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CHILDREN'S MIRACLE NETWORK HOSPITALS CLASSICOctober 22, 2011Justin LeonardLAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA MARK STEVENS: I'd like to welcome Justin Leonard. Justin, got it to 14-under today and you'll carry the lead into tomorrow's final round. Go ahead and talk about your thoughts, the strength of your round today and we'll take some questions. JUSTIN LEONARD: The strength of my round was definitely from off the green. You know, I holed it from off the green three times today, and the one at 5 was going pretty fast, and the one at 9 was trying to give myself a decent putt at par. And the one at 8 was a little more realistic, but to hole it three times from off the green was pretty good. And I didn't -- certainly didn't play as well today as I did yesterday. Didn't hit the ball as well. Made some nice putts. The greens were a lot faster today. I don't think they did anything special to them. I just think with the cooler temperatures they really dried out. And had a couple putts GET away from me today and certainly be more aware and pay more attention to that tomorrow. MARK STEVENS: Okay. Thank you. Questions? Q. Can you walk through how the TOUR got in contact with you yesterday afternoon and explained it all to you, please? JUSTIN LEONARD: Sure. Let's see. Well, started off with a question of, you know, how do I feel and giving myself a chance to earn my card this week. I said, well, actually I'm already fully exempt for next year. I called the TOUR a couple months ago. They explained it to me. Not sure how or why, but I am. And then that led to a conversation with Mark Stevens about, I said, you know, call the TOUR. Maybe they can explain it, because on my page in the media book it doesn't say anything about being exempt through next year. And I guess all the people that we needed to talk to were not in the office yesterday. So there was about an hour, hour and a half where I really -- I thought that, okay, to keep my card I need to do something really special this weekend, knowing that also I do -- I've got a couple of one-time exemptions that I could use. So then, fortunately I saw Mike at the hotel, and the stress he's been under for that hour, hour and a half that we were going through all this, he said, okay, you're good. The TOUR was right two months ago. They're still right. We found somebody that could actually go through it and explain it. And apparently when I won the Open in '97 I gained a ten-year exemption. I think it was the last year for that. Starting in like '03, I think. Then my wins after '03 compounded one extra year for each win and that gets me through the end of next year. But we did have a couple of funny texts back and forth yesterday afternoon. Q. At the time you made the phone call a couple of months ago, were you thinking, oh, my gosh, I might have to go back to Q-School or use one of these lifetime exemptions? What were you thinking back then or did you think, oh, I'm just making sure I'm going to be exempt? JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, I just -- because it would affect whether I was going to play the entire fall schedule, and you know, it's just one of those things that I needed to know, and because of, you know, the way I played, I just kind of wanted to be sure of where I stood and what was going on. And so I just wanted clarification, and but yeah, I think had I not been exempt, then sure, I would, you know, have turned in an application and sent in a check for Q-School. Had that not gone my way, then used one of my one-time exemptions. Q. Did you ever send a check in in '94? JUSTIN LEONARD: No, but actually my agent did, I believe. Yeah. Q. Okay. That counts. JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah. It counts. But yeah, I actually haven't been to Q-School. Q. Never? JUSTIN LEONARD: Yet. Ever. Let's knock on wood. Q. Could you have seen this coming going into the week? And secondly, just how do you feel about going into tomorrow? JUSTIN LEONARD: Could I have seen my being in here talking to you guys on Saturday? Q. Yeah. JUSTIN LEONARD: I think it wasn't outside the realm of possibility. I'm not surprised. But at the same time I wasn't necessarily expecting. You know, and my goals, like I said yesterday, for these three weeks were to get more comfortable with the way I'm practicing and how it's affecting my game, and you know, really getting ready for next year. But I also know, I mean last week I had no business missing that cut the way I played from tee to green, and you know, fortunately it's gotten better on the greens this week, and playing more -- I'm playing more the way that I know I can play. Q. You must be pleased to have kind of scrapped around a little bit and still managed a 70. JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah. I certainly didn't play great today, and you know, to be able to hole really the two shots, 5 and 9 from off the green certainly is a huge boost. And you know, there's days when, you know, those things don't go our way, and you know, the round can get away from us, or from me. But on a day when I didn't play very well, I didn't hit the ball great, my speed was a little off on a few putts, to kind of scrap it around and get in at 70, I think I'm tied for the lead, is great. And you know, it's hard to go play really well for four straight days, so today I kind of -- I scored, and it's something I have not been doing at all this entire year was -- I can think back on very few rounds where I felt like I got a lot out of it. Today was one of those days where I got something out of this round and certainly didn't hurt myself, and you know, I'm in the position I want to be in, which is a chance to win the tournament. So tomorrow try and -- you know, I'm going to go work on a couple things on the range and try and come out tomorrow and be a little sharper. MARK STEVENS: I was just looking through my notes here. Do you remember seeing that big hawk that landed on the fifth green right before you chipped in the first one? He just kind of sat there looking around. You might have been walking away. That thing was like as big as a buzzard. JUSTIN LEONARD: We saw an owl there on Thursday in the middle of the day. This owl was huge, just sitting on the ground. Over on -- it was on 5. MARK STEVENS: Wonder if they're competing against each other. Q. Justin, with your busy off-course life, four kids 8 or younger, what is the hardest part of your game to sort of maintain? Has anything sort of suffered with all of that craziness when you're at home? JUSTIN LEONARD: It's certainly -- you know, fortunately we didn't have like quadruplets, not that that wouldn't be a blessing in itself. So you know, it's certainly changed the way that I practice and the time that I spend working and thinking about the game is less, but I feel like I've gotten to a point -- and it doesn't happen instantly certainly, and I'm still learning, but you get to a point where, you know, when I get to the golf course, the time that I spend there is really focusing on golf and not thinking about what the kids are doing or who's got a bloody knee or those kind of things. But for those three or four hours that I'm at the golf course working that it's really quality time. So that when I do go home, I know that I've done everything that I could, and you know, it's time to be a husband and a dad, and I love it. I mean I look back, you know, ten years ago, I don't know what I did to kill a day, but I think if I'd known I had that much time on my hands, I probably would have done a lot more good. But you know, it's fun. I certainly wouldn't change any of it for the world. You know, this trip and voyage that we've all been on together, you know, it's shaped me into who I am and our family, I think it provides some great lessons for our kids, and you know, certainly probably the biggest thing I've learned through having four kids and everything is just patience and relying on my faith. Q. Probably spent all that time reading the regulations book. JUSTIN LEONARD: Right. Q. When is the last time you played with Henrik, and I just want to ask you about that little volley you guys had, 5 -- or did he hole out 6? JUSTIN LEONARD: 6. Q. (Inaudible). JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, I don't know what he -- I was getting the ball out of the hole and he was doing something behind me because I heard him laughing, but Henrik and I have played a lot of golf together. We've played in some Ryder Cup matches against each other. We've played at the Accenture Match Play a couple of times, and I think we've -- I still think he's probably up on me as far as chipping in. So you know, he's a good guy, and we're friends, and I think we both look forward to playing with each other. You know, when I holed it on 5, then he holed it on 6, he kind of gave me the little, you know, bang. And then 8, and then 9, of course he dropped his putter and started coming over, and I was telling my caddie, just keep him away from me, just keep him away from me. (Laughs). But you know, we're just having fun. He's a little goofy, I'm a little goofy, so we have a good time together. Q. I know you talked about this yesterday, but how much of your play, at least this week and leading up to it, has been the work you've done with Dr. Mo, compartmentalizing, practicing better, all that? JUSTIN LEONARD: I think it has a lot to do with it. Certainly some of the things that I do chipping and putting have helped quite a bit, and then I think on top of that, you know, the work I did with Dave Stockton, Jr. whenever that was, 11, 12 days ago, trying to get back to being more natural and using my instincts a little more, I think the combination of the two have been great. And you know, I can see the stuff with Morris coming around, and like he said, he said everything looks good. He just feels like if I practice a little smarter that the results will be there. And you know, it never happens as quick as we want it to. But you know, it's nice to be in this position and to have an opportunity like this this week. Even if it's the last week of the year, you know, it's still, it's great progress and I think this will give me a big boost for these next couple months when I'm at home taking some time off and working on my game here and there and getting ready for next year. Q. It seems like your best, most memorable rounds in golf, the last round at the British Open when you won, the Ryder Cup when you got the half point to clinch, your putting has been front and center. So what has that been like for you when you feel like your putting is abandoning you or betraying you? Does it make it harder to be patient? Is it more frustrating? What is that like? JUSTIN LEONARD: It's -- it is frustrating. You know, I mean it's such a goofy game. You know, there's such a fine line between making some changes and tweaking things a bit and trying to really stay the course and just grind and practice through it. So you know, I guess I got frustrated enough to make a big change this summer and spoke with Marius Filmalter, and it was great and I learned some things, and I feel like I'm still doing some of those things, but then to try and get back to a little more feel oriented and back to more my natural setup and stroke and everything this week has been good. So it's -- you know, I still -- I know I'm a good putter. I've just gone through a stretch where I haven't putted that well, and I think I'm kind of getting some of the junk cleaned out as we go with, you know, all three of those guys' help, and Randy Smith has been a big help as well. So you know, I got a lot of great people that I've been able to work with, and you know, Dick Coop as well who I've worked with the last few years and stopped working with this summer, but I've been fortunate enough to be around some really smart people that care a lot about me, and you know, I've gotten a lot of good advice. It's kind of getting through that, making it my own, and you know, those are the things I'm working on. MARK STEVENS: Okay. Thanks for the time, Justin. Good luck tomorrow. JUSTIN LEONARD: Thanks. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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