JAPAN AIRLINES BIG APPLE CLASSIC PRESENTED BY GOLF MAGAZINE

July 16, 2000

Rosie Jones

ROSIE JONES: Hole by hole? First two holes I kind of started off a little edgy. I overshot the first green and chipped up and didn't quite even get it on the green. But I was in good shape with about a 12-putt putt which I made. No. 2, I hit it in the trap and came out not very well. Had about a 15-footer which I made. So I was saving pars right off the bat. I don't really like to start that way, but I'm glad they were going in, so... No. 3, I knocked a wedge, sand wedge, about a foot away - not even a foot away - about 6 inches. That just kind of, you know, makes you feel a little bit better about my start. No. 4, I missed the green to the left, pitched up pretty good, missed about a 6-footer for par. No. 5, knocked a 9-wood on the green, 2-putt from about 20, 23 feet for par.

ROSIE JONES: No. 4 I was hitting a 5-wood. Bunker, had to go over the bunker about pin-high. No. 6, I hit 9-iron on the green. I kind of had to wiggle around that tree. I was a little bit left off the tee and knocked in about a 17-footer for birdie there. No. 7, I knocked a 3-wood on the green about pin-high, 2-putt for par there. No. 8, I hit about 7 feet below the pin, missed that putt. No. 9, I knocked it up there about 15 feet above the pin and missed that for birdie and 2-putt for par. So I kind of settled down and was feeling pretty good. Got on No. 10 and hit 9-wood, 2-putt for par. No. 11, I hit a bad drive. And I was kind of fighting my swing a little bit today and this was the first one that I really just kind of roped and caught that bunker. And I basically had to stand straight up in the air, and took a 9-iron out and pitched out from the bank and knocked a wedge up about 12 feet and missed that for par. No. 12, I hit another bad drive into the left rough, came out, hit a pretty good pitch, but I got it above the hole there so I had to be really a little bit careful. Had about a 6-footer for par, missed that. 13, I knocked it on the green, 2-putt for par, which is always good for where that pin is today. No. 14, I hit it -- I hit a good shot off the drive. I just didn't have it left enough for that pin, and I had to try to fade it around. And I did a good job fading it around. I just didn't shape it good, and came down -- plugged right into that bunker below the pin there. And I got a little lucky, and I kind of dropkicked it out of an egg lie and it hit perfect and stopped two feet from the hole. So I don't know how that happened, but I was going -- if anything was going to turn my day around or help me, that was going to be it. So I made that for par and went on to 15. You know, I played 15 okay. It plays a little bit longer for me than Annika and those guys. I hit it in the left bunker, came out pretty good, missed about a 13-footer for birdie. I was hitting good putts, too, and they just didn't go in. Same thing on 16. I had about 15 feet there and missed it. I had 15 feet on 17 and missed it. I had about 30 feet on 18 and almost made it. So any questions?

ROSIE JONES: Yeah. It was kind of risky. I was so uphill that I could have gone under it; I could have missed it; I could have hit it OB; I could have hit it backwards from there, I don't know. I just didn't have a good enough footing to really swing up at it. It was kind of like if it was sitting in a tree or something, you know; it was so high above my feet. I really didn't have a good feeling that I was going to be able to get it on the green, so I figured I might as well put it somewhere where I knew I was going to have a chance of getting it somewhere within 10 feet for par and go that way. I played it safe when normally I don't like to, but it was probably the right thing to do. I lost both my earrings out there today. I found one, lost the other one. I'm really bummed out. It's been all downhill since then.

ROSIE JONES: No, they already caught up to me. I figured I was lying behind at that point when I knocked that up. I was hanging in there. Annika was already at 6 -- or 5. You know, with 15 ahead of me, there was no given there. I already felt like they had caught up to me, and just by giving away shots on 12 and 13 -- or 11 and 12. And, you know, I thought well -- yeah, I thought I was really going to be back to even by the time we got done with 14, because I was looking at that lie: I got 10 feet of bank looking at me with an egg lie and about 10 feet of green to work with. You know, I couldn't have hoped for anything better than what I got. It was just one of those lucky things. It was kind of like a gift, and, you know, it was nice. It kept me in there.

ROSIE JONES: Not at all, no. It was fine. He was just organizing himself, and he's been out there a long time and he was working really hard today. That was the first time that I even noticed him, and it wasn't really him. He was trying to get a signal and he was probably getting yelled out in the ear there, "We don't have a signal, we don't have a signal, we don't have a signal," so he turned around probably to get his guy in shape. A little bit of his helpers were more trouble than the cameraman today.

ROSIE JONES: It was a great shot, yeah. I was happy to just put a little pressure on her from where I was. And she really only had one choice to go underneath, and she hit it just absolutely perfect. She hit it, you know, just enough to get under that tree but just with enough speed to get up on the green. And, you know, I just had a feeling she was going to make that putt, too. I missed it, I gave her the line, and, you know, she's that type of player. That's where she's going to capitalize, on something like that where, you know, I just wasn't able to do it. She's had more chances at that this year than I have, too.

ROSIE JONES: Yeah, I am actually. The course played a little bit tougher actually. The greens are a little bit softer, but the course is playing longer. The pins were in pretty tough places today. There wasn't really any easy holes out there. You know, I kind of expected someone to come up from behind and shoot 3- or 4-under and put some pressure on us. And, you know, I just -- that just adds to, you know, this golf course. It's just a tough golf course. All of us shot over par today, and, you know, all three of us and a few people in the group ahead of us. So it was just, you know, it's just a good golf course. It's good, technical golf, and the greens are always absolutely, you know, you have to be brilliant on them. And it's just really a great test. I'm glad I was here. I always love this golf course. I don't always play it well. When I'm hitting my driver well on it, I always feel like I could be in contention out here because, you know, I just really like these greens and I hit into these greens.

ROSIE JONES: Well, it's soggy. It's soggy in places, but it's really great. I mean, not one casual water today. I didn't have one. I don't think anybody in our group had one. There's just a couple wet places - walking off the tee, you know, and some of the low areas. But I'm telling you what, the Greens Committee really did a good job getting the golf course back in shape after all that rain and getting the traps ready and stuff like that. The course played just absolutely perfect. Thanks a lot.