence and, you know, just kind of reaffirmed think was heading in the right direction with my golf game.
JOE CHEMYCZ: Justin, we thank you for your time. Good luck this week.

End of FastScripts

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