U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 14, 2003

Stephen Leaney

RAND JERRIS: It's our pleasure to be joined by Stephen Leaney. Stephen, a very fine round of 2-under par 68 today. Double bogey and bogey to start off the back nine, and you held it together quite nicely, picked up 2 birdies coming in. That must feel pretty good.

STEPHEN LEANEY: Well, it did, because I was really losing my way in the tournament. I made some big saves on the front nine, and it's not good to make bogeys in majors, because you really go backwards quickly. To follow it up with a 3-putt didn't help. I didn't hit a very good shot into 12, I wasn't committed to it, but made a big up-and-down, and that's what I've been doing. I've just been trying to stay patient all week, and I hit a very good shot into 15, and I made a nice birdie, and I guess the pleasing thing for me was I stuck to my game plan. I've been watching guys hit driver, sand iron in there all week, but that hole seems to suit me with a 3-iron off the tee. And I managed to birdie it twice. I guess in that regard it is pleasant to finish off the way I did.

RAND JERRIS: Were the playing conditions out there noticeably different than the previous days, especially as the afternoon went along?

STEPHEN LEANEY: Very different. You sort of had a chance the first two days to go at flagsticks, but I wasn't looking at flagsticks after about the 5th hole, because it was too difficult to get to. You would hit it on a spot to make par, and if you got lucky, then you got lucky. Mostly on the back nine, the breeze got up to be quite strong on the back nine and you just tend to look for the fattest part of green to hit your iron shot to, because you're going in with some fairly big clubs. And I've been driving it well enough, I've missed it in spots where I can still get something near the green, that's what I've been doing well this week. I've left myself with a chance to make par.

RAND JERRIS: Would you take a moment to walk through the birdies and bogeys.

STEPHEN LEANEY: The birdie at 1, driver, 3-iron, pitched up to about 3 feet.

5 was a great birdie, that's one of the toughest par-4s I've played. But I hit 6-iron in there and made a good putt.

9 was a big drive, a 9-iron to about five feet above the hole. I was actually just trying to 2-putt. I was trying to hit it down, and knock it -- but it went in.

15, 6-iron to about 20-foot. And the last hole I hit 7-iron to about two feet, I guess.

Q. Steve, you've come to Q-School here five times. You just missed out by a stroke last year.

STEPHEN LEANEY: Thanks for reminding me.

Q. At the beginning of this year, I think it's fair to say you were a little bit despondent about the fact you couldn't break through. Reflect on that and where you are now. I know there's a full day to play, but what you've achieved from where you were at the end of last year?

STEPHEN LEANEY: I was really devastated last year, when I birdied the last and missed by a shot. It's always been my dream to come here. And the first two tournaments this year I didn't feel like playing. I went and did some soul-searching and realized I had to dig deep, and I finished second behind Ernie, I played well that week. And I've sort of kicked on. And I'm planning on playing about 9 events here, and I'm trying to get my card for those 9 starts. To have a chance to win this week is great. But there's some things, as well, because I really want to get my card. If I play well this week, hopefully I'll achieve that.

Q. Final round of the Open tomorrow, what will you be drawing on to keep your composure, and not think about the fact that it's the final round of the Open?

STEPHEN LEANEY: I don't have anything to draw on. I mean, I've been in -- I've had a very good record, where I've led 7 times going into final rounds. I guess I can draw on that experience. I know how to win tournaments and how to control myself when I start to get away from what I should be thinking. It's going to be very hard not to think about a U.S. Open possibility, because that is a very big tournament, and obviously I'm going to struggle with that. But as long as I realize that I am going to struggle with that, I know when it happens, that I have to deal with it and I just have to draw on the fact that I'm playing well. I've got great confidence in my golf swing, and also my ability to make pars. And I just have to try to draw on that, and try and block everything else out.

Q. What was it specifically that made the difference in the conditions today? Was it the pin positions or was it the wind?

STEPHEN LEANEY: It was largely the wind and largely the greens got very firm. It dried out a lot. And there were some really difficult pin placements. The 10th, 11th, 12th, No. 16 was probably one of the hardest pins. No. 17, I don't know how you get close to that pin, but you have to hit it in a spot where you can make par. Even the last hole was up on top of the lip. The pin placements were difficult. You didn't have a lot of flat putts, even if you hit it to ten feet.

Q. Can you go over your caddie situation? Your caddie was ill yesterday. Where does everything stand now?

STEPHEN LEANEY: I've had a few I guess caddie -- not problems, just a few things happen lately. I've been without a regular caddie for the last three tournaments I've played. I played Memorial Tournament with Justin, who worked this week. He's just filling in, just for the two weeks. But Justin has a heart condition and had to pull out after the first round. I've got Al on the bag, and I don't know him that well. It's difficult to sort of keep changing caddies every other week, and every round it seems. I don't rely on guys that much to pick me up or spur me on, I just want them to do a certain job. It's nice to have an Australian to talk to, because I'm comfortable with him on the bag. He's just doing the job that I'm doing. The course is hard enough as it is, that I don't worry about the other -- the other stuff that's going on.

Q. What are their last names, Justin and Al?

STEPHEN LEANEY: Justin Hoyle, and Al, I don't know, I'm sorry.

Q. Last week you had the angle changed on your irons, and you were saying to us the other day, as weird as it sounds, you're struggling with the fact that you're hitting the ball so straight. Are you still hitting it straight?

STEPHEN LEANEY: The last five years I've relied on hitting it left-to-right. And I really struggled to actually draw the ball. But this set of irons I changed to, the lines weren't right. I couldn't hit it left-to-right, which is my normal shot. I got them down to where they're pretty comfortable. But I still struggle to hit hold up shots, and I still struggle to hit it left-to-right. And that's what I meant when the ball is going straight. It's hard to work into pins. I guess I've had to change my mindset and just go at more flags, and just trust the fact that the ball is going to go straight.

Q. What happened on No. 10?

STEPHEN LEANEY: I was just frustrated a little bit. We were behind from the group in front of us, and I don't think properly about the yardage I had, I had 172 meters to the flag, and I tried to hit 5-iron, and really should have hit 4-iron. My tendency under pressure is to get quick, and just pull it. I found a really terrible lie. And I was trying to get on the green and I sort of bridled over the green, and I didn't make a very good chip from there. It was a combination of errors which led to the double bogey.

Q. It's not like you just arrived, you've been a pro a long time. What is it that you can draw on? What has been up to now your biggest moment, I suppose, in golf?

STEPHEN LEANEY: Well, winning tournaments is a big moment. But the Dunhill Cup where I played for Australia in St. Andrews. That was a different pressure. I had a 5 foot putt on the last to win the match for Australia against Japan, and I saw Craig Parry watching me, and that sort of pressure is entirely different. It's little things that you can draw on where you come through under pressure, and that's what I keep reminding myself. I've been in pressure situations before, and I've hit a lot of quality golf shots and made a lot of good putts. There's a chance that I can go out tomorrow and have a bad round. But there's also the chance that I can go out and play well and actually win the tournament. That's what I have to draw on, and that's what I'm going to try to be thinking about.

Q. Where is your game and your expectations coming in here? Did you envision being second in the Open after 54 holes? What were you thinking?

STEPHEN LEANEY: Well, to be honest I haven't -- I've only played one U.S. Open, and didn't make the cut. But I've been playing well. You don't plan to have a chance to win -- I guess you don't think that far ahead that you're thinking about winning tournament on Thursday, you want to get in a position to win. And I've been pleased that I've been able to concentrate day-by-day, and not get too far ahead of myself, and I haven't thought about winning the tournament at all this week, until just now, I'm only three shots back. But I'm not going to worry about winning, unless I have a chance to win with a few holes tomorrow because I know that in the past that to win tournaments you have to follow a lot of steps, and one of those steps is to stay in the present and just trying to take one step at a time.

Q. How about the STATE of your game coming in?

STEPHEN LEANEY: It's been good. I haven't been putting well, and that's probably what's been hurting me. I've been driving the ball well. I put a new driver in the last five weeks, and that's probably been -- I guess that's why I felt confident coming in. I've been driving the ball well. I only missed about five fairways all week at Jack's tournament. I knew if I could get my iron play sorted out I was going to have a chance to maybe be around the number on Sunday.

RAND JERRIS: Congratulations on your fine playing, and thanks for your time.

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