Justin Leonard at the 2008 U.S. Open. (Gordons/Flickr)
IT BEGAN IN EARNEST this week a year ago at the Valero Texas Open. The road back from No. 126 in the world got a whole lot smoother and straighter for Justin Leonard after his Texas Open win. It was Leonard’s first title in over two years.
Leaving Butch Harmon, Justin reunited with his childhood coach, Randy Smith. It was obviously working.
This year Leonard won again at the Stanford St. Jude Championship. He racked up enough points to secure a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team and is currently ranked 23rd in the world.
That’s an impressive comeback, and the relatively young Leonard, 36, could still have several more productive years on the PGA Tour.
−The Armchair Golfer
Is it just me or does it seem like Justin has been 36 for about 6 years? It was great to see him perform so well at the Ryder Cup alongside young stud Hunter Mahan. I find it interesting and actually a bit impressive that Justin virtually suggested to captain Zinger to sit out the afternoon matches on Saturday, hinting that we would play much better on Sunday with some rest that afternoon. Turns out the rest didn’t matter as he got routed on Sunday, but that didn’t matter either as we still won handidly. Anyway, great to see him back in good form again. Dave Austad http://www.austads.com
Woops, wrong link. Dave Austad.
Austads.com
I know it. Justin does seem like he’s been around forever. Getting back to the Ryder Cup was a huge accomplishment. Plus, it didn’t hurt that he erased that personal goose egg in the win column.