ASAHI RYOKUKEN INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

May 16, 2002

Dawn Coe-Jones

DEBBIE EARECKSON: Talk about your round.

DAWN COE-JONES: You want to do birdies and bogeys?

No. 1, I hit it short of the hole and chipped in, so that was a nice way to start the day. It was only about a 20-foot chip.

No. 2, left that short of the green, by about ten feet and chipped up about six feet and missed that for par.

3, I hit it in the right bunker, came out about 20 feet and made that for par.

Give a sense of the same roller coaster ride my caddy and I were on.

4, I hit 7-iron about 7 feet and made birdie.

5, I missed a ten-foot putt for par. I had a -- hit a bad drive and didn't get up-and-down from the bunker.

And 7, I hit 7-iron in about 12 feet below the hole and made that putt for birdie.

No. 10, I hit it short of the green and plugged it in the front bunker and missed about a 12-foot par-putt there.

12, I made birdie. I hit 7-iron in, hit a bad drive there and had to -- I was in the fairway bunker and hit a 7-iron in about 25 feet and made that putt for birdie.

And got up-and-down from almost pin-high on 13, sunk about a three-foot putt for par there.

15, I hit 5-iron in about 20 feet, 25 feet past the pin and made that putt for birdie.

And 16 I got up-and-down from the edge of the green, made about a three-footer there for par.

And 17, I got up-and-down from the bunker, hit it about a foot and a half on 17.

So basically pretty much of a -- I live in Tampa, so kind of a Busch Gardens kind of a day.

Q. Some of the players have been talking about how hard the greens are. Do you have to take into account by trying to hit the front of the green, or what if the pin is on the front, what do you do?

DAWN COE-JONES: The pins were quite difficult today, and I can only imagine how much trouble they're having out there this afternoon because this wind has picked up, and it's tough to get the ball close. I mean, the birdie putts I made today weren't necessarily close. So you had putts that you were either coming down the hill or you left it a little short of the green and chipped up. But it was definitely difficult. And I'm sure it's very difficult out there right now.

Q. Are the pins Sunday kind of pins or surprising for the first day of the tournament?

DAWN COE-JONES: I thought they were quite surprising for the first round, very definitely. Looking at some of the spots for tomorrow, we're in for the same adventure.

Q. Considering the way the course is playing, what would you say the winning score could be?

DAWN COE-JONES: Oh, gosh, that remains to be seen. Annika is here, right? You might want to ask her. It all depends on the weather. The golf course is in excellent shape. It's a difficult golf course, but yet it is scorable. If you get the feel of the greens, you can make a lot of putts out there. So it's hard to predict the score. It all depends a lot on the weather.

Q. A couple of players have talked about the difficulty of getting flat lies or level lies in the fairway. Did you have that same problem?

DAWN COE-JONES: Yeah, I did. I actually got lucky on 18 and turned the ball over, and I thought it got all the way down to the bottom of the hill, and I was quite excited about having an 8-iron into 18, but even still, didn't quite get it to the flat and had a difficult shot with just an 8-iron in my hand. So getting a flat lie out there is not easy.

Q. How has your season gone this year?

DAWN COE-JONES: This has only been my fourth event. I have a six-and-a-half-year-old son who stays at home most of the time, until the summertime, and so my schedule is quite light when he's in school. And when school is out here in two weeks, then I'll play a few more events than I have, for sure. But I'm not disappointed with how things have gone in the three tournaments that I have played, definitely.

Q. How difficult is that, as far as it cuts into your practice time?

DAWN COE-JONES: I don't practice. I have a putting green. We extended our screen outside of our pool area, so I have a putting green there. And so we putt and swim and swim and putt. But I have never been one to go out there and beat balls on my weeks off. I know a lot of people said I probably should be doing that, but when I go home, I like to do other things besides play golf, or I will play casual golf with my husband or my mother-in-law.

Q. Are your expectations lower, then, early in the season when you're not playing as much for the times you do play?

DAWN COE-JONES: No, that's pretty much the way I've always -- I never, ever did play in the winter. And I was always excited to come out and play when the season started. No risk of a burnout here with me.

Q. How many tournaments do you normally play during the year?

DAWN COE-JONES: I'll be lucky to get to 15 this year. And that's my choice, too. My son is involved in hockey, and as much as I love all these venues that we have, there's certain weeks that you need to be home to see the championship of the "Mite Division". That only happens once. So definitely priorities for me have changed. And I think I have the best of both worlds, really.

Q. Do you think he realizes how much -- the sacrifice you're making, compared to some of the other women who aren't staying at home as much?

DAWN COE-JONES: I think he understands now what I do. Up until this year I don't think he really understood really what mommy was doing. And up until this past fall, he traveled a lot with me. So he just knew we traveled and we got on the airplanes and did the hotel deal. And he got to see Tony and all the kids. But now that he's at home, he's got his little life, his little routine, and he knows that when mommy goes, she'll only be gone for two weeks at the most. That's the longest stretch. In fact, we were to go to Nashville last week and I had to stay home. And he was quite disappointed that he wasn't going to be able to come out and see Tony and the kids.

Q. Tony is --?

DAWN COE-JONES: Tony better reef I runs our child development center for us.

Q. Can you elaborate on the Busch Gardens comment, was it like a jungle cruise?

DAWN COE-JONES: No, my day was like a roller coaster. And Busch Gardens in Tampa has some of the best roller coasters in the country.

Q. When you started, did you think this would be a good score, 2-under par?

DAWN COE-JONES: A little bit surprised that there hasn't been a lower score shot, but then again won't be surprised if someone does shoot one in the afternoon. I think with this wind, I think some of the gals will be able to get to some of the par-5s in two relatively easy, setting up some eagle chances. So somebody will shoot low this afternoon, definitely.

Q. Which ones are the biggest problem, the hard greens, the wind, the tough pin positions?

DAWN COE-JONES: You put those three together, and that's what makes this golf course so difficult. A lot of these greens, if you haven't been out there, are quite severely sloped. If you go out there, go take a look at No. 7. It's quite a nightmare to putt. It's a difficult hole.

Q. (Inaudible.) Given this is the second year tournament, is it surprising to find these kind of conditions, this kind of degree of difficulty?

DAWN COE-JONES: Oh, absolutely not. When we were here in September last year first trip around here, you know, everybody was talking about how difficult the golf course was, and especially if it's firm and fast, which it is certainly today. It's a little more vulnerable when it's soft, as we saw in the fall. And so I guess you could say she's rearing her teeth, if you want to say that.

Q. The pin on No. 7, I know the green, where was it at today?

DAWN COE-JONES: 7 was right on the front. I believe it was about 7 paces on.

Q. You have a downhill putt?

DAWN COE-JONES: When we got there, the wind was swirling, so it actually was playing into the wind, which almost made it an easier shot because you had a little bit of backstop behind the pin by hitting back into the wind, but it's swirling out there. So you just hope when you hit it that the wind stays in that direction you thought it was.

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