KEMPER INSURANCE OPEN

June 1, 2000

Justin Leonard

JUSTIN LEONARD: You know, it's -- it's a little bit similar to last week. Someone asked yesterday, how are you playing. I said, well, I don't really know until I get out there on Thursday, and so now I have to come back and say I'm playing pretty well. Just got off to a solid start. Played real solid all day. There were not any real huge strengths or weaknesses in my game. I was able to play aggressively. Golf course is still a little bit soft, and nice to be invited here.

JUSTIN LEONARD: It's nice to come out and play solid in the afternoon, and that is an advantage. If I went out this afternoon -- and shot six already, that doesn't mean that guys that played well this morning can't do the same. So I need to go out and take advantage of the conditions, just the way they did today.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Hopefully, they will be able to get off to a good start, and, you know, I probably won't watch the board too much since I'm out early. But, you know just need to go out and do what I did today, which is play aggressively when I can. And, you know, the decisions that I made this week and last week have been very good as far as club selections and the kind of shots I'm trying to hit, and, you know, if I just continue to do that.

JUSTIN LEONARD: It depends. Getting off to a good start, you kind of feel that you've got something out there to go after, to chase. You know, sometimes it's hard going out first thing in the morning without any scores up, because, you know, you don't really know what's out there. And, you know, seeing 7-under on the board from this morning, you know, I don't know if that gave me a target, but I certainly felt like I needed to play aggressively and, you know, just try to make some birdies, give myself chances.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Not much, really. More or less just to kind of see who is playing well: "Oh, yeah I played with him last week," those kind of things. You just try to set yourself up for the weekend, and whether you're leading by a couple shots or back a couple shots, you know, just -- as long as you're in good position to win Saturday and Sunday. So, yeah, there's not a whole lot you can tell from the leaderboard this early.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yes, it does. It makes Tuesday and Wednesday more enjoyable, because that's when I'm able to relive some of the experiences and think back as to where I was and what I was thinking. You know, was I two-back at this point or three-back, those kind of things. You know, once today starts, you know, '97 was three years ago and it stays there. So, you know, hopefully this week I can make a few more memories. But yeah, it does make it fun. Absolutely.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I don't know. There wasn't -- I think like I said in here yesterday, there wasn't -- I didn't have some epiphany or wake up and all of the sudden, boom, I was playing good. Just, I don't know, I can't explain it. If I could, maybe I would have played better sooner. But I honestly don't know what the difference is. You know, shots seem to be coming off. I seem to be very comfortable with what I'm could go doing. You know I started to get frustrated because I was working very hard and not seeing it pay off and now I'm seeing it pay off. Maybe patience was the biggest key for me to get out of that.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yes, at times. Early in the year, January, December, February, I didn't think I was playing that badly. My results were -- seemed like I was finishing 20 to 35th, which is not great, but it's that he not that far from playing good, either. And then as the year has gone on, it got worse and -- but it's not -- you know, I'm just glad that I feel myself coming out of it. And, you know, I'm glad that people that have been involved in trying to help me out are, you know, seeing that happen as well, because I'm not the only one that's been frustrated and thought a lot about it, because a lot of other people have, family, friends things like that. So hopefully they won't worry about me quite as much. 4th hole, hit a 9-iron four feet; made that. 5th hole, hit a sand 12 feet; made that. The 6th hole, hit a sand wedge, two feet; made that. The 8th hole, hit a 7-iron 15 feet and made that. 9th hole, hit a 9-iron 10 feet; made that. And 16, hit it over the green with my second shot and chipped it in.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah, that would be about right.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, 13, I had about a two-footer and the ball -- okay, I don't need to go through that.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I had about a two-footer for birdie and I hit my green in my first putt up there. I set my putter down and my ball was resting against the putter so obviously it moved. My playing partner told them what happened. I was playing it; one-shot penalty. It's happened to me before; it will happen to me again. So made a 4 there, but with penalty made 5. 15, the putt was about five or six feet and kind of a strange-looking putt. I just kind of misread it.

JUSTIN LEONARD: The greens the way they are, fairly soft on top, it doesn't take much. The ball was probably, you know, not sitting very well and just a slight -- there wasn't any wind, just a slight compression behind it you know, caused the ball just to trickle. I've had it happen in the wind. I've had it with no wind. I don't even know why it happens, but it does.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I don't know. I don't know if the cameras picked it up or not. I mean, I had one at the Canadian Open last year where when I finished, one of the rules officials came in and said we couldn't see it, we watched the tape over and over and over and I said, "Look, I'm not trying to cheat, because I'm adding a shot." I don't know. I don't know if anybody could see it or not but it doesn't make any difference.