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U.S. SENIOR WOMEN'S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIPSeptember 18, 2014Joan HigginsDEAL, NEW JERSEY BRIAN DePASQUALE: Joan, let's talk about first winning your second USGA Championship. How does it feel? JOAN HIGGINS: It's unbelievable. I never thought it would happen. My game the last couple years hasn't been great. I got knocked out the second round last year. When I came to this golf course I didn't think it was a golf course for me because it's so tough. As someone said, I play well on tough course, because if you keep it in the fairway on a tough golf course, it becomes your advantage. I hit every fairway today except for 17, which was a par‑3. I think that really helped. I was kind of struggling on the driving range with my driver, and then I ‑‑ sometimes I think that helps. You don't try to do too much. Just try to get it on the center of the club face. Q. What's different about winning this championship as opposed to the 2008 mid‑amateur? JOAN HIGGINS: I know what it means. Last night I know that that means golf, the photo book, the ring, the 10‑year exemption. I know that you're the United States Senior Women's Amateur Champion and no one can ever take that away from you. I think the nerves played a lot more at this tournament than at the mid‑am. At the mid‑am I was just thrilled to be there, to be in the final. This I kind of knew what it meant. Q. Let's me take you through the round a bit. Let's go back to the turn. She is 1‑up and you make that 16‑foot birdie putt to win the hole on 10. JOAN HIGGINS: Oh, that was huge. My caddie, Bobby, he made a great read on that. If I was alone I probably would've played more break. He just said I believe it was inside right. I just tried to get the speed. That was huge, because that was actually the first birdie of the match. I was struggling a little bit before that, and that was the turning point. I said, Hey, I actually may be able to win this if I don't do too many bad things on the way in. Q. On 12 you curled in an 8‑foot par putt to halve the hole. How was that? JOAN HIGGINS: Oh, yeah, there was a huge advantage there. She was (indiscernible) and she elected to putt and she got a little tentative and left it short. After I saw that, my caddie said, Hey, we just want to two‑putt and I leave it 12 feet bu and I made the putt. Again, that was not a great putt. That's my game. I make those putts. The way I win is because I make those putts. Q. On 13 you found a grass depression. JOAN HIGGINS: Yeah, the ball was really sitting down. Actually I thought it might be in like a little sprinkler head that we have at home. I tried to chop it out of there, and my caddie says, Well, let's hope it doesn't go left. It went dead left. I thought I hit a pretty good sand shot, but this sand is a little heavy. Unless you want to knick the ball and have a chance of flying the green, you take a little bit more sand. I thought I actually made a pretty good roll on the putt, but she made a nice par there. Q. On 14 you came right back. Actually hit the flag. JOAN HIGGINS: Yeah, I hit it a little low. It was 135, so I choked down on my 6‑iron. You know, I always hit it low. I was thinking if it hadn't hit the flag stick it could have gone in, but she hit it over the green and didn't hit a great chip. Q. As you said before, you thought maybe 16 was the big key to the match. JOAN HIGGINS: Right. She's long enough on these par‑5s that especially on 16 she should have been able to get there. She laid up just where I was. I was very surprised. I was very happy to go first. Even the putt on the 18th hole we kind of didn't know who was in or out. I was very happy to hit the putt first because I knew if I made it I won. If she made it it's a tougher putt to make because I got to make it on top. If I don't make it, we're going to the 1st hole. So I was very happy I was a couple inches outside of her on that. Q. You had a penchant for coming from behind this week. Not every match, but quite a few of them. What is it about your makeup that you can do that? JOAN HIGGINS: You know, I get out there, like yesterday in the quarters I wasn't playing great and she was playing great. I was just trying to hang in there and enjoy myself and take them as far as you can in the match. And then it's amazing, you do that and they may have the tendency to not play as well coming down the stretch. I just told myself, Enjoy the moment. I've been knocked out enough the first round. You go home, Oh, it was great. How come I didn't win? This is a fantastic event. Who knows if I'll be able to play with health and things like that and family if you'll be able to play another one. Q. How demanding is it to stay physically focused and mentally sharp over the course of an event? JOAN HIGGINS: I think that's why sometimes you start out a little slow. Like yesterday in my semifinal match I did not‑‑ the front nine I did not play that great. Then all of a sudden she hit the putt on No. 8 and all of a sudden I started concentrating. I'm like, Hey, I can win this. And then I think I shot even par for the following hole after that and won the match. Q. That was in the semifinal? JOAN HIGGINS: That was in the semifinal. Then the quarters, same thing. It's all about making the putts and getting lucky. Q. How different is this compared to winning the first one? JOAN HIGGINS: Oh, this is better. The first one is always ‑‑ you think you're really lucky. It was the mid‑am. I was really lucky that someone Ellen Port and Martha Leach got knocked out in the early rounds. Kind of opens the door for the rest of us. I think sometimes when you play them it's a little intimidating and you have a tendency to try to make pars and birdies. Somebody you don't know you go out and play golf. There is no preconceived ideas of how they're going to play. Q. Have you been to Golf House since you won the mid‑am? JOAN HIGGINS: No, I was going to go on Tuesday when I lost and I was going to go on Wednesday when I lost. Q. So you haven't been there? JOAN HIGGINS: I haven't been there. I had a friend go and they let her take a picture of the plaque. Q. It will not be the same thing when you walk in there for the first time and see your name up there. JOAN HIGGINS: Yeah, I'm sure. Q. Take a side trip. That's my suggestion. JOAN HIGGINS: Okay. Q. You were supposed to fly home this morning. Did you get your plane ticket situation all set? JOAN HIGGINS: I'm good. I called my husband and he called and said, Hey, there is a 6:00 out. You have to call because it's under your name. I called, and because it was a free ticket, they changed it and it was the last seat available. If I can't make that, because it's out Philly, they have an 8:00. Q. You're rushing right out of here. JOAN HIGGINS: Yeah. But the flights are so expensive now. Every time you enter a tournament you put down that you're going to be in the finals, it costs you a lot of money. Q. Could be one of the better cross‑country flights in your life. JOAN HIGGINS: Oh, yeah. I'll be exhausted, but I'm so hyper right now. Q. You played college tennis. JOAN HIGGINS: Uh‑huh. Q. Growing up and going through that, what transferred into your golf career later in life.? Any competitiveness? JOAN HIGGINS: I think tennis really helped. I played a lot of tennis. It wasn't super high caliber tennis, but I was on a scholarship my last two years at University of Wisconsin. But I think golf is a great sport because I can play with any handicap and I can go out and practice by myself and enjoy myself. I've played a lot of rounds where ‑‑ I played a lot this summer of nine holes here and there alone. You play from different tees. You couldn't do that with a lot of different sports. It's a great sport. You know, it's a sport that doesn't matter what your opponent does. Maybe in match play a little bit, but it's all about you. No excuses except for yourself. Q. People that haven't seen a senior women's open before, what would they appreciate about the caliber of this event? JOAN HIGGINS: How deep. A lot of these women work and have full time jobs and have to take vacation for this. How far they hit the ball and how good they are? I think senior women's we're lucky because we always get great golf courses. I mean, compared to the mid‑am, I think the seniors get a little bit better golf courses than the mid‑am. I don't know caliber‑wise, but bigger names. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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