|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
LPGA CORNING CLASSICMay 25, 2007Beth BaderCORNING, NEW YORK ASHLEY CUSHMAN: Thanks for joining us. Great round out there. You've had 15 birdies in the past 36 holes. You're at 13-under and you have a one-stroke lead going into the weekend. Can you talk about your round. BETH BADER: Yeah, it's similar to yesterday. Again, I started nice and hit some good shots coming in, or getting started. I think that gets you set into the day. It felt good. Actually, I guess I started out with a birdie, on 10 again, so just kind of fell into place and just kind of kept on going from there. Q. Great. It's going to be lengthy, but can we go over your scorecard, the birdies and bogeys today, starting with 10? BETH BADER: Yeah, 10, I had 124 pin and hit pitching wedge just short of the pin to 5 feet and made the putt. 12, Par 5, right? ASHLEY CUSHMAN: Yeah. BETH BADER: I got to, I think it was 90 yards. No, actually 12 I got in trouble off the tee and had to pitch out and had a 6-iron in there and had an 8- or ten-footer above the hole. ASHLEY CUSHMAN: 6-iron to 10 feet? BETH BADER: Yeah and made that putt going down the hill. ASHLEY CUSHMAN: Okay, 17? BETH BADER: 17 -- it's hard starting on 10. 17 was -- what did I do there? I can't remember. I must have been within 10 feet because all my birdies have been within 10 feet. I can't remember 17. ASHLEY CUSHMAN: Okay. Want to go to 2? BETH BADER: Okay, No. 2. Okay, yes, hit a good drive. Actually hit 7-iron in there and then -- just to about 25, 30 feet and 2-putted for birdie. ASHLEY CUSHMAN: Chipped to 25 feet, okay. BETH BADER: And you want to talk about my bogeys, too? ASHLEY CUSHMAN: Yeah, 4. BETH BADER: Yeah. 4, I just hit it into the left rough and had a chip out and didn't get it all the way to the green and had a shot out of the bunker. It wasn't quite all the way in and just chipped it up to 10 feet and missed my par putt. ASHLEY CUSHMAN: What do you use to chip? BETH BADER: I had a 58 degree wedge. It was a funky lie. I wasn't in the bunker, my feet were in the bunker. I actually had to turn my back to the hole a little bit and just take 6 out and make bogey. You have a good shot as a lengthy par putt, but ended up making birdie. ASHLEY CUSHMAN: Chipped to 10 feet and 2-putt? BETH BADER: Yeah. 5 was a good birdie because that's when the wind started pick up really bad. It was blowing pretty good out there. Had a really good drive, and actually had -- 5 I had 177 pin, and I hit my two Hybrid. I had to kill it because it was just dead into the wind. I knocked it actually to 6 feet pin-high left and missed that eagle putt. That hurt a little bit, but, again, it was a good hole just to get off that tee because that wind was howling pretty good. ASHLEY CUSHMAN: It was. BETH BADER: And all that stuff was floating down, too. ASHLEY CUSHMAN: Yeah. I walked outside for a minute of that. How about No. 6? BETH BADER: 6, I think I had 128 pin, and the wind was kind slower, but I hit a good pitching wedge to 6 feet below the pin and made that putt. ASHLEY CUSHMAN: 7? BETH BADER: 7 was actually a pretty good grip 7-iron, and I hit it to 5 or 6, 7 feet above the hole, and made a pretty good right-to-left slider. ASHLEY CUSHMAN: Bogey on 8. BETH BADER: Yeah. 8, I hit a good drive down there and I had a little bit of a divot problem. It wasn't a terrible lie, but I decided to hit -- I had 112 pin and I decided to hit 50 degree wedge. And I just came up and out of it and went in the bunker and it was kind of in had a plugged lie and hit a good bunker shot out of there and just missed my par putt. ASHLEY CUSHMAN: What did you use out of the bunker? BETH BADER: 58. The putt was maybe 12 feet. It's just a little tricky left-to-right putt. ASHLEY CUSHMAN: You said 2-putt there? BETH BADER: Yeah, 2-putt bogey. ASHLEY CUSHMAN: And end with a birdie on nine. BETH BADER: Yeah. I got kind of lucky off the tee shot because I pushed my two Hybrid a little bit and it kicked through those trees. It was in the first cut. But I actually had a pretty good shot at it, and I believe I had 124. 96 front, 124 pin, and hit a good pitching wedge out of there, so -- to, 10, 12 feet, I guess maybe, behind the pin. ASHLEY CUSHMAN: And that actually is the hole that gave you the lead going into tomorrow. BETH BADER: Yeah. ASHLEY CUSHMAN: And the club on 17? BETH BADER: Oh, yeah, 17 -- I can't remember 17 what is the hole? I hit 3-wood of the tee and drove it down into the flat part, yes. 17, I had -- I hit 58 in there, so I must have had 82, 85 pin maybe. Yeah, that's right. Knocked it to four feet left of the pin and made a good putt there. That was kind of a left-right sider. Actually I had kind of a lot of left-to-right siders. That's what I've been working on as of late, so it's nice to make some of those putts. ASHLEY CUSHMAN: Exciting scorecard. Questions for Beth? Q. Probably should start with the delay. (Indiscernible) BETH BADER: Well, just from how it looked outside I didn't think that we were going to have to sit too long, and actually I was a little bit surprised that they blew the whistle. I knew we heard thunder, but it looked out a ways in that mountain. It ended up being, I don't know, how long was the delay? ASHLEY CUSHMAN: About 45 minutes. BETH BADER: Yeah. I had putted out on 1 and it was nice to kind of know I had a good Par 5 in front of me to start out, so I wasn't too concerned about it. Q. Couple years ago you shared the lead and then you kind of dropped out. Are you going to now build on this where you didn't drop out today and you're now leading after two days, or are you going to take more of (indiscernible). BETH BADER: I don't know. It's a good question. I'm in unchartered territory a little bit. But I'll tell you, I have had first-round leads in the past and haven't played well the second day, so I feel very good about coming back and shooting the score I did today. So that was good. Maybe that's some things that are here to come in the future. Like I said before, I feel good over my shots. I'm picking -- my caddie and I are picking our targets well and I'm executing. And, again, I said this yesterday. I'm at 13-under, but you still got to keep going. There's going to be girls that are going to pass me. I might walk out tomorrow before I tee up and not have the lead. So just to know that, I just know I've got to go forward. Q. (No microphone.) BETH BADER: Well, yeah, I mean -- yeah. Corning yields a lot of birdies. Actually I was a little bit relieved when I made my first bogey. It was like maybe -- well, doesn't have to happen, but it set my mind at ease. But really to go two days without a bogey on this golf course. I mean, really there are a lot of holes you can birdie, but you got to be pretty precise on some of those short Par 4s. If you're not you're chipping out and hopefully getting som good bounces. So if they have no bogeys in two rounds that's pretty good shooting. But who knows. When it comes down to the weekend we'll see what happens. Q. (No microphone.) BETH BADER: I don't know. The 7-under and 5-under maybe a little bit. But just the way I've been swinging at the ball and just the way I've been pretty comfortable. I've been making a lot of cuts. I haven't placed -- haven't had a lot of Top 10s, but the way I've been hitting the ball I just knew this it had to come someday. It's nice to have it come someday sooner rather than later down the road. Q. How nervous were you on the first tee today, and how difficult was it (indiscernible). BETH BADER: Yeah. Well, it's definitely hard to back up a good round. Like I said, I've never done it before. I've had good rounds and kind of had bad next days, so it feels really good to back it up. I actually was not nervous. I felt really calm these last two days. My caddie, Donna, and I are laughing, having a good time. When we're done hitting the ball we're goofing around not talking about golf. So it was easy for me to get back into that focus again as I got over the ball, so... Q. (No microphone.) BETH BADER: Yeah, I think I'll be a little bit more nervous on the weekends. Have some more crowds. Yeah, definitely. Q. I hate to dwell on your bogey, but yesterday you finished the round with a bogey and today you finished with a birdie. Does that give you a lift going into the third round? BETH BADER: Yeah, actually yesterday I didn't finish with a bogey. No bogeys yesterday. But, yeah, you just know if you hit a couple off line you may have a few out there. But the nice thing is that you know you've got some holes that you can recover that from. That's kind of how I was today when I made my first bogey. I was in a funky lie in that bunker and things could have gone the other way. I just said, You know, Beth, just chip it out as good as you can and make your 5. Don't turn this interest a 6, and that's what I did. So you're going to have them out there, and hopefully lots of birdies. Q. Today's scores almost mirrors yesterday's score. Do you think consistency is going to be the key to winning? BETH BADER: Absolutely. There's just too many holes out here that you can make birdies on. We'll see what the pins are going to be like. They can put the pins in some crazy spots. I thought they were actually pretty difficult on the first day, so we'll see how the pins and the weather are tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be pretty good. Might even have some rain today, so that will bring more people into the mix. So a lot of factors will play in on the weekend. Q. (No microphone.) BETH BADER: I had just putted off No. 1 for my back side. Q. Now that the greens have changed after two days with the traffic, are you seeing any change from yesterday? BETH BADER: Well, definitely, not so much the traffic, but it does in the afternoon. A little bit of the poana will come up off the greens. They were slower this afternoon, but I adjusted pretty well to that. You'll see that a little bit more if I play in the afternoon tomorrow. You'll see greens will be a little bit slower. Q. (No microphone.) BETH BADER: I would like to. I would like to say that. But, yeah, I just really, really want to tell myself to take one shot at a time tomorrow and Sunday. Because there's going to be some people out will here and more people following us. Today was actually kind of nice. I started on the back side so there wasn't a whole a lot of media out following us until I started getting to get a little bit up more towards the leaderboard. The fact that I came out and on the first tee I wasn't in the lead helped things. I could sneak around a little bit, but I don't think that will be the case tomorrow. Q. (No microphone.) BETH BADER: I don't mind looking at the leaderboard. I don't have a problem with that. I'm not one to walk up to 18 and not know where I'm at. I like to peek and that's fine. I won't not look at it, yeah. Q. (No microphone.) BETH BADER: It would mean everything. I've worked hard in the off-season with my golf game, and it's finally -- hopefully it's paying off, and to be able to make some putts and all the little stuff. But it's going to be a long two days, and I am pleased with my first two days. I hope to continue what I've been doing. Q. Now that you've made it through two rounds, do you have a number in your head for what you want to end up with? BETH BADER: No. I'm not big on a number thing. I pride myself a lot on taking it one hole at the a time as far as score is concerned. I actually kind of got on a roll this afternoon. I just would hate to say I really would like to go out and shoot 66 and all of a sudden that's 66 with 5 holes left. I don't want to set the number, per se. I want to keep going. I'd like it shoot 62, 54. You know, who knows. So I won't every step on the first tee and say, All right, Donna, let's shoot 64 today. I just let it happen. Q. Just following up on a statement you made about not having the media and a lot of people following you. Do you prefer golf in anonymity? BETH BADER: I think any golfer would like to golf like that. But what will be good for me is having the galleries and having the press with me to see how I react to that. I like playing in front of a gallery. I think I do well. But now that I'm in the lead going into the weekend it might be a little bit different story. I certainly will embrace everybody, that's for sure. Q. (No microphone.) BETH BADER: Well, I don't know. Paula's been in the spotlight for quite a while and she knows how to play in that pressure-packed spotlight. So I sure admire girls thinking about it. Being hounded -- I shouldn't say hounded, but constantly having people around her, it's hard. To get a little taste of it I definitely admire Annika and Lorena and those girls, and Natalie and Paula who get lots of press every week no matter where they are in the leaderboard. It's good. I hope to have a lot of press with me and see how I can do. That's would be great. Q. Considering how well you did the first two rounds, will anything less than a win or a Top 3 finish be a disappointment at this point? BETH BADER: No. I hope I can say no at the end of week. I just -- now I think how I'm kind of getting into my rhythm this year, I just have to take all the positives and all the negatives -- take the negatives and make them into positives. If I finish first or if I finish fifth or tenth I'm going to be proud of how I started and work on the things that didn't go so good. No, I'll be pleased. It's still a learning experience for me. I know it's my seventh year out here, but any time you flirt with the lead for a while it -- you always get to learn something from it, good or bad. End of FastScripts |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|