US TOUR: At a time when the game's long hitters are hitting it longer than ever, one of the game's shortest hitters comes in from the cold. Justin Leonard's win in the Honda Classic served as a reminder that it is not all about bashing a ball as far as it will go, that there is still much room for creativity when it comes to chasing a victory.
Leonard's one-stroke win over Chad Campbell and Davis Love III gave him his eighth US Tour title and the distinction of having won a title for four years running, while also moving him up five places to 15th in the world rankings. What's more, it has made him hungry for the upcoming Players' Championship - at Sawgrass next week - and the US Masters at Augusta, two weeks later.
Coming almost 11 months since his last tournament win, Leonard rediscovered the winning habit by "working my tail off" on the range in the week before the Honda.
"I hadn't played well in the Los Angeles Open or at the matchplay, and worked a little bit with Butch Harmon at the matchplay and had some things to get comfortable with," he explained. "I'm not a huge fan of the West Coast . . . the poa annua grass there, I'm not a huge fan of. So playing there is like trying to gauge where my game is, what I need to work on."
The improvements Leonard made to his game included changing driver and ball, all part of the quest to keep up with some of the game's big hitters.
"I think that I am doing the right things to get longer length off the tee, and to hit the ball a little bit higher when I need to. When it comes to a long golf course, I just have to be a bit more on my game than some of the other guys.
"But it is nothing new trying to keep up with the long hitters. When I first came out on tour, I was short, much shorter than average. Now, I feel like I'm close to an average-length hitter. How much farther I can go, I don't know. But I'm going to keep looking," he said.
Meanwhile, Tom Purtzer won his first title on the Champions Tour when he won the rain-shortened SBC Classic in Los Angeles. Des Smyth continued his impressive start on the seniors circuit with a tied-fifth finish - shooting two rounds of 70 - which earned him $58,312 and took his season's earnings to $233,713 from four events. Smyth is 13th in the money list and plays in this week's Toshiba Classic in Newport, California.
Eamonn Darcy, though, is again enduring a frustrating time in trying to get a start. Although he finished runner-up in his one and only outing, and is placed 23rd on the money list with $133,500, he is no better than seventh reserve to get into this week's event.
