Q. How much has this course changed since you first got here in Corning?
ROSIE JONES: Well, it's funny because we were talking about that when we got up to the 14th green. A lot of the tall pines you see out here where you can almost walk under them now, you can definitely hit a shot under them. 10 or 11 years ago, those limbs almost went down to the ground. That made the fairway really tighten up. You would have to take an unplayable or you were underneath a tree trying to chop out, which wasn't very easy. Those trees that sit behind 15, those used to go all the way down to the ground. If you were a little bit long, you didn't have a shot and you didn't have a back swing, and so, in that respect, you know, it's a lot of change. Plus, this golf course will be different next week than it is this week, because the trees are barely budding out, and when they get a little bit more full, the fairways really start looking like bowling alleys. Now, they don't look as narrow as they really are. You can see through the trees. When they're full, you can't, and they look a little bit more, you know, detrimental.
Q. Are you surprised that the scores were so low since the course is playing a little tough?
ROSIE JONES: Maybe a little bit, you know. The greens, I think they're working really hard on the green. I don't know if they're cutting them and rolling them or something, trying to make them a little bit better. Of course, even as the week gets a little warmer weather, it helps them out a bit. Playing it up probably is the right thing to do today and makes it easier to hit a better shot on the green, which is what we want to do. There is a lot of mud areas out there, little areas where the worms come up and leave a mud spot, you know, and so -- then the grass is growing at a different rate than the other grass. Usually your ball goes to the lowest spot, so playing it up was probably the right thing to do at this time because of the damage they had over the winter. That's just unfortunate because this course is usually in really great shape and it will be again in a couple weeks. We're just here a little early.
Q. Is your approach any different this week than when you've won this tournament before?
ROSIE JONES: No, no, no, pretty much, you know, same game plan. You know, the way I play the golf course, you know I know it so well, from one year to the next, my target pretty much stays the same. They might slightly change if I'm hitting the ball a little bit further, a little bit more solid. Club selection has been pretty much the same, where I want to hit the ball on the green. You know, I know certain pins. I'm real familiar with the greens. That's really where I make my advantages on this golf course is I know those greens so well. There is one side you can be on, and I think I'm playing smart that way, like on number 1, you know, if you're going to miss it, you might as well miss it in the bunker because missing it right is a really tough shot coming over that hump to that green. I hit it in that bunker. It wasn't a great shot, but I go ahead and let myself draw it, because, you know, coming over from that left side, putting from that left side is a little bit easier than trying to chip from the right side even one yard off the right side.
Q. Has the Tour's new "One in Four" policy come into your mind with respect to Corning?
ROSIE JONES: Well, I'll probably be here every year and I'll just take other tournaments, you know, that I haven't -- I'll schedule around Corning. There's been times when I thought, well, I'll take Corning off this year. Like last year, I didn't even sign up until like two weeks before, because I was thinking I might just go to the Chicago tournament instead, but as I thought about it, I couldn't do it. So, you're stuck with me.
Q. Is the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame in your mind at all?
ROSIE JONES: No, it's not in the back of my mind. I don't have 20 more years to do it. I would like to win a major so I can be a special consideration. I think that would be my closest chance at it, but the girls that are in the Hall of Fame are very deserving of that and they're great golfers, and I can't really put myself in the same category.
Q. Can you talk about what things were like before your round today?
ROSIE JONES: I started off in the fitness van and I came out a little bit early because I wanted to catch a couple holes that Annika was playing. Everybody was really excited. I know she played three holes I think, and when I got there and when we were talking about it and watching her, we're excited for her, and we're happy for her. When she made the putt, the whole van bounced on its wheels.
So, we're all hopeful that tomorrow will be better and, you know, she does very well.
Q. How'd you find out what Annika shot today?
ROSIE JONES: Well, when I ran into the rest room at the 9, the volunteers in the caddy room there, I asked them, and they told me, but they told me wrong. So eventually I found out she had bogeyed the last hole. Maybe she wasn't done yet, but she was I think 72nd right now. That means she beat 42 guys, but I found out that 23 guys dropped out because they didn't want to play against a girl. I think that's sad. That's what someone told me, that there was only 114 on the field this year. 23 guys dropped out, and, you know, but that might not be true, but another player told me that. That may not be true.
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