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EDS BYRON NELSON CHAMPIONSHIP

May 10, 2005

Justin Leonard

IRVING, TEXAS

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Justin Leonard, thank you for joining us for a few minutes. If you could maybe talk about coming back to play in the Byron Nelson. This is the 12th time you'll have started an EDS Byron Nelson Championship, and you're playing in your hometown.

JUSTIN LEONARD: It's always fun to play at home. I've enjoyed every year I've played here, had some good years and had a couple disappointments, but again, it's nice to be at home. The only hard part is combining the two lives that we lead, your home life when you're away from Tour and then your life when you're traveling on Tour. For a couple weeks those two worlds collide.

I just have to remind myself to focus more on the golf than the mail and whatever is going on at the house and just enjoy the week.

Q. So it can be a distraction? I never really thought of that, you being at home.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Oh, absolutely. I look forward to this week, next week, all year long, and then once it's over I'm glad it's over, because yeah, it's a little busier. It's well worth it. To be able to stay at home, get to play in front of friends and family and a lot of people I see once a year, and that's this week.

I enjoy it. I always look forward to it, but when it's over, I'm glad it's over.

Q. Are you amazed you've played this tournament 12 times? Does it feel like you've been around that long?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Sometimes it does and other times it doesn't. No, 12 times sounds like a lot. I guess I played the first year when I was 20 as an amateur. I guess this is my 11th year on Tour, so it goes by pretty quick.

Q. What did you do as an amateur?

JUSTIN LEONARD: I made the cut. I probably finished about --

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: T56.

Q. What did you hit on 16?

JUSTIN LEONARD: I'm sure I had to lay up (laughter).

Q. Retief was in here earlier and he actually used the words "tough" and "difficult" in describing the course, and I think he was saying particularly with the wind. Has the course gotten tougher over the last few years?

JUSTIN LEONARD: It has. It seems like the fairways shrink every year. It's difficult getting the ball in the fairway, and it's soft today. We must have had some pretty decent rain here yesterday morning because I'm surprised how soft it was, but I think the weather is pretty good here the next three or four days. We're supposed to get the same winds we've had all spring, south 10 to 20, so that's going to dry it out some.

I love seeing this place get hard and fast, and the rough is thick enough that it makes you need to hit the ball in the fairway.

Q. It's interesting watching players on the range sometimes watching other players hit balls, asking tips for different things. I'm curious, is there anything that you've seen in Retief Goosen that you appreciate in the way he conducts himself out here, especially his two U.S. Open victories?

JUSTIN LEONARD: I think we all know Retief as being a very quiet and gentle guy. He's got a neat family. You know, I think he handles -- obviously handles pressure very well. He's also got a beautiful golf swing.

Q. Could you talk a minute about Pinehurst and your feelings, your memories of Payne Stewart? Do you remember much about him during that week?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, I love the golf course. I'm really looking forward to getting back there. I think it really tests pretty much every aspect of your game, and you have to be really creative around the greens and what kind of shots you play into the greens.

You know, as far as Payne, I didn't get to see a whole lot of the final round. In fact, I think I saw the last two holes, but yeah, seeing him make that putt and how excited he was and Mike Hicks was was really exciting.

Q. I know you had your second child during Masters week. How has that been? Have you been able to play much between then and now?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, she was born the week before The Masters, so I didn't get there until Wednesday about lunchtime. But it was good. It was a good week. I really didn't think I was going to get to play, and it was kind of a last-minute decision to play. And then I've been off for four weeks.

I'm certainly not over-practiced, but I've worked pretty hard the last week, and I feel all right. I think I'm going to have to play my way back into shape. I'm not expecting a whole lot this week, but at the same time I wouldn't be surprised if I played well. But I know I'm going to go on a stretch here. I'm playing six of the next seven, and I'm looking forward to that. I'm certainly rested for it and coming after a good finish at The Masters, I'm excited about playing again.

Q. Rested playing-wise or rested sleep-wise?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Very rested playing-wise and fairly rested sleep-wise. I get one feeding during the night. I usually get the 3:00 or 4:00. It seems a lot easier this go-around than it did with our first.

Q. Do you get more nervous here than you do other tournaments?

JUSTIN LEONARD: I don't know if I get more nervous. I certainly feel a little more pressure here than I do other events. I know so many people, a lot of the Salesmanship Club guys, and their support is phenomenal, and I want to perform for those guys and for my family and my friends. So I don't know if I feel more nervous, but I do feel a little more pressure this week than normal weeks.

Q. Has Byron, as you used say, "put it on you" recently?

JUSTIN LEONARD: No, I figured out a couple years ago to try and avoid him until the tournament starts. No, I'm sure I'll see him this afternoon. He hasn't put it on me in a while. If he does, I welcome it. It's such a compliment.

Q. Freddie once said he was playing in Houston and people there know him and love him and they'd come up and say something to him and he'd spend the next two holes trying to remember their name. Do you run into that here?

JUSTIN LEONARD: No, I remember everybody's name (laughter). Yes.

Q. Any embarrassing moments?

JUSTIN LEONARD: No, nothing real embarrassing.

Q. You just call them "Bud"?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Bud, Pal, Friend. No, nothing embarrassing. We all do it, we all run into the guy that you played with when you were a sophomore in high school at the Brook Haven Invitational, or you run into his dad (laughter), so it's, "Oh, yeah, I remember that round distinctly." That happens, but it happens to everybody.

Q. You've been working with Butch and Bob McDonald to get some more distance. Last time I talked to you, you thought you were about two or three inches from where you wanted to be. This was maybe a year or so ago.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Two or three inches?

Q. In terms of the position in the backswing that you thought you needed to be at, that Butch thought you needed to be at.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Okay.

Q. But I was curious where you think you are at now in terms of the strength and conditioning and adding distance.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, I've been on more of a strength regimen for about seven months, and I'm now getting off of it to get ready for the summer. I've tried to put on some good weight, not couch weight (laughter) the last couple months, and I've probably put on about eight or nine pounds.

I'm happy with my conditioning physically. Obviously I feel like I can get stronger, but I think Bob and I are really headed in the right direction.

As far as with Butch, I think I'm in a pretty good place right now with my swing because I can analyze it myself, and I can correct some things myself, not that I can correct it all the time, but I've got a good feel for what I'm trying to do with the golf club. I'm just in a good place right now.

I've had a lot of time off, and I played a couple times in the first three weeks and then started practicing last week and it felt very familiar, like I've been playing that whole stretch. I think that's a sign for me that my golf swing is in a pretty good place.

Q. How hard are you going to go at it through Pinehurst? How often are you going to play?

JUSTIN LEONARD: I'm playing these next three and I'm skipping Memorial, and then I'm playing Booz Allen, Open, Westchester.

Q. Why Memorial, is that just a place in the schedule that just doesn't --

JUSTIN LEONARD: Because I haven't played as much, I thought I needed to play the week before the U.S. Open, plus it's at Congressional, a wonderful golf course. I've got a great history at Memorial, I won a U.S. Amateur there, but I think schedule-wise it just made more sense to skip Memorial this year.

Q. Along the U.S. Open lines, if you could play a word association game, what comes to mind when you hear the words Tom Meeks? This is for print.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I've already had five words go through my head. No, I like Tom. I was thinking melba toast (laughter). It'll be fun because Pinehurst, you don't need a lot of rough. In fact, I thought the setup in '99 was probably the best Open setup I've ever seen in that the golf course played the way it was designed to play and there was nothing artificial about it.

I feel like they'll keep that in mind and realize how good a setup that was and keep it very similar, meaning not a lot of rough so you could advance the ball up around the greens, and that's when it got difficult was the kind of shots you had to play around the greens.

Q. I don't mean to press, but you never answered the question. Tom Meeks.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Isn't that what I'm supposed to do?

Q. One word. Melba toast is two.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Good. You can't use it. See, you should have stuck a note in my locker this morning; that way I could think about it all day long.

Q. Maybe I'll try later.

JUSTIN LEONARD: No, hang on, we've got to stay here and finish this. He's kind of like -- this is not a one-word answer, but you can turn this into a one-word answer. He's kind of like that professor in that really hard accounting class, I think it was Accounting 312. It was the second one at UT. You knew that you had to go through this class and this professor in order to graduate, and like 70 percent of the people got out of the business school because of that professor (laughter). But yet if you made it through him, you were better off for it. Just don't put any spaces between the words.

Q. That was brilliant. That was probably the best thing you've said in 12 years since tying for 56th as an amateur.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, there's not a whole lot to choose from.

Q. Do you think there will be any change with the next accounting professor they bring in?

JUSTIN LEONARD: No.

Q. That's the one-word answer we're looking for.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I'll get back to the one-word answers now.

Q. There's a big sign hanging in the media center and they're calling this the "60th anniversary of the greatest season in golf," which would be Byron's run in 1956. I'm not sure the people on the other side of town at Colonial would agree with that since in '53 when Hogan won five out of six, he played in all three of the majors that he played in, that that one would be arguably as good or better. I know it's putting a native Texan in a tough spot, but can you evaluate either one of those and does one seem better to you or one seem weaker to you?

JUSTIN LEONARD: I would never associate the word weak or weaker with either of those two years. I think probably Mr. Nelson's was more remarkable. I mean, 11 straight victories. What did he win, 17 that year, 18? I should know because on each tee box at TPC they've got "First Victory," so and so. It's not every tee, so that would make sense. I think you'd have to rate Mr. Nelson's year as the best of all time.

Q. Just on volume alone mostly and the run in the middle, the 11 in a row?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yes.

Q. How many years have you done the clinic now and why do you do it?

A. I've played here 12 years. I'm not sure if I did it as an amateur or not. I know it was like D.A. and Lietzke's deal at that point. They may have had me hit a few balls. I do it because I've done it the last 10 or 11 years. You know, it's that kid that's sitting in the front row that has played golf with his dad a couple times and all of a sudden he comes out here and sees what's going on and gets real excited about it.

I mean, it's just that one kid that all of a sudden thinks golf is great and wants to hang out with his folks and play golf. You know, that's all it takes to keep me coming back.

Q. Have you played with Goosen much, you and he, in pairings over the years?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Maybe a couple times. Actually I was paired with him -- I think I was paired with him the first two days of the U.S. Open last year. I think I was. Is that in the book?

Q. What are his attributes as you see them? He's got two of those things that can't happen by accident.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I mean, the guy seems pretty unflappable and he's confident, and he plays smart. I mean, he hits driver when it's to his advantage. Not necessarily because the hole is really long, but because he knows areas that he can play from. Long and straight, and he chips and putts it pretty well. That's all a pretty good combination.

Q. How many different shots did you hit around the Pinehurst greens before you -- or is there an actual -- did you settle on 5-iron chips or putting or mix and match?

JUSTIN LEONARD: I played a combination of a couple shots. I'd say with a tight pin, if I felt comfortable putting it, I would. Most of the time I would hit a lower shot into the bank, not short of the bank, and roll it up but kind of more of a skip shot. If I had room, if I had missed it on the wide side, then try and carry it up to the flats. But kind of a combination. But I played more of the skipping it into the bank than the other shots.

Q. Just in rough approximation, over the course of a standard year out here in your 25 or so events, how many times do you play where you've got that variety of shot options?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Zero.

Q. What club do you play into the bank? Let's say it's 20 feet or so to the green.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I hit a lot of my stronger sand wedge, 54-degree, hit it low -- I feel like I can control the spin a little bit better, and when it's landing on the green, I know what it's going to -- I just feel I have a better idea of how it's going to react.

Q. What's it supposed to do when it hits the bank?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Just slow up as it gets to the top. It seems like you're always kind of going up the hill and then slightly down, so I want it to almost just die at the top of the hill.

Q. And then start the trickle?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah.

Q. On a typical shot, how many times does it hit the ground before you reach the green when you bang it into the hill?

JUSTIN LEONARD: You know, it's been six years. Most of the time -- because most of the hills are not real steep. It's more of kind of a gradual -- but the hills are pretty long. From the fringe to the top of the hill, most places you'll have eight to 12 feet I want to say. Not everywhere, but a lot of the places you do. So there's room for that shot.

Now, I'll probably go back there and decide, "You know what, what am I thinking? That's the dumbest shot you could ever try," and I'll putt everything. Who knows?

Q. Where do you think the clubs start in terms of selection, 5-iron through the wedge?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Not for me. Probably a 7-iron is the --

Q. Lowest you'll go?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah.

Q. Just because of the way those things are configured, I don't know that you hit any of the footprint shots where you roll it all the way up and it rolls right back to where you were standing that week, but is there potential for embarrassment because of the way those greens are configured?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Sure.

Q. It's like trying to shoot over Kareem and he slaps it back off your forehead?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, and then there's places where you've got to worry about chipping it over the green. The key there is -- you're going to miss greens, but it's to miss it on the right side where you don't have too many of those shots. If you miss it in the right places, you can have some easy pitch shots and easy putts, and the key is to give yourself those, and when you short-side yourself, give yourself a chance.

I'd rather hit a chip shot ten feet every time than hit three of them to a foot and have two of them roll back to me. So the key is to avoid those mistakes when you do short-side yourself and try and minimize -- try and leave yourself room to play.

Q. I don't know how much highlights you've seen of past Opens, but which of these moments, unless you have one of your own, kind of epitomizes the frustration people can feel; Daly at Pinehurst or Kirk Triplett at Olympic where I don't know if you saw him stick his putter out as the ball was coming back on 18?

JUSTIN LEONARD: I did. I think more of watching the guys trying to play No. 10 last year. I thought that was -- that made us look silly as a group, and I wasn't out there so I was laughing.

Q. Since you've had so many different experiences with Payne than obviously others have, what do you think of when you think of Payne? And do you think the public when they think of Payne goes straight to Pinehurst?

JUSTIN LEONARD: I think the public does, yes, absolutely. Either that or those goofy pants.

I think of -- when I think of Payne, I think of an outing that we did after the Open in -- was it '98 at Olympic after he lost to Lee? Yeah, we were doing an outing. We flew to Quincy, Illinois, for D.A. Weibring's outing, and getting off the plane after having a couple beers, Payne wanted to keep going, and I'll just say that we did. We kept going. That was a long, long Monday outing that next day. There's a lot of little stories in there, too, but Payne fired up a grill and started cooking cheeseburgers at about 4:00 a.m.

Q. Where was this?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Somewhere in Illinois. I don't know where we were.

Q. Is there one image that comes to mind, the piano at the Ryder Cup?

JUSTIN LEONARD: No, flipping the burgers.

Q. At 4:00 in the morning? Good burgers, or do you remember?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Not really.

Q. This may sound silly, but why do you think most would relate him to Pinehurst, simply because that was his last great moment?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, absolutely.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Justin, thanks.

End of FastScripts.

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