Leonard makes changes, slowly getting back on track  PGATOUR.com Correspondent HUMBLE, Texas -- The ball came over the hill headed toward the hole. Straight toward it. Dead center. In the cup. From 25 feet. Larry Leonard called it a lucky break. An inch to either side of the line, a blade of grass away from the landing spot and his son could have been looking at a 30- or 40-footer coming back. And an early disaster.  Justin Leonard says he's starting to see his work pay off a little bit. (Cox/WireImage)
But not Thursday. Not on the second hole at Redstone. Not in the first round of this Shell Houston Open. It's been a long time since Larry's seen that kind of break. He's watched his son Justin struggle for far too long now. Nearly two years. "It's been mostly the putter,'' Larry said as he reeled off Justin's accuracy and greens-in-regulation stats. And the fact that he wasn't getting it close enough to give himself much more than a bunch of Ryder Cup bombs of a chance. "With only three, four birdie chances a round, you know, there's a sense of urgency,'' Justin said. "And that's not what you need.'' What you need is what he got at the second hole. Dead center. The same thing that he was known for early in his career. The thing that earned him a Claret Jug, nine other PGA TOUR wins and hero status for a 45-foot putt that rocked Brookline at the 1999 Ryder Cup. He may well look back one day on that chip as the one that put his career back on track. It led to another birdie at the third, another at the seventh and an opening 67, which may not sound like much until you realize he's only made one cut this season, period. "Just nice to see the work that I've been putting in start to pay off a little,'' Justin said. That and, well, the changes. Think a fresh slate. As in two fresh faces and one very welcome old one. New ways of looking at things. And, he laughed, new baggage. He's left Butch Harmon and is back with Royal Oaks pro Randy Smith, the man who taught him the game. He's got a new caddie, too, in Brian Smith (no relation to Randy) and he's working with Dick Coop on his mental game. All this happened in the last three weeks. Actually, since the night he missed the cut at the PODS Championship. That was when his agent, David Winkle, asked him a simple question about the team surrounding him, including Harmon. "Are you getting all that you need?" Justin's answer was no. He wasn't. "Nothing against Butch,'' Justin said. "I wouldn't change our relationship for the world because I learned a lot with him, but... '' Like Butch's dad Claude used to say, you never blame a guy for wanting to get more information and trying to get better. And, Justin said, "That night I was just looking (at where he was and thinking) I've tried to stay patient, I've tried to stay the course. That's not working.'' The hardest calls, he said, were to Harmon and caddie Brent Everson. And the one to Smith? Justin had dialed the number a few other times in the last six months, but only to ask if he could drop by for putting help. "That was the easy call,'' he said. "But actually it was a little hard because there was this little thought in my mind that he's going to say, 'You know what, Bud, I just ain't got time for you.' ''
What did he hear? "No problem." "His struggles were hard to watch,'' Smith said. "I didn't know if it was psychological or what.'' Now? Well, Leonard was 8 years old when he started working with Smith and they just kind of fell back together. "It's probably 10 percent swing feelings and it's probably 90 percent just the surroundings -- being at Royal Oaks on the back of the range and, you know, Randy's enthusiasm," Justin said. "As my dad said the other day, it's just contagious. "We go over the short game and he's purposely trying to frustrate me, giving me the most difficult shot he can imagine. You know, I get on the golf course and everything feels easy after everything I've been through with him.'' It showed at Bay Hill where he finally made a cut. And here, where he shot his lowest round in relation to par since a 65 in the third round of the 2006 FBR Open. Leonard had risen to fifth in the world after the 1998 Masters, but is now sandwiched between Johnson Wagner and Doug LaBelle at No. 228. A reporter pointed out that he wasn't married when he was at the top of his game. Now, he's the father of three and, no, he doesn't buy into the idea that the family has distracted him. Although he does admit Amanda's pregnancy last fall -- she was on bed rest -- and the birth of son Luke were stressful. Now he's got everything in perspective. "When I'm on the golf course, it's about playing golf,'' he said. "Whatever I need to do to get it done. When I'm off the course, it's all about my wife and kids. I get totally away from it because I don't have time to think about it with three kids.'' Coop has been working with him on visualizing shots, which dovetails nicely with his move back toward more of a feel game. There's no hard feelings between Harmon and Leonard. Or Smith. "You're not the reason,'' he told Harmon. "Sometimes you just have to have a different eye." Smith and Leonard have worked on his grip, which had gotten a bit weak and they worked on irons into greens. So, instead of looking at 40-footers all day, he was looking at 12-footers. They don't plan to redo his Harmonized swing, which suits his new stronger frame And Harmon, by the way, is shipping all of the video he has of Leonard to Smith. "That's the kind of guy he is," Justin said. But back to the round. And the shot. And just where all this is going. Larry was excited enough for the both of them at the end of the round. It's boys' week down here -- father and son. Nancy Leonard, Justin's mom, is recovering from a broken leg she suffered while skiing. Amanda Leonard and the kids are up in Dallas. Larry shook his head. That chip shot at the second, it set the tone. Finally. Justin had to agree. "It's a round I can build on,'' he said. "You know I don't feel like I'm over any hump. But I got a whole lot closer to it today and, you know, it's one of those rounds... I need to expect to play like this. Not that I'm going to every day, but I need to get to the golf course expecting to hit good shots and make putts." Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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