DU MAURIER CLASSIC

August 1, 1999

Laura Davies

LAURA DAVIES: I hit a good second shot in, and it just got a hard bounce, went about 25, 30 feet past the pin, sort of up the hill. Hit a really good first putt, I thought, trickled on about five feet by. Then we read it to break a little bit from left-to-right, but I started it just on the edge. It never moved a muscle. Missed that one. But still felt pretty good coming up the last, I was thinking eagle wins it. I was thinking how nice it would be to finish like that. I was still pretty confident. Birdie -- I admit, I pretty much had given myself a birdie on there. We decided to hit the 3-iron and keep it in play just so I guarantee I had a shot, and hit the perfect 3-iron down there. About 250; left myself a nice 4-iron. In the air, I must admit, I had thought I hit a great shot. Looked like it was coming in just right to the pin, hopefully going to get a nice bounce up the green, and have a chance to win it. But I drew a dreadful lie. Actually hit a good chip just to give myself a chance. I thought I holed the putt. I mean, the one I missed, the last one that really didn't matter. Juli was only 8-under, so it didn't make any difference.

LAURA DAVIES: Only about sort of 12 feet, probably 15 feet.

LAURA DAVIES: Yes, but, I mean, it was just left, just outside left, lip putt. I must admit, I thought I holed it. Hit a really good putt; I can't complain. Webb played great, had a good finish, the back nine. I should have birdied 11 and 12 -- was really sort of where I lost my chance to go clear. I think I could have put some distance where they never would have caught me. I left it short in the jewels on 11; didn't get up-and-down on 12 from a very easy chip. I just didn't putt very well today. That was the key.

LAURA DAVIES: Yeah. Lovely putt. Couldn't make a thing. Couldn't make a thing after that. Played really well. If Webby hadn't been so good on the day, level par would have won. Just the best player on Tour this year. Proved it again, she is the best player on Tour.

LAURA DAVIES: Absolutely. I was really comfortable all the way around. I must admit I was watching the board for Webby all day. I said to Tony when I didn't get up-and-down on 12, I said to him: That is a big mistake. You watch Webby make a move now. Sure enough, she birdies four of the last five. We knew what we had to do; just didn't do it.

LAURA DAVIES: Didn't seem worth it, because it was downwind. I just -- I could have hit my driver too far today. That is the worry - I was going to hit it through the fairway on the left-hand side, leave myself virtually no shot out of the rough. So we just decided that the 3-iron was the perfect club. I was 15 yards behind yesterday's driver. So it was ideal.

LAURA DAVIES: Little wedge.

LAURA DAVIES: No. 17 and No. 5.

LAURA DAVIES: I got beat by a better player. I wanted to win it obviously. I didn't win. I am playing in Scotland next week; I will try and win there now.

LAURA DAVIES: I thought if I shot 68, I thought I'd win. Quite happily, that would have won by two. So just disappointing. I played well enough. I played as well today as I did yesterday and the day before. So it is just putting. I know that is still just the thing that has held me back again.

LAURA DAVIES: I putted really well. I holed a lot of good saving par putts, because these greens -- you get the wrong side of the hole. I had a few really tough first putts and ran them sort of, I don't know, good -- some of them four, five feet by; I made them all apart from the really important one on 17. That was just disappointing. That was a bit of a misread. I am disappointed, but it is certainly not the end of the world. I came here hoping that I'd have a good week and 2nd is a good week, the way it happened Webby birdieing 4 of the last 5, it is hard to take.... There you go.

LAURA DAVIES: It was tough again. I think I played excellent. I don't know what the scoring is like. I imagine Webby is the best score by miles, because I thought I played fantastic out there to shoot even par. Obviously should have been one better. I missed the short one at the last, but my only concern on my first putt there, was obviously to get it past the hole. I think the course was as tough today as it has been all week.

LAURA DAVIES: That wins most tournaments - there it is. She did it. She obviously putted well. I think she hit it quite close coming in which obviously makes a difference. She has made the putts; whereas, I didn't.

LAURA DAVIES: I putted really well. Obviously 17 is disappointing. I don't count 18 as a 3-putt even because that was just the circumstances made that happen. But 17, a little disappointing, but having said that, I hit a very good first putt. It just trickled on by.

LAURA DAVIES: Oh, no. I am a bit disappointed now. When I land in London tomorrow I should be very happy with second place. Could have been a win, obviously; a major would have been fairly nice, but I take a lot of heart from it.

LAURA DAVIES: They are going in; that is what I found. Today they didn't, but the first three rounds most certainly did. I feel comfortable over the putts again.

LAURA DAVIES: Dreadful. Couldn't have been worse. It wasn't even one of the -- it was where the mower obviously cut around the two sprinklers and it was the worst kind of rough you get out here when they chopped it off, it just sat in a tough lie. I actually hit a superb chip. You would have been happier with that 99 out of 100 times, I guarantee you, but you know, just jumped forward, but only thing you didn't want to do is leave it where I had a tier up; if I got it to the top, run all the way down, then realistically I got no shot. But I gave myself a very, very good chance. Like I said, I thought I had it.

LAURA DAVIES: My 60-degree wedge.

LAURA DAVIES: Yeah.

LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, I like having my car up there for two weeks; then we drive back for the British Open.

LAURA DAVIES: 3-iron and A wedge to about 15 feet. Just dropped that one in the front door. Birdie on 16, was actually my worse tee shot of the whole week. I think it is the first fairway I missed in two days; hit it right-hand side of 16, then just hit a great 9-iron, best shot of the week, it was after the worst shot of the week, to about sort of eight feet; straight up the hill; knocked it in.

LAURA DAVIES: No, I stuck to the same -- I think I played the course perfect all week. There was one player better than me. I am certainly not going to second guess myself because someone birdies four of the last five holes. That is just -- she is showing quality; that is not showing a weakness in me. I played -- the last six, seven I could have played them 4-under myself, but, you know, I had a couple of 3-putts thrown in; that ruined it for me.

LAURA DAVIES: No, it was absolutely no advantage hitting driver out there. None whatsoever. I have been hitting 3-iron and -- an average of 3-irons, 8-iron, 9-iron all week; that is just that makes the game very easy. No pressure, you whack it down the middle. You are just looking to dial it into the pin with 8- and 9-iron. If I was having to hit 5- and 6-irons all day on the par 4s, then, yeah, I would have got my driver out. It wasn't the case. The course is just not long enough.

LAURA DAVIES: I do. We never play a course long enough. Geez, this is the longest course we have played all year and it was a little, still short. I get used to it. It is fine because it is my advantage to hit my 3-iron; unfortunately, I don't always hit my 3-iron as well as I did this week. Hopefully that is the biggest thing I will take out of it, how many fairways I hit. I am like 200th -- I think I was the other day looking at the list, 200th in fairways hit. So for a supposed good golfer, that is not too clever.

LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, well, some of the courses in Europe are a bit longer, so I tend to use my driver; over there in Germany last week, for instance, I used it a few more times.

LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, it goes plenty, far enough for length of courses we play.

LAURA DAVIES: Normal conditions, I would say 240.

LAURA DAVIES: I have got a 1-iron, 2-iron, I have just -- it just fits in just the courses we play. When we play 7000 yard courses, I will get my driver out, gladly.

LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, on 11 down the hill. That was the toughest hole of the day. I thought the wind was howling and I just hit a great 8-iron, to about sort of twelve feet pin-high left. We had a dead straight putt straight down the hill, it looked like lightning, but it wasn't, it just stopped not more than three inches short right in the jaws. And, you know, then I hit two superb shots down the next, don't get up-and-down, so.....

LAURA DAVIES: I asked Mary Bryant (phonetic), she was out there, she said -- she told me she had a chip from the back for eagle; then she ran it five feet by or six feet. She said, she made it. Just after I missed mine she told me she made it; I knew that I had gone one behind.

LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, I expected it. I have to be honest I have played with -- I think Karrie and Annika are the two best at it. You just know, you can sense it, I was playing with Annika in over at Betsy King's tournament a few years ago, exactly the same thing, you are just waiting for it to happen. She birdied the last four holes. You know it is coming from the great players.

LAURA DAVIES: She is just solid. She hits the fairways; hits the greens; she holes the putts. She is very, very good. Doesn't make any mistakes -- doesn't make many mistakes.

LAURA DAVIES: Well, her and Juli, I'd say, certainly this year, I mean, Juli proved that she is -- she probably is disappointed she finished third this week. She lost some ground on Karrie. I suppose that is bad news for her. But those two certainly are going to fight it out all year probably at the Tour Championship, only week they are going to decide it, I'd say. Because they both won a lot.

LAURA DAVIES: I like the fact that everyone knows where they stand if it's on points and on money list, money won. I don't like all this voting stuff. It is too personal.