Justin Leonard, former Aspen resident, happy to be back in Colorado at U.S. Senior Open: ‘It’s a beautiful place’
COLORADO SPRINGS Justin Leonard wasn t even eligible to play on the PGA Tour Champions circuit when he heard the U S Senior Open was coming to Colorado but he knew he d be here At the time Leonard was a Centennial State resident living about miles west of The Broadmoor in Aspen Even after his family moved back to sea level in Florida the now -year-old knew this would be an exciting work trip in his future It s pretty cool I circled this on my calendar way back when I saw it four or five years ago maybe when we were still living here Leonard declared Cooler weather got a little reminder of Colorado weather Wednesday afternoon But it s a beautiful place Leonard remains a Texan at heart The Dallas native won the U S Amateur championship in while at the University of Texas The famous burnt orange Longhorns logo is still emblazoned on his golf bag But for about seven years as his PGA Tour career ended and he transitioned to the golf analyst life the Leonards lived in Aspen and took advantage of all the outdoor adventures the I- corridor offers It s hard not to miss living in the mountains and in a mountain town Leonard the British Open champion and -time winner on the PGA Tour commented The nice thing is now we re on the water so we replaced one beautiful scenery with a different one We kind of traded the bikes for the boat One reason for returning to sea level and a warmer environment Leonard was ready to be a full-time golfer again something the -and-over PGA Tour Champions provided His son Luke was a bit late to golf but the move to Florida helped his challenge blossom as well He ll be a freshman on the Villanova golf unit this fall The family has been back two winters ago to ski in Aspen One of Leonard s sons came back last winter as well Leonard has also been to The Broadmoor a couple of times before but just to enjoy the resort Related Articles Longtime Colorado natives Matt Schalk Shane Bertsch have homecomings at U S Senior Open U S Senior Open Championship s return to The Broadmoor marks latest chapter in club s storied golf history His first experience playing the program came earlier this week Leonard began the tournament in a featured group with Padraig Harrington and Stewart Cink There were back-to-back birdies on the th and th holes but otherwise it was a grind Leonard finished with a -over which left him five strokes behind the leaders heading into Friday I didn t hit very good irons and left myself chosen long-range putts Leonard mentioned Didn t have speed dialed in so it was a little tough going there On the back nine I couldn t hit a green It s pretty disappointing Just didn t play that well in the present day His match overall has taken a step forward in his third full year on the senior tour Leonard finished in the top in three of the previous four tournaments He also collected his first win in February at the Chubb Classic in Naples Fla I think it s freed me up a little bit just because well it had been a while since I had won anything unless you count the flight at the Winding Bay member-guest a insufficient years ago Leonard reported If anything just reminded me what it takes The things that I don t need to do in order to win which are try too hard and press and all those things So learned a few good lessons good reminders and hopefully I ll get that next one here soon Want more sports news Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver s teams
