Justin Leonard threw his best ball in months after hitting the road

During the course of of Justin Leonard Long — and successful — PGA Tour career, the now 52-year-old amassed 12 victories, including a major championship. But after joining the PGA Tour Champions full-time in 2023, Leonard has yet to record a win in 38 events on the senior circuit.

He’s come close, with a runner-up finish at last September’s PURE Insurance Championship, but Leonard hasn’t really wrestled since.

That is, until this week’s Ascension Charity Classic in St. Louis. It was his best round since June’s US Senior Open, when Leonard shot 67-72-67-73 to finish T22.

To what did Leonard attribute the sudden turnaround? Apparently, all he needed was a phone lesson with his swing coach that came his way.

After last week’s final round 75 left Leonard T58 at the Ally Challenge in Michigan, Leonard got on the phone with his coach, Randy Smith.

“After Sunday at Michigan, I was like, golly, it’s got to be better than this,” Leonard said Friday from St. Louis. “To Randy, I had no hesitation in sending them. It was Monday afternoon, I was at home and I was talking to him. He said, well, it sounds like you’ve got a lot on your plate. I’m like, what? He said well, if you’re fighting left and this and that, you know, they didn’t have speed with my driver and those things, feel like you’ve got it in your fingers.

“So he tells me, I go out on the street while I’m on the phone with him with a stick and he tells me to swing it with one hand as much as I can five or six times,” Leonard continued. “He said, don’t move anything. Where do you feel the club now? Yes, it’s on my fingers. He said, is it where it feels? I was like no. He said, OK, here you go.”

The unconventional driving course certainly had an impact, as Leonard posted four birdies and an eagle at Norwood Hills Country Club during Friday’s first round, and remains in contention after a second-round 70.

“That’s what I got into last week, really trying to get a feel for things,” Leonard said. “I definitely got a little more speed from him.”

A win Sunday at St. the season begins to close.

However, no matter what happens, like all golfers, Leonard is just happy to be teeing it up again.

“Look, we’re all crazy. We’ve been doing this for a long time and we’re trying to make a living from this game, so we’re all a little pissed off. “But it’s fun when you find some things and then you can have a round like today that I haven’t played well in what seems like a long time,” he said. “Like a little confirmation that what I’m doing is the right thing. I knew that going into the game, but it’s just nice to get a result and justify it a little bit.”

If he can keep that positive momentum going for one more round, he could set himself up for a truly memorable Sunday.

Editor of Golf.com

As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural women’s varsity player class, Jessica can blow away anyone in the masthead. She can also drive them in the office, where she is primarily responsible for producing print and online features, and overseeing major special projects, such as GOLF’s inaugural Style Issue, which debuted in February 2018. Her series The original interview, “A Round With,” debuted in November 2015 and appeared in both magazine and video form on GOLF.com.