Leonard shines in home state thanks to improved putting

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Justin Leonard finally listened to his coach, caddie and friends and changed his putting technique.

HUMBLE ,Texas -- He was moving his head when he putted.

Everyone saw it. Everyone told him. Caddie. Swing coach. Friends.

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But Justin Leonard couldn't feel it. And if he couldn't feel it, he couldn't get it through his sometimes thick skull, let alone fix it.

Then he hit a terrible putt on the fifth hole at The Honda Classic Saturday.

"Totally felt my left shoulder come up and my head come out of it,'' he said. "I felt it. The next hole, I kept my head down and hit it about 8 feet past and I told myself that's it. I got it.''

Fast forward to Saturday at the Shell Houston Open when he one-putted seven greens, ripped off a 6-under-par 30 on the front nine at Redstone and then ... kinda gave some back. As in a thinned bunker shot at the 14th hole that led to a double bogey and a bogey at No. 17.

Still, a week-low 26 putts and a 67 ... well, nothing was keeping him from feeling the glass was half-empty afterward. But upon a little reflection, he knew it good enough to leave him in touch with the top of the leaderboard. To be specific, four shots behind co-leaders Anthony Kim and Bryce Molder.

"As the day goes on, it'll feel more half full,''' Leonard said, who would be a shot or two closer had it not been for a 74 on Friday. "There are a lot of good things happening.

" ... Lots of good, a little bit of bad. . I kind of played my way back into the golf tournament. I would have loved to have played a little better over the last four holes. I'm still excited about the game, the way I'm playing. Today was a step in the right direction and made me feel good going into tomorrow and next week.''

Leonard, who'll turn 39 in June, chuckles that he wishes he would have figured all this out months ago, but he'll take it now. Since the switch flipped, he has had two top-20 finishes and is safely inside the top 10 this week.

He has played steady at Redstone, though his only two top 10 at the SHO came at the old Woodlands course early last decade. He found something here on this course a few years back when he went back to working with his longtime coach Randy Smith that ended a two-year struggle. Suddenly, he looked much more like the 1997 British Open and 1998 PLAYERS champ and definitely like the kid whose 45-foot bomb at Brookline both punctuated and defined America's historic comeback at the Ryder Cup. Back then he was in the top 10 in the world -- he peaked at fifth -- and in the hunt for more majors.

Now, 11 years after that Ryder Cup, he and wife Amanda are expecting their fourth child in a few weeks. A boy. That will give them two girls and two boys. His life is more centered now and it shows. He's made steady progress coming back, winning once each season for the past three years. Last year, he almost made it two, losing a playoff at the Children's Miracle Network Classic.

As for majors? He nearly had three majors in his early 30s. He lost a playoff to Vijay Singh at the 2004 PGA, another one to Paul Lawrie at the 1999 British Open and he finished second to close friend Davis Love III at the 1997 PGA.

Now he's ready to jump back in that game.

The former U.S. Amateur champ who organized his sock drawer by colors is about to join the fortysomethings -- a decade when a lot of players hit their major stride. And Sunday, the Dallas native and Texas-ex (University of Texas alum) will have the hometown-type crowd following him.

They were there Saturday when he birdied the second and third and fifth holes, then eagled the sixth and eighth holes to get to 8-under for the tournament.

"I couldn't imagine getting off to a better start, and, you know, really stole a shot each at 6 and 8 by hitting those close enough to where they went in, and then, you know, it got a little sloppy.,'' he said. "I miss -- not miss-hit, but just hit a couple shots at 14, 17 into bad places.''

He bogeyed the ninth too. But followed with back-to-back birdies. Part of the credit goes to a new Nike driver -- think the commercial where he sneaks one out of Nike's Oven.

"I'm really excited about the way I'm driving the ball,'' he said. "I got a Machspeed with a little less loft about three tournaments ago, and it's really paying off.

"I'm not spinning the ball as much, and especially when we get in firm conditions like this, I can hit it throughout pretty good.''

Leonard likes the Redstone course. It's one that fits his eye and the conditions -- fast greens, shaved banks -- get everyone ready for Augusta. And, oh, there's one more thing. Houston's Mexican cuisine.

"There aren't many cities that we play in where I will go eat Mexican food because I'm a little . . . ''' he said, stopping short of the word picky. "I'm from Dallas, I like my Mexican food the way I like it. It's nice to be able to come down here and eat Mexican food and feel good about it.''

It doesn't hurt to find something in your game, either. Especially heading into Augusta.