Justin Leonard, who had a roller-coaster day on Friday that had nothing to do with the rides at nearby Disney World, enjoys it when fans — and golf writers — remind him he once made a huge putt. But no, the 45-foot shot that clinched the Ryder Cup for the U.S. team on the 17th hole of The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., back in 1999 doesn’t really affect Leonard’s fortunes today.
“I don’t know how much it helps in the back of my mind when I’m over a putt, that, ‘Hey, I — what year is it now? You know, whenever that was, 12 years ago — I made a big putt,’” the second-round co-leader of the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Classic told reporters after firing a 9-under 63 on Disney’s Palm Course. “But it’s pretty rare that a week goes by that somebody doesn’t mention it. I mean, I got done today and somebody said, ‘Hey, I was right there when you made that putt.’ That’s kind of nice.
“Does it help me play better? I don’t know. I don’t think so,” Leonard added. “But it puts a smile on my face when somebody mentions it.”
What had Leonard grimacing more than grinning earlier was total confusion about his tour status, which the golfer with the week’s low score believed he had no reason to question. Since the top 125 players on the money list retain their tour cards for the following year, and Leonard began the week ranked 144th, he had called tour officials some time ago and learned he had full exemption through 2012.
After several reporters wondered how Leonard, who has no wins since 2008, earned the exemption, the golfer himself began to wonder.
“I’m exempt for next year, so I’m not playing with that kind of pressure. I don’t know how, I just am,” Leonard said. “I gave the same look to the telephone. How is this guy still exempt?”
Much research, another call from Leonard to Ponte Vedra, and the official word from on high resolved the mystery, which boiled down to a 2003 policy change that added two years to his 10-year exemption for winning the British Open in 1997.
As for his putting, Leonard, who has averaged 28 putts in two rounds this week, said the two hours he spent with flat-stick guru Dave Stockton Jr. a couple of weeks ago was a good investment.
“That seems to be paying some dividends,” he said.
(Emily Kay is a regular contributor to New England Golf Monthly. Check her out on the The A Position, Waggle Room, Boston Golf Examiner, National Golf Examiner, and GottaGoGolf websites. You may also follow Kay on Twitter @golfexaminer.)
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