Justin Wins Texas Open for 3rd Time!
Click here to read all about about his victory at Valero

Justin on the ESPN.com "Hot Seat"

Justin Leonard recently sat down on the "Hot Seat" to discuss his career highs and lows -- and how they've helped shape him into the player he's become today.


Q: If you could be remembered for only one thing in your career so far, would you rather it was the 1999 Ryder Cup, the '97 British Open or the '92 U.S. Amateur?

A: Well, not that I have a choice, but I think it's the '99 Ryder Cup. I get more comments about making that putt than I do the other two combined. I like being remembered for that.


Q: Is there one thing about that day -- whether it was the putt itself or something from the celebration back at the clubhouse -- that sticks in your mind more than anything else?

A: For me personally, that was really the last night that I was with Payne Stewart. So that certainly sticks out in my mind, just remembering that whole celebration and being able to celebrate with Payne is something that I think about quite a bit.

To read JL’s entire "Hot Seat" interview with Jason Sobel, click here

Justin Jumps to 4th in Points & Money on Strength of Match Play Finish

Justin Leonard was hot in the Arizona desert at the World Golf Championships – Accenture Match Play and tracking toward a finals showdown with Tiger Woods … until he ran into a sizzling Stewart Cink on Saturday.

Justin was playing some of the best golf in the field through the first four rounds, posting scores of 5-under, 6-under, and 8-under in dispatching former Match Play champion Geoff Ogilvy, Lee Westwood, and Stuart Appleby, respectively. Then, in Friday’s fourth round, JL’s 5th birdie of the day ousted Vijay Singh on the 18th hole.

Leonard started Saturday’s semi-final round in similar fashion, posting three birdies on the front nine. But his opponent, Cink, was even hotter, firing five birdies and an eagle for 7-under and a 4-up lead which Justin was unable to overcome.

“Yeah. He played great on the front,” Justin acknowledged. “I had some chances on the back nine. I hit a lot of putts that went over the edges. But I had a pretty tough task after that front nine he played.”

Despite the disappointment, Leonard’s continued stellar play earned him $475,000 for fourth place, boosting his 2008 PGA TOUR earnings to $1,447,320 – good for 4th place behind only Woods, Phil Mickelson, and KJ Choi. Justin is also 4th in FedExCup points.

JL’s four Top 10 finishes in six starts have elevated him to 36th in the Official World Golf Rankings. That’s good for a spot in the next WGC event – the CA Championship in Doral in late March. And it’ll likely secure an invitation to the Masters in April.

Justin is also currently in 7th position for the US Ryder Cup team. The top 8 make the team automatically, plus four selections by captain Paul Azinger.

To read JL’s post-round media interviews from the Match Play, click here

Three tournaments in 2008. Three Top 10s.

Justin parlayed a best round of the day 7-under-par 65 on Saturday – “moving day” - into a solo 5th place finish at the Buick Invitational. The round came on the South Course at Torrey Pines, site of this year’s US Open championship.

“I was glad to play well … with the U.S. Open coming up. To shoot a low round today will certainly help my confidence, and I'll write some notes down and remember this one in June,” Justin told reporters.

Leonard is the only player with three Top 10 finishes on the PGA Tour this year. He was 2nd at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic and T-8 at the Mercedes-Benz in Hawaii.

He also had three Top 10 finishes in his last four starts at the end of 2007, including a victory in the Texas Valero Open in October.

"I'm pleased with the way I've turned things around," Leonard said. "I like where (my game) is now and the direction I'm going."

JL has already won nearly a million dollars in 2008 ($933,800) and is 5th on the official money list. He ranks 6th in FedEx Cup points with 4450, slightly behind Buick winner Tiger Woods.

The strong finish also moved Justin to No. 51 in the Official World Golf Rankings, putting him in a solid position for the World Golf Championships – Accenture Match Play next month in Tucson, Arizona (the top 64 in the world rankings qualify). And his continued resurgence should soon boost him into the top 50 qualification category for The Masters in April.

Trahan Birdie Train Overcomes JL at Hope

“The challenge was to come out today and with the same attitude. And I felt like I did that. I played solid the first eight holes. I was 3-under par,” Justin noted. “Obviously D.J. was playing very well. I just didn't get that to the back nine today, and he did. And that was the difference.”

D.J. Trahan pounded the Classic Club into submission with eight birdies, including a chip-in, for a 7-under-par 65 that overcame Leonard’s four-shot lead in the final round of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. It was Trahan’s 2nd win on the PGA Tour. Demonstrating the fickle nature of golf, the lead evaporated in the space of three holes as Trahan birdied the ninth and 10th holes and Leonard bogeyed the 10th and 11th.

Justin settled for solo second place. Asked if this loss is easier to accept considering his record of 11 victories, Justin responded, “No, I think they all pretty much hurt the same. I'm disappointed that the last four holes I didn't give myself a chance.”

He added: “I get some perspective in the fact that this time last year I was pretty lost. So that gives me a little comfort, but still it only takes a little bit of the sting out, not all of it.”

Despite the disappointment, Leonard moved up to 5th place in the FedEx Cup points race and climbed 21 positions to No. 56 in the Official World Golf Rankings.

“There were some hard Friday nights there for a couple months. I appreciate that time because it helped shape my character.”

GolfWorld’s John Hawkins commented, “Long-term progress can come in a lot of odd shapes and sizes. As losses go, this one has an upside.” He noted: “Leonard has successfully revived his career, an admirable and somewhat low-key turnaround that began when he returned to [swing coach Randy] Smith. After missing six consecutive cuts at the start of 2007, Leonard made four straight, a stretch that began at Bay Hill. His T-2 at the Buick Open last July was his best finish since winning the FedEx St. Jude Classic in May 2005. Few people noticed when Leonard won the Valero Texas Open three months ago. It was a Fall Series victory … but given where he'd started the year, it might as well have been the Masters.”

Earlier in the week, a reporter asked Leonard, “When you were missing cuts last year, did you think to yourself, ‘I can't play?’”

“I never got to that exact statement,” Justin responded. “I got to, ‘Why can't I play?’ But it was challenging. I appreciate that time because it helped shape my character. I became a tougher person because of it. It deepened my faith. I know that I couldn't have gone through that and come out eight months later the way I did without a lot of great support. So I'm glad I went through that. I don't want to go through it again. I don't wish that on anybody, because there were some hard Friday nights there for a couple months. But I'm sitting here today trying to win a golf tournament. And I don't know if I would be in this particular position had I not gone through that.”

“Getting back to that kind of mentality of moving the ball around ..."

Toward the end of the year, the last four or five weeks, I played consistently well, which is what I want to get back to doing. It took us a little while to get the momentum going. But that was really kind of more my mindset and confidence more than anything else. Technically the last six months has been pretty good. But I had to kind of build that confidence and see for myself that I was playing well and go out and feel like I could.

I think I'd lost a lot of the feel that I played with growing up, hitting a lot of different shots, moving the ball around quite a bit, and sometimes it's not always a good thing. But for me I need to be able to do that. I come over here and that's all I do. I hit very few full shots, and I'm trying to hit the ball hard but keeping the ball down and working it with the wind and into the wind and back into the wind, so getting back to that kind of mentality of moving the ball around. We made a couple of tweaks with my grip to be able to do that easier, and I'm finally seeing some of the benefits of all of that.

Media Interview - January 4, 2008 - Mercedes Benz Championship - Kapalua, Hawaii

“All the work that I put in starting from March on has really started to pay off."

“I hit the ball pretty well through the summer. Didn't get as much out of my short game and my putting as I needed to.

“I think that's the biggest thing this Fall that I've done is start to make putts, and doing that kind of takes pressure off everything else. You know, when you can play out here free and with confidence, it makes a huge difference. And I've been able to do that the last couple months.

“Thinking back to March and April, if I had said it will come down to the last tournament I'll have a chance to get in the top 30 on the money list, you know when I think about that, it's hard to be too disappointed.

“I think the TOUR and the sponsors of the FedEx Cup and the tournaments and the playoffs … I think they got their money's worth. You know, having Tiger winning two of them, Phil winning one of them. Steve Stricker is a great story. I think it was pretty well received.

“Doesn't mean that some things don't need to be changed or tweaked. I don't think there's any big changes, but the thing I'd like to see most changed is the points distribution through the playoff events. Just didn't think there was enough movement to, you know, to really get guys to move up or down the list. That's one thing I'd like to see changed.”

Media Interview - November 1, 2007 - Children’s Miracle Network Classic presented by Wal-Mart - Lake Buena Vista, Florida

Confidence

Q: Obviously your game has really come around since July. T-2 at the Buick Open, Top 10 at Bridgestone, and then the highlight of the year, the playoff win in Texas for your 3rd there. And then a T-6 last week. When you win after going through a little bit of a dry spot what does it do for your game?

Justin: "The biggest thing is the confidence, and it's something that I really lost my confidence early in the year. I think I was probably a little closer to playing some decent golf than I felt like I was.

"I think in hindsight probably playing a little too much, trying to play my way out of it. But it's getting that confidence back. It had been growing before the Texas Open, but to go there and play the way I did and finally win a playoff was, you know, just validation of a lot of hard work.

"We can't measure our success by results too often. There's a few players that can, but, you know, sometimes it's got to be in just progress. When you can win a golf tournament out here, you know, it kind of validates things to everybody."

Media Interview - October 24, 2007 - Ginn Sur Mer Classic at Tesoro - Port St. Lucie, Florida

“He’s been hitting the ball well now for two and a half months.” -- Randy Smith

Look Who’s Back

"... now he suddenly finds himself on the list of players U.S. Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger must start tracking more closely in the long run-up to ... Louisville."

... Leonard was starting to feel and look like the Justin Leonard of the late '90s. But the putter was holding him back. “He’s been hitting the ball well now for two and a half months,” [Randy] Smith told me last week.

At Valero the flat stick magic finally returned. Leonard made just two bogeys in 72 holes. When he’s striking the ball crisply and rolling it on the greens, he’s a force. It’s a little bit like the football team that passes to set up the run. When Leonard’s stacking his approaches to 10 feet and inside, it sets up his putting/running game.

And now he suddenly finds himself on the list of players U.S. Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger must start tracking more closely in the long run-up to next year’s Ryder Cup in Louisville.

You can never have too much putting, the axiom goes, in the Ryder Cup. Which is why Leonard could fit in quite nicely that way on a team that included Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker, a healthy Chris DiMarco and a still-underrated David Toms. All of those players roll their rock like a dream.

Heady stuff for Justin Leonard, a player who had verged on being mostly-forgotten the last couple of years.

Inside the Ropes - Brian Hewitt - The Golf Channel - October 8, 2007

To read Hewitt's complete column, click here.

Grip Change

Q: Did you and Randy make any major swing changes?

Justin: "We made a grip change. My grip had gotten too weak, and from there I had shut the club on the way back, which caused a lot of the issues that I've been having ball striking, not being able to hit the ball solid, not being able to control how much it was going to curve.

"So strengthen my grip, and I'm able to get the club in a better position on the way back, and then from there, I can hit a lot of different shots and I'm really focusing on controlling the height of the ball.

"I'd become too reliant on just hitting full shots regardless of the yardage. Always if I was between clubs, going to the lesser club and trying to hit it hard, and now I'm going the other way.

"So, just trying to think my way around a little better, and because of that, I focus better. I get into the round more."

Media Interview - March 29, 2007 - Shell Houston Open - Humble, Texas

Check out Justin's latest statistics:

Justin's PGA TOUR player profile
Justin's PGA TOUR results
Justin's PGA TOUR statistics
FedEx Cup Point Standings
Ryder Cup Point Standings
Official World Golf Ranking