Q. In looking at the majors, did you think that you would have more major victories at this point in your career 10, 15 years ago, and how much of an emphasis has that been for you?
BETH DANIEL: Put it this way: I would have liked to have had more major championships at this point. I think when you look at majors, I have a whole different theory on them, probably because I've only one won.
But I think major championships go to players that, No. 1, drive the ball very straight. And No. 2, putt very well. Because the conditions are so difficult in a major championship, with the firmness of the greens and the thickness of the rough, I don't care how good a ball-striker you are, you're going to miss more greens in a major championship. And if you can't get it up-and-down, you're not going to win major championships.
So I really -- when I look at the people that win majors, those are the types of players that win majors. You know, they are very accurate off the tee, and they are very, very good putters. And those are probably the two weaknesses of my golf game, and I've worked very hard on them over the years, but they are still the two weaknesses in my golf game.
Q. Do you wear contacts?
BETH DANIEL: No.
Q. Your vision checks out?
BETH DANIEL: Oh, I can see far away. I just can't see close up anymore. Can't read the scorecard, but I can see an eagle over there.
Q. I guess the one other thing is that, you know, you're legitimately in the Hall and everything; would it be nice just to add the notch, to put it in the good 'ol way, the way it was prior to?
BETH DANIEL: To tell you the truth, I don't even think about that anymore. I just don't even think about it because that's not the way it is anymore. I don't think they would have changed the requirements for the Hall of Fame if they didn't think that certain players were deserving of being in the Hall of Fame.
I happen to think that the requirements right now are much -- much more fair than they used to be.
No. I wouldn't want to -- I mean, my reason for wanting to win this golf tournament is not to get in the Hall of Fame the old-fashioned way. It's because I still am competitive and I still want to win.
Q. Going back to your game and how it's different from a major championship game at the LPGA level, did you ever feel like you wanted to try to improve it to win majors or change to win majors, or was that just "that's how it is and I'll take what I can get in these other tournaments"?
BETH DANIEL: Well, I mean, obviously, I try to play the best that I can in majors. And if I look at my record, I think it's pretty darned good in major championships, in spite of the fact that I've only won one.
I've played this golf course where I've come out here and hit 3-wood off the tee and hit longer irons in. You know, I've tried to play it that way. Now I'm just like, just go out there and hit driver. I mean, I'll do that, I'll back down to 3-wood. I try my hardest to keep the ball in the fairway. It's just sometimes it happens. Sometimes it doesn't.
I mean, first two days I have done a pretty decent job of it. The fairways that I've missed, the first two days, have been in the first cut. So I have not had a lot of balls come out of the long stuff.
I just, you know, I just think that there are a lot more accurate drivers in the history of golf than Beth Daniel.
Q. Just curious if you thought it was harder to win tournaments 10, 15 years ago, or is it harder now or has it changed much at all?
BETH DANIEL: I think it's much more difficult now because I think the depth of players that are capable of winning is much greater. So, I think it's -- I think it's more difficult now. Definitely.
Q. Can you think of certain instances where you let a major go right at the end?
BETH DANIEL: I can think of a lot. Like every single major championship. I saw Haney (ph) at du Maurier make a 15-footer downhill that was about 20 on the Stimpmeter to beat me by one.
I had the lead in the LPGA Championship , I can't tell you how many times, and gave it away on Sunday, or somebody had a great round.
Here, I've had probably -- probably only had a couple of chances. This is probably my least capable golf course of winning a major, I would say, just because of the way the golf course plays and the difficulty for me seeing the shot and that sort of thing, in a comfort zone out there.
Q. What was the most devastating loss or frustrating loss in the majors that you can think of?
BETH DANIEL: Well, at La Grange in the U.S. Open, 1980 or '81, I birdied last two holes and Pat Bradley birdied the last hole on top of me to win the Open. I tell you what, that got me good for five or six years. I walked off that golf course and I said, "I just played my best golf in a major and I lost." So my conclusion was, therefore, I'm not the best. But it took me about five years to then go back and say, "That's bologna. I should be happy that I played my best golf in a major." And I should have been able to feed off of that.
But I've had a couple three chances in U.S. Opens. That one with Bradley; Sacramento, I called a penalty on myself the final day and lost that one.
So I've been close. I've been in the hunt. I'm not ashamed of how I've played in major championships at all.
LAURA NEAL: Thanks so much.
BETH DANIEL: Thank you for depressing me. (Laughter.)
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