When it comes to match play competition, veteran Justin Leonard has provided plenty of heroics.
Feb. 27, 2009
By PGATOUR.COM Staff
ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY ELITE EIGHT: Casey | Cink | Els | Fisher | Leonard | McIlroy | Ogilvy | O'Hair
When Justin Leonard got here he wasn't sure how he was going to play because he was coming off a missed cut in Los Angeles and had just started hitting a new driver, a Nike Dynamo STR8-FIT, Monday morning. As it turns out, Leonard is the one who's been a dynamo.
Leonard averaged 73 percent of fairways hit through his first three matches with the new, shorter driver -- and hit a high of 83.3 percent on Friday in a 19-hole win over Oliver Wilson. With the importance of playing from the fairway this week, that's been key for Leonard.
Because longer drives can roll through the fairways here and make it tougher to hit approach shots to the proper plateau or section of the green, Leonard's lack of length off the tee has actually been a little bit of an asset on the 7,800-yard course.
LEONARD QUOTE: "The rough's not deep by any means, but it's hard to control the ball. And that's what you have to be doing going into these greens is controlling the ball."
KEY STAT: 4 and 3. That's not a score from any of Leonard's matches this week, but rather the number of Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup teams he's played on. That's a lot of match play experience when you're talking about playing against an opponent who has very little.
QUARTERFINAL OPPONENT: Ross Fisher (Saturday tee time: 9:56 a.m.)
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| How Leonard Reached the Quarterfinals |
| Round 1: Defeated Andres Romero |
2 and 1 |
| What a start for Leonard -- birdie, eagle. Yet he found himself 1 down through 8 holes and was fortunate to not fall even further when he and Romero both double-bogeyed the 9th. But a birdie at the 11th put him 1 up, and birdies at the 15th and 16th holes helped seal the deal. Romero, meanwhile, struggled after the turn; he was 5 over through holes 9-14. "It was a little streaky," Leonard said. "I felt like I gave him a couple holes, he gave me a couple holes, but ... in the end, I made a few more putts than he did." |
| Round 2: Defeated Davis Love III |
1 up |
| Leonard won the first hole with a birdie and never trailed in this match between two long-time friends. Love struggled with his putter but still managed to get back into the match late with birdies at the driveable par-4 15th and 17th to square the match. Leonard two-putted from 28 feet for a par on the 18th, though, and won when Love was unable to save par from the greenside bunker. Leonard, who lost in the consolation final last year, now has an 11-10 record at the Accenture Match Play Championship while Love drops to 19-10. "It's match play, but certainly as long as we have been friends, it's difficult to play against him," Leonard said "...I tried to separate the two a little bit and feel quite fortunate to come out on top." |
| Round 3: Defeated Oliver Wilson |
19 holes |
| Neither player won a hole in this tight match until No. 9 when Leonard missed a 2-footer for par to give Wilson the 1-up edge. The Texan made enough clutch putts coming home, though, to beat the Englishman on the first extra hole. The two combined for nine birdies on the back nine. "That's not real easy to do on this golf course," Leonard said -- in perhaps the most entertaining tilt of the day. Still, Leonard never led until the 17th hole when his final birdie put him 1 up. Wilson sent the match to extra holes with a 5-foot birdie putt on the 18th but Leonard got the win with a par on the 19th. "There was some really good golf played on the back nine today," said Leonard, who is 7-2 in his last nine matches at this event. |
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| Previous Accenture Match Play results |
| 1999 |
1 |
1 |
T17 |
| Matches: Beat Jimenez, 4 and 3; lost to Maruyama, 4 and 2 |
| 2000 |
1 |
1 |
T17 |
| Matches: Beat Funk, 6 and 5; lost to Maruyama, 1 down |
| 2001 |
2 |
1 |
T9 |
| Matches: Beat Sjoland, 6 and 5, Orr, 20 holes; lost to Stricker, 6 and 5 |
| 2002 |
0 |
1 |
T33 |
| Matches: Beat Lost to Olazabal, 1 down |
| 2003 |
1 |
1 |
T17 |
| Matches: Beat Olazabal, 1 up; lost to Leaney, 6 and 5 |
| 2004 |
0 |
1 |
T33 |
| Matches: Lost to Cejka, 4 and 3 |
| 2005 |
0 |
1 |
T33 |
| Matches: Lost to Daly, 1 down |
| 2006 |
0 |
1 |
T33 |
| Matches: Lost to Crane, 4 and 3 |
| 2008 |
4 |
2 |
4th |
| Matches: Beat Ogilvy, 2 and 1; Westwood, 2 and 1; Appleby, 3 and 2; V. Singh, 1 up; lost to Cink, 4 and 2; lost to Stenson, 3 and 2, in consolation finals |
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