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BOB HOPE CHRYSLER CLASSIC

January 30, 2005

Justin Leonard

LA QUINTA, CALIFORNIA

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Congratulations, Justin, on being the new champion of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. Great round out there today, a solid round, 67, and stayed there in the lead right from the start almost. Why don't you just talk about being out there in that position.

JUSTIN LEONARD: It was a lot of fun to get off to the start that I did, being 3-under through four holes. Obviously I was hoping to catch Joe at some point. I didn't think I'd be able to make up the ground as fast as I did. I think the fact that it was a little windy today probably was in my favor because I think it took some guys out of the tournament.

You know, a 62 or 63 really wasn't possible today. I think 66 was the lowest round and there was just one of those. That probably played in my favor. A lot of things played in my favor.

It was just nice to get off to a great start today, hit some solid shots and take advantage of the good shots that I hit. And then on the back nine, I was able to aim more for the center of the greens the last few holes and just try and avoid that canal and avoid the rocks and cruise a little bit, which was nice.

Q. Talk about the start. I mean, obviously you had the three birdies to start with, but Joe also had two bogeys, and suddenly you find yourself in the lead very early. Was there any thought that you were going to be able to get the lead that early, or were you looking at maybe the back nine?

JUSTIN LEONARD: I think just seeing kind of how the day played out. I certainly didn't expect to get to the lead that quickly during the round, but I also knew in the back of my mind not to get caught up into just what Joe and I were doing but really to try and keep making birdies and hit good shots and realize that Tim Clark was up in front or somebody else might have been able to make a run. I know Loren finished well today.

So really, just focusing on trying to hit good shots, making birdies, and you know, if I got the lead, then get out there far enough to where nobody could catch me, and that's what I was able to do.

Q. Do you feel like you're more comfortable coming into the last day with the lead or coming from behind?

JUSTIN LEONARD: It's certainly -- when you're leading, there's a little more pressure, although you've got more room for error. When you're coming from behind there's not a whole lot of room for error. I mean, you have to hit good shots, you have to do those things and play aggressively.

Sometimes on a course like this, that may be a little easier. I know that in Joe's case, he's been leading this tournament for four days. That's a lot of pressure. I'm sure after four days of it, he was probably feeling it today, whereas I only had the lead for 14 holes or something.

So, you know, it's a long week, especially when you play well early the way Joe did and you have the lead each day and kind of coping with that kind of pressure. I think he did a great job. I just think fortunately I was -- I just played a little better today.

Q. Talk about what this tournament does for you as far as a confidence standpoint. I mean, it's been, what, since 2003, was the last victory?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Pretty close to two years ago. Any win is important, whether it's middle of December with your buddies at home or a tournament like this. After the year that I had last year, struggling, but yet still ending the year I felt with some momentum -- when I finished at the Shark Shootout in the middle of November, I was really looking forward to this year, and a lot of that was probably because I had so much time off. I didn't play a tournament for a couple months, and I think that certainly showed in my game last week. But fortunately, I was able to get most of the rust off and come here.

Like I think I told you about yesterday, my game just seemed to get a little better every day here. I got a little more comfortable with the shots I was trying to play and got more comfortable.

Q. It wasn't to a point where you were saying, gee, am I ever going to win again? It was a matter of when, not if?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, for me it was when, not if. I was never concerned would I ever win again. I just knew I would. I certainly didn't know it would be this early in the year.

Q. Justin, can you elaborate? You said when it got windy there, you thought it was a little more to your advantage. First day that the elements played a factor. Why was that, that you felt that you played better with the wind out there in the conditions?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, because I feel like I didn't have to shoot as low a score. If the conditions would have been the same as yesterday, guys would have been shooting -- you probably would have seen a 62 or 63. I knew that when the wind was blowing this morning that those kind of scores were really out of the realm of possibility. I mean, they're always possible but not probable. So I felt like it took some guys out of the tournament.

It also -- you'll write this, but I'm from Texas, and so I play better in the wind, at least that's what I'm supposed to do. I read that and I think, "Well, okay, I'm supposed to play better in the wind." (Laughter).

I just felt like the golf course was a little bit tougher. The fairways were narrowed a little bit because of the wind, and I think all those things kind of helped me out today.

Q. Justin, you joke about it, but do you look upon more wind as any kind of a benefit for you as a player, as your game goes? Do you pump your fist a little bit when the wind blows, or does it really not matter to you?

JUSTIN LEONARD: It really doesn't matter. Look at Peter Lonard. For any of you who watched him play today, I don't know if he can hit a wedge and get it over this tent. I mean, he hits the ball low. Now, he can get it up when he needs to, but I'm saying he's got a really good ball flight for a day like today.

Joe lives in Austin. I mean, he probably plays in more wind down there than I do. I don't think it's any kind of advantage. I think the advantage was that it really -- it took a really low score out of possibilities to where being three back, today I didn't have to make nine or ten birdies, I only had to make five or six. So that played to my advantage.

Q. You said that on the back nine you were very comfortable and kind of cruising. I mean, it is pretty amazing you went from not thinking that you were going to get the lead in three or four holes to now cruising with three or four left. I mean, a pretty amazing turn-around, don't you think?

JUSTIN LEONARD: It is, and it's great to be leading by four shots, but it's still -- I mean, funny stuff happens.

I was walking from 13 green to 14 tee, and I just thought, you know, I can imagine somebody birdieing all five holes or eagling 18. I can't let up yet. I was still trying to make birdies and hit the ball.

17, that's when I really decided to play safe, and then obviously on 18. But in the back of my mind, I thought, you know, somebody out there is thinking, shoot, if I can birdie -- I'm going to have a wedge into every hole. One par 5 for sure, the other one if you hit a good drive, and then all of a sudden what am I doing. I didn't want that to happen. I wanted to keep playing aggressively.

I hit some good shots. I didn't want to take any chances with the putts, because I had a couple of really fast putts, so not able to get real aggressive on the greens, but I was trying to hit it in there and make birdies.

Q. You've certainly won your share of tournaments, whereas the guys you were playing with have not won any on the PGA TOUR. Did you feel them tighten up and thinking I've got them early, or were you looking at Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, those guys out there?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, Peter Lonard just won a tournament in Australia two weeks ago, the Australian Open. Joe -- he won twice in December. Tim Clark won last week. You know, it's a pretty good leaderboard. So no, I never thought -- actually one time I thought, oh, I've got them. I make bogey on 4, Joe makes birdie, I'm back tied for the lead.

Okay, I'm not thinking those thoughts anymore (laughter).

So no, I try to keep those thoughts out of my mind. Even with a 3 or 4-shot lead, like I just said, knowing that somebody could get on a run, those holes being downwind, so I just want to try and keep going.

Q. How does winning early in the season set up the rest of your year? Do you start thinking this could really be a good one, a big one?

JUSTIN LEONARD: I don't want to think about that yet. I think this will -- it certainly takes some pressure off, which I enjoy doing. I enjoy taking pressure off myself, because I'm usually a little more relaxed and have a little more fun and those kind of things.

And it'll also -- it'll inspire me a little bit to -- when I am practicing, when I am playing, to work a little harder, knowing that, you know, one is not enough. I just know that I've been sitting on eight tournaments for almost two years, and it's nice to get a ninth.

Q. You said yesterday you weren't a great West Coast player and probably never will be, and now you have a win in California.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I like this side of the West Coast (laughter). I've played well in the desert here. I've played well in Phoenix before. I feel these are the two weeks when I have a chance to play well on the West Coast.

But who knows, I'm going to play LA and the Match Play, and I've certainly never gone into those weeks with this kind of start to the year, so we'll see. I love both golf courses, I just haven't performed well on both of them.

Q. Somebody has to ask this. The last two guys to win this tournament have won The Masters. Is that just maybe a function of getting off to a great start early and having that confidence? You say one isn't enough obviously. You get to one early, you've got a better chance down the road.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I would say it's coincidence, but look at the two players who won this tournament the previous two years. Two pretty good players that probably set up pretty well for Augusta. I love playing Augusta. I'm looking very much forward to it. I certainly hope to keep that stream alive. I may write that in my yardage book to give me a little boost of confidence (laughter).

Q. Give me your size ahead of time for that green jacket.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I'm going to pass on that.

Q. You've been part of this tournament since early in your career, and you've been here many times. What's it like to finally win this?

JUSTIN LEONARD: It feels great, especially the last -- seems like the last two or three years I've played well, finished in the Top 10, and I played with Phil a couple years ago when he eventually won after a playoff, and it's nice to come in and play well and see my game progress throughout the week. In a perfect world that's what happens. It gets a little better every day. I get more comfortable. And going into today, I felt very good.

So it's just an honor to win this event. I've played in it quite a bit, and I always look forward to it. Certainly I'll be coming here for a few years to come.

Q. You recently went through an equipment change. Are you feeling a bit more comfortable with it?

JUSTIN LEONARD: I would say so, wouldn't you (laughter)? Yeah, it's nice to show the folks at Nike that they made a good decision, that I know I made a good decision, and I just really appreciate the tools that they gave me this week.

Q. Justin, earlier Joe was out here and talked about the change in dynamic when you played with the amateurs early on and then you're playing with the actual PGA TOUR players. Do you feel like you have to hit a switch to be able to turn up your intensity or do you play that way from the beginning of the tournament?

JUSTIN LEONARD: I was thinking we were going to play faster today and we might have played slower. I mean, it took us like an hour to play the first three holes. We were all laughing saying, "Bring back the amateurs."

But yeah, you do have to flip a switch a little bit. You don't just hit and sit back there while the other guys hit and meet them up there. There's not quite as much yukking it up going on, certainly not as much as playing in the celebrity rotation.

I had a great time playing with Joe today, and I haven't played with him in a long time, so we were able to catch up, talk a lot about -- he lives in Austin and I went to school there, so we caught up on a lot of things.

Peter is a good guy when he slows down enough for me to talk to him. He talks so fast (laughter). It was a good group for me. I enjoy playing with Joe. Peter is a great guy who's had a great year so far, and I feel fortunate to have gotten the best of those guys today.

Q. Did you feel more comfortable at one of the golf courses that you played on this week more than another?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Probably more here, just because I've played it more. I usually play a practice round here every year, which -- no, I didn't this year, but I think I know this golf course better, and it seems to -- I think you come here knowing that you've got to shoot a low score and that you've got five par 5s, and I look forward to that.

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Can we go through your birdies and bogeys real quick, starting on 1?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Sure. 1, hit a 7-iron to 15 feet.

2, hit a 3-wood just short of the green and chipped up to three feet.

4, hit a 9-iron 12 feet.

Bogeyed 5, hit a 3-wood in the green-side bunker right, left it just short of the green and chipped up to a foot.

7, hit a 9-iron 12 feet.

10, hit a 4-iron 12 feet.

11, hit a 3-wood just short of the green, pitched to five feet.

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Thank you.

End of FastScripts.

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