Justin Leonard Quotes (24 Quotes)

I think that being around and meeting a lot of their people at Nike, getting into the new equipment and all those things kind of renewed my energy a little bit. I think that's the reason I got off to such a great start in '05, because I was so excited to play and eager to prove to Nike that they made a good decision.

I enjoy coming to this event, especially this time of year when I haven't been playing as much,

I think with the weather the way it is and as many great players as we have out here, I think a 61 or 62 or 63 is definitely in the realm of possibilities.

Tuesday night, I ended up getting sick. I wasn't even sure Wednesday if I was going to be able to play.

I've defended well in some tournaments in the past. I won back-to-back Texas Opens a couple years ago. And other times I haven't played so well in my title defenses. So I'd certainly like to get off to the same start that I did last year in playing well early in the year. I can't think of a better place to do that than the Hope.

A win would turn this into a good year in a hurry,

I was able to pick up a second victory midway through the year. I was a little disappointed in my play in the majors. That's something I'd really like to improve upon this year. But being selected for the Presidents Cup team and then enjoying that experience so much and playing well, and our side winning, I think, more than made up for that.

Guys are little more relaxed here. You don't have the media buildup. The intensity is there, but for whatever reason the pressure is different. This event, you don't think about it until you get here. With the Ryder Cup, six months out people start talking about this and that. The next thing you know is we're all white-knuckled.

The spotlight is as much or more on the celebrities and amateurs as it is on the pros those first few days. To be quite honest, that's kind of nice.

It was good. I played pretty well. I could have made a few more putts, but I'm not going to complain. To shoot 2 under, I was fortunate to go out early (before the wind picked up).

He's one of us. He makes you feel like he's your neighbor or your friend. Other than that he's just the greatest player in the history of the game.

I spent a lot of time working on my game, adjusting to the new equipment. I found that I got back some excitement that maybe I had been missing the last few years.

Scott's been playing great, I've only been average, ... We volunteered to lead off today, and we knew who we'd be paired against. We're excited about it.

This year has been OK. I felt I played really well through the early part of the year. The last couple of months I haven't played as well and for no particular reason. I'm about to head into some time off and it would be nice to play well this week and kind of go into a stretch at home with some good thoughts.

I played a practice round with him at Baltusrol in the '93 Open on my 21st birthday,

I think there are obviously a few details that need to be worked out. But it sounds like guys are going to have the opportunity after mid-to-late September, if they want to take a big chunk of time off. And I think what that will do is allow guys to have more time off.

You've got to make some birdies to keep the pace out there. I don't think it's a surprise at the scores and how low they are.

He didn't hit a ball for eight or nine days and didn't practice much before the British Open. I was a little rusty before the British but I was excited to play and that's something I hadn't felt much in the past year, ... When I struggle, I get home and think, I need to practice. Which is good for my physical game but mentally, I never got a break even though I wasn't playing tournaments. I worked so hard at home, my golf swing is fine now.

It is long overdue for me to come back here and play. Playing here three or four years ago in an exhibition before the course opened I knew that I liked the course and I've just been meaning to come back.

Yeah. We are very excited. I feel fortunate because we didn't plan anything. But it's at a time of the year where I can take this much time off.

A couple of the greens are a little severe I think, but everybody's going to have to get through those holes. The golf course should be more difficult than last year.

It's fun and the golf course is in perfect shape. There are no excuses. I think all of these things combined have helped me to play well here the last couple of years.

I played one of the days with Sam Jackson, George Lopez and Cheech Marin. I had a ball. Sam is over there contemplating the game of golf and what it means, all this other stuff. And Cheech and George are trying to figure out who has had the best one-liner so far. That just cracks me up.

I've loosened up on the golf course, and I enjoy playing at the Hope. I've been in the celebrity rotation since I started playing.