SYBASE BIG APPLE CLASSIC PRESENTED BY GOLF MAGAZINE

July 20, 2001

Rosie Jones

ROSIE JONES: I think we're all bunched up. We are going to start with the card, okay? I started on No. 1 today. And two putts to par there. And second hole, hit a -- kind of like a baby three-quarter 7-iron for six feet and made that putt for birdie. No. 3, I was just on the fringe and two putt for par. No. 4, hit a 5-wood about 20 feet and two putt for par there on that par 3. No. 5, I hit a 6-iron about 15 feet and missed that two putt for par. And No. 6, I hit an 8-iron about -- no, I changed clubs, I think. I hit a 7-iron and I was about six feet above the hole and made the putt. Which is really good birdie on that green because it's -- it's such a messed up green. And anything you just get rolling towards the hole and you're feeling pretty good about. No. 7, I yanked it into the trap and had a great up and down and saved about a 12-footer for par. And No. 8, I hit a sand wedge about four feet and made that for birdie. No. 9, I just hit over just the fringe of the green and putted it from off the fringe into about a two-foot putt and made par. No. 10, I hit 7-iron about 12, 15 feet and made that for birdie. No. 11, I hit like a 6-iron about three feet and made that for birdie. No. 12, I hit a pretty good shot down there and ended up in the fringe by the rough and had a bad chip. Two putts for bogey. No. 13, hit an 8-iron. Made a long putt, actually, about 20, 25 feet, for birdie, which is really good on that hole, because it's a really tricky putt on top. Anything on top there can get really tricky. It can get really fast. No. 14, my favorite hole in the whole wide world. I made a double. And I'm sitting in the middle of the fairway, and it drives me crazy, that hole, because every now and then you have to pit a little punch fade into that green, and I never come up with it that way that I want to. Ended up hitting the tree. Almost came into the hazard. Had a bad lie going -- just with a sand wedge and failed to get it in. Actually gave myself a really crummy lie into the bunker, which was like hardly a foot in there. And just have it not even go for the pin. Have it get out and two putt for six. And actually had to make about a three-footer for that and was just, you know, glad to get out of there. But came right back and hit it on the green in 15 and two putts for birdie. And No. 16, I hit it probably about seven feet just above the hole. Had to lag it because of that green. And two putt for par there. And then 17, I made about a 18-footer there for birdie. I hit an 8-iron about 18 feet. And No. 18, I had it right down in front of the green in two. And hit really a bad chip shot or pit shot. I had 40 yards, and hit it about 20. And two putted it about 30 feet for par. On 15, I hit 3-wood up onto the green and -- eight birdies. That's probably the most I've had all year. And usually when I'm playing that well, I don't make a lot of mistakes. And today really -- you know, 12 is kind of just a tough hole. It's kind of touchy how you are hitting into there. I probably just didn't pick up enough club. You never want to be over that green. And 14, I just hit a bad shot and unfortunately didn't get away with it. But came back with birdies on 15 and 17. Felt like I just held my ground.

ROSIE JONES: Well, if you -- kind of. If you mess up 14, you're counting on 15 to be a birdie hole at least. And if you don't make birdie on 15, then you kind of feel like you're really giving shots away. Then you get really mad and kind of press on the last three. But that's the way I feel about it, anyways. But you just can't -- you just have to be kind of disciplined and take it as it comes. It's definitely reachable from everybody, I would say, unless you get it in the rough on the right side. So just setting yourself up for good shot going into 1, you know, most likely have a chance at birdie.

ROSIE JONES: Pretty tough. Yeah, 16, really tough green this year. You just want to be below it on the right. No matter where that pin is. And you'd be happy with a two putt there. And on 17, you know, 17, you just -- you know, you hit your drive in the right spot and get your right distance on it, you 're going to have a pretty good chance for birdie there. And 18, I feel the same way. It drives -- this course really sets you up if you're hitting good drives. If you're kind of spraying it a little bit and you're not in control of it, you're going to get in trouble.

ROSIE JONES: Well, I think because there's a lot of birdie holes and there's a lot of trouble holes. You give some, you take some, you give some, you take some. It's whoever is just going to be really consistent over the next two days and kind of disciplined in some of the pins that you go after. Because now the greens are starting to react a little bit more like we used to. And they are kind of hard and getting fast. This is what we're used to when we come here to Wykagil. They are starting to get in that kind of condition.

ROSIE JONES: Yeah, I do. I kind of, you know, I was kind of reminiscing over that last -- my practice round. When I got up into 17, I was remembering how Annika hit that, you know, shot from underneath the tree and hooked it right there from about ten feet away from the hole and made the putt. But I didn't take, you know, really -- I didn't take advantage of my opportunities that I had on 15 and 17 and last year on Sunday. You know, those things come around again good. I hope I make them, but I'm not going to -- I didn't have a whole lot of expectation when I got here. You can't do that. Just because you played good at one event one year, you're going to come back and think you're going to do it again. I had good -- a good history here. Mostly likely I'm going have a good tournament here. And that's why I choose the tournaments that I play, is because of my history on those tournaments and those golf courses. We have a good history here, so I'm going take advantage of the knowledge that I have and the experience that I have on these greens and playing those tough holes and try to do better on the weekend with them.

ROSIE JONES: Well, unfortunately, we still have a little business to do when you're out here. It's not just golfing and eating, like what I seem to do a lot right now (laughing). I have some business I just needed to, you know, take care of. And some letters that -- a couple letters I needed to write. And of course Debbie was great in helping me get things sent out properly. You know, it's fun. You know, this type of lifestyle, everybody thinks you just golf, you go home, you shower, you go out to eat at some really nice restaurant, you get up. And, meanwhile, you know, you forgot we still have all those appointments that we've got to make for that week when we get home, doctor's appointments or things with your house. My gutters are getting done sometime in the next eight weeks. I have no idea when. And I don't even care if I'm there when I get done, but hopefully by the time I get home at some point, they're going to be done. But you've just got to keep on top of all that stuff when you are out here. When you've got a household and a business that you are trying to run from the road, it just gets kind of hectic sometimes.

ROSIE JONES: I'm not real adept at figuring out my computer all the time, that's why I needed to -- well, what I needed to do was -- I don't have a stuff to print from, you know my cords and stuff like that to hook it to the printer. So I needed to email and do all that stuff.

ROSIE JONES: Right. To the LPGA (laughing).

ROSIE JONES: Probably at least once a year. I mean, -- and now that that's over, I don't have to worry about it hopefully (laughing). I've had my turn at it. But it's a tough hole. I just know every year you come in there -- like last year, I did the same thing. I'm trying to cut it around and under that tree and I plugged it into the bunker. But somehow I hit this God-awful bunker shot that kind of scalded out, tripped up over the lip and landed about this far from the hole. So, you know, I kind of got away with it. But today that wasn't happening for me.

ROSIE JONES: Sure. You know, I mean, without the double, you know, -- you know, you always know you're going have a bogey or two, but there's a lot of times when I played this well that, you know, you just go around bogey free. It could have been and eight-under round for me, which would have been my low for a couple years and that would have been nice, but I'll take five. Five is good.

ROSIE JONES: This year. Yes, earlier this year at Kathy, Ireland.

ROSIE JONES: Kimmy is -- she's very solid, you know, all the way. She's got a great game. She has a long swing. And that gets her in trouble a little bit when she gets nervous. But until she gets to that point, she's just really, really solid, up the middle, on the green, she's a great putter. Pretty good short game. And for a young player, she's -- she does not get spooked or nervous or intimidated at all. And she's had, like, three or four wins out here. And she plays well. She plays well all the time. She's probably, what, eighth on the money list or something like that? She's a good player not just, you know, once in a while. She's consistently a great player. She knows her swing really well. She works really hard. And she has a great work ethic.

ROSIE JONES: Yeah, I would say so. I would say I probably do. 9, 7, 5, 3, 1. Yeah. I think it's -- she probably has an 11-wood. There's probably about two or three players that do that carry more than five. But I wouldn't even know how to guess how many people use five. I think at least 10 or 15 or 20, maybe. All of us short knockers. Love that 9-wood. I want a commercial from Callaway. Love that 9-wood.

ROSIE JONES: Both. For a couple years. Probably about four years ago, I was using my 7-wood in place of my 3-iron. Because I was having a hard time getting my 3-iron up off the ground, over the bunkers. So I started off with my 7-wood. And then thought, what the heck, not hitting this 4-iron very good. I tried a 9-wood and really elevated my game. Because that was my weak spot in my game from, like 160 to 175-80. Those two clubs just fill up that gap. And it makes me -- I hit my 9-wood closer than a lot of people hit their 7-iron; the longer hitters, their 6-iron. That really drives them nuts when I do that. But I've been very, very good with that. So instead of just trying to hit the green, I'm trying to hit it close.