WORLDCOM CLASSIC--THE HERITAGE OF GOLF

April 20, 2002

Justin Leonard

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: I'd like to welcome the third round leader, Justin Leonard. He shot 66, and at 197 for the tournament. Great day today, Justin. Talk about your day today.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I got off to a pretty shaky start, missing a short putt at 1, and not birdieing 2. And then 4 I kind of -- I made a putt that I mishit or misread and it went in and I think that kind of just turned things around for me. And then I made a couple of good putts the next two holes, and just got in a nice rhythm out there. And the golf course firmed up a little bit. The greens were a little harder, and I think it made scoring a little more difficult today. And I'm sure it will be even more so tomorrow.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: You've mentioned several times before that you play better on difficult golf courses, because you can't necessarily overpower the course. Is it getting that way today, this weekend?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, I think with the greens firming up, the fairways firming up, as well, that you had to be very careful with what you tried to do with it. And I played conservatively when I needed to and in spots where I had a chance to I went ahead and hit the ball at the hole. And so my decisions were good today and just hope to continue that tomorrow.

Q. Justin, are you still a little surprised that you're kind of out front by three strokes here at this course, where you try to get out of coming here?

JUSTIN LEONARD: No, I've gotten over that now. I think I was a little bit surprised the first day. And after yesterday's round, maybe a little less surprised. And now I'm not -- I'm very pleased, but I'm not surprised.

Q. What has that done for your confidence here? It must have gone like 180, from not wanting to come here to now, thinking that I'm in control of this tournament?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, when you have no confidence, anything greater than that is an exponential increase. I would say my confidence playing this golf course has gone up more than anybody's in the field.

Q. Your best finish is T 30, you missed the last two cuts when you played here, you're known an a shot maker, any explanation why you haven't played well here in the past?

JUSTIN LEONARD: No, we tried to come up with an explanation yesterday and couldn't do it. So, no, we couldn't.

Q. Is it the wife?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Quite possibly. I'd like to think that.

Q. Has this course just continued to play into your hands the harder it gets? If it continues to be hard tomorrow?

JUSTIN LEONARD: I think so. It will be harder for anybody to make a big run, although I think with the first six holes, you kind of have to expect somebody to go out and get three or four under pretty quickly. So I think I've got to do the same thing, go out and play those holes aggressively, and from there you just kind of take what the golf course gives you.

Q. What does it do for your confidence, you've broken the 54 hole record here, now?

JUSTIN LEONARD: I didn't know that and, you know what, 54 hole records are great. But we want to have 72 hole records. Those are what count.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about two of the guys chasing you, Cameron and Heath Slocum, on a day where Phil and Davis kind of tread water a little bit. What does that say to you about the depth of talent out here on Tour now, for guys -- those two guys maybe aren't the bigger names in the field can go out and shoot a low round under pretty difficult conditions?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, I think those guys have both proven themselves to everyone, Cameron winning late in the year last year. I believe Heath won three times, at least three times last year. And so those guys aren't afraid of anything, and they know what it means to play a good round on Saturday, and get themselves in position. And those guys are going to go out and chase me tomorrow and play as hard as they can. So that's why I've got to go do my job and we'll just add them up at the end.

Q. Would you rather be -- obviously three strokes is nice to have, but ideally would you rather be chasing or leading the last day?

JUSTIN LEONARD: I don't mind leading by three shots. Obviously my track record I've been able to come from behind a couple of times. But I've played from ahead, as well. So at this point it's just -- it's nice to be playing well. And I put myself in a great position to go out and win a golf tournament tomorrow.

Q. Justin, can you talk a little bit about the difference in the course from Thursday to today? Is it all wind, are the greens tougher or firmer? What is it exactly?

JUSTIN LEONARD: No, the wind was probably about the same. I think the greens have dried up and some of the fairways have, as well. The golf course plays shorter, but it also plays more difficult. And judging clubs into these greens, because they got firmer as the day went on, especially since yesterday morning when I played. They started getting a little brown and they got a little faster, as well. And that's the way it should be. The golf course should dry as the week goes on and get more difficult. And Sunday will be the most difficult.

Q. After the fourth hole when you got to a pretty nice rhythm and you hit 8 and made that nice long putt, were you feeling -- it seemed like your short game, about each hole you were becoming more confident. Were you feeling that your putting was clicking for you today? I think you kept your numbers down low again.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I made some nice putts on the front 9. That putt at 8 was probably the longest one I made. And I hit a great putt at 9 that I thought I made. So I felt good putting today, as I have all week. And there was a little adjustment speed today, because the greens were getting faster. But I felt good on these greens all week, and just happy that it continued into today.

Q. Did the heat get to you, either physically or mentally at any point today?

JUSTIN LEONARD: No. It will be a lot hotter than this in Dallas this summer, which is why I don't plan on spending too much time there. It was very hot. Especially on the front 9. The back nine it seemed to cool off a little bit, we were a little more in the trees. But it was pretty hot out there.

Q. We were watching on TV in here, and one of the commentators made a comment that you tend to keep a pretty straight face while out there. But following you out there, I noticed you were pretty relaxed and smiling. Did you feel like that was kind of part of how your day was going, does that help you stay relaxed and stay focused?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, I'm not a big smiler, a big yuck it up. But I have a good time out there. But that's just the way I am. And I hear people all the time saying why don't you smile more? Well, it's not that I'm unhappy, but I'm out there, I take it pretty seriously. But I do have a good time. And it's not all stern looks. I don't walk around like that for 18 holes. But who knows, hopefully I'll have a lot to smile about tomorrow.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: If we could just real quick go over your score card. Bogeyed 1. If you want to talk about the clubs you hit in there.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Hit a pitching wedge just over the green, chipped a 9-iron and missed the putt.

Birdied 4. I hit a 4-iron about ten feet and misread the putt, then mishit the putt, and it went in, so it works.

5, I drove it in the fairway bunker, laid up and hit a sand wedge to 12 feet and made it.

6, hit I driver, sand wedge to about 15 feet and made it.

7, hit a 6-iron short and right of the green, chipped it about six feet and missed that.

And 7 I hit -- no, 8, 6-iron about 25 feet and made that.

12, hit a 9-iron to about a foot.

16, hit a 9-iron to about 8 feet.

18, hit a wedge about four feet.

End of FastScripts....