Nine long years later, Leonard's ready for more Ryder Cup glory
By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
You've seen it so many times, you know the route by heart.
Forty-five inexplicable feet. A ball that tracked over the ridge and flew into the bottom of the cup.
And, yes, the celebration that followed. Justin Leonard with arms raised looking for someone -- anyone -- to hug. Players and wives swarming onto the green. An exclamation point to an improbable comeback.
A moment etched in time.
Leonard's putt at Brookline's 17th hole defined the 1999 Ryder Cup. It was the putt that meant the U.S. couldn't lose. It was the putt that meant Leonard had pulled himself out of a four-down hole that felt more like an abyss; the putt that meant the U.S. had completed a historic comeback. The putt that meant Ben Crenshaw wasn't' the only one who truly believed in fate.
Nine years later, just thinking about it puts a smile on Leonard's face.
"I've been fortunate enough to see it so many times and get to relive it,'' said Leonard, who halved that match with Jose Maria Olazabal. "It makes me think about Sunday as a whole and how special that day was for me.
" . . . I remember where I was mentally and where I stood in the match just an hour before that. That's the thing I take from it -- not just making that putt but getting back to where that putt meant something after being four down.''
Leonard has made a career out of comebacks --- seven of his 12 PGA TOUR victories were come-from-behinds if you're counting -- and now he's at it again.
Although he played on Presidents Cup teams in 2003 and 2005, this is Leonard's first Ryder Cup since Brookline. He's battled through a lull or two in his game since that iconic moment at Brookline, not to mention getting married and beginning a family -- two girls and a boy.
And, since reuniting with his long-time coach Randy Smith in March 2007, he's won twice, played his way back into the top 25 in the world and is approaching the level he played at when he won the 1997 British Open and 1998 PLAYERS Championship.
"I feel like I'm on track,'' Leonard said. "Not exactly where I want to be. I'd like to be in contention more often and be in contention in major championships. I feel that's the direction I'm headed and I have a pretty good path cut for that.''
A pretty good one too, headed to Valhalla. The Ryder Cup was a goal, and so was winning again on TOUR. He accomplished that by taking the 2007 Valero Texas Open last fall and the Stanford St. Jude Championship in June. But don't ask which was the chicken or the egg.
"The two kind of go hand in hand,'' he said. "Making a Ryder Cup team is always a goal for almost any player, but I think a lot of things have to happen during the course of a year for that to happen. My focus for the last couple of years has just been to get ready to play each week; to analyze my game enough to find ways to improved, but not so much that it's a hindrance. If I do all those little things . . ..if those (bigger goals) don't come true, they're at least in the realm of possibility.''
This is a week of rest for Leonard. He put down his clubs after finishing tied for 17th at the BMW Championship and won't pick them up again until Friday.
And, while he thought about flying to Louisville for a little warm-up, he didn't because it would be too hectic. Plus, he's already played two tournaments there, tying for fifth at the 1996 PGA Championship and 41st at the 2000 PGA Championship.
"I think having this week off is a big deal,'' Leonard said. "I know I was tired at the end of last week and I know some other players were.
". . . Taking the last four days off and not even thinking about golf, it's been really nice. Finally today I feel like I'm starting to get rested.''
Leonard will have plenty to time to sharpen his game, which produced a pair of ties for seventh at The Barclays and Deutsche Bank Championships and a tie for 16th under the brutal conditions at the British Open.
"I felt like if I had putted well at Birkdale,'' he said, "I could have been in contention.''
Leonard is 0-3-5 in two Ryder Cup appearances, but has also played with six different partners. He was 3-1 at the 2005 Ryder Cup -- 2-1 with then partner Scott Verplank, who just missed making this team -- so it's no surprise he's a proponent of finding that same chemistry with another partner next week. He's just not mentioning who that potential partner might be.
"I think it's important to get into a rhythm,'' he said, "like I did with Scott.''
Leonard likes the look of this U.S. team and Captain Paul Azinger's enthusiasm, but he knows it will take a lot more than just a dozen guys who come in playing well. Especially after three big European wins -- two of them by a runaway 18 ½ - 9 ½.
Especially, too, since Leonard, Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk are the only U.S. players who have played on a winning Ryder Cup team.
"We have a great challenge in front of us,'' Leonard said. " . . .I think if we can really embrace being the underdog the way the Europeans have for so many years can work to our advantage. Just go out and freewheel it a little bit, which is hard to do in a Ryder Cup, but it's easy to say.''
Leonard took a beating at that 1999 Ryder Cup Saturday afternoon. NBC announcer Johnny Miller even went to far as to say his hunch was that Leonard should have stayed home and watched on TV.
And, yes, when someone brought that up that Sunday night, Leonard flashed that famous stare.
"I think,'' he said at the time, "it was a good thing I didn't go home."
It's a good thing he's on this team too. For his experience, for his putting, for his grit.
And, it doesn't hurt that he has played well in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. Although, as we all know, no one can catch Vijay Singh, who has all but locked up the FedExCup with THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola left to play.
"We've played three good golf courses and for Vijay to go out and win those first two events against the fields, he deserves to win,'' said Leonard, who will close his season by defending at the Valero Texas Open and playing the Children's Miracle Network Classic at Disney World.. "The excitement it has produced is great, but I think the point system will probably be tweaked. I think maybe there were a bit too many points awarded for just making the cut and the difference between 75th (place) and 15th was not enough.''
As for next week? That 45-foot putt will be replayed dozens of times and Leonard will be asked about it at least a half dozen times. Maybe more.
And when he talks about it, when he sees it fall one more time -- either on the screen or in his mind -- we guarantee that smile won't be far behind.
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