JAPAN AIRLINES BIG APPLE CLASSIC PRESENTED BY GOLF MAGAZINE

July 13, 2000

Rosie Jones

ROSIE JONES: Okay. I started out today's round with a bogey on the second hole, a par 3. Just had a 3-putt there. That was my only bad putting of the day, because I shot seven birdies after that, 3-putt. Every bogey I had out there I backed up with a birdie; that's nice. It's nice to get them back on this golf course. And I birdied No. 3, par 5. Parred No. 4 -- birdied No. 4, par 4. Had about a -- hit a 5-iron in there about 6 feet, made the putt for birdie. Parred 6, 7 and 8, and then birdied No. 9. I was just off the fringe there with about a 16-foot putt. And then on No. 10 I hit a 9-wood up about 3 feet, made that for birdie. Got up-and-down from the fringe on 11 for par. No. 12, I hit a great -- made a great 2-putt from behind the pin on top of the green. This green is like the slickest one in New York. Made a good 2-putt there. Two-putt for par on 13, which is par 3. Bogeyed No. 14, kind of a difficult hole. It's probably the hardest hole - it sets up the hardest for me. I seem to always have a difficult time on that green. It's hard to get one to stop on the green really when you're hitting a 6-iron in there. It's probably easier for the girls who are hitting an 8-iron or 9-iron. I hit it up into the front bunker in two on 15, got it up-and-down, made a 5-footer for birdie there. No. 16, I hit a 5-iron about 8 feet left and made that putt for birdie, which feels like a hole-in-one on that green. 17, I hit kind of a crummy drive. I saved myself with -- I had a 7-wood, had 180-something yards (inaudible), was way out to the right, knocked it on the green, had a really good shot, 2-putt, for par. Then 18 I hit a pitching wedge in about 7 feet above the hole and made that for birdie.

ROSIE JONES: Well, you know, usually those -- I think 15, yeah, is a birdie hole and 18 is a birdie hole. So if you can close with at least two birdies in the last four or five holes, you're doing pretty good. I just got a little bonus on 16 because 16 is just one of those holes where you're trying to make par and get out of there. I came out with a one-shot lead on that. I felt like, you know, you're going to pass the field a little bit when you make birdies on holes like that. So, yeah, I mean I made some birdies where I normally don't make birdies out there today, and it was nice.

ROSIE JONES: Yeah, I think, you know, any time I play a golf course, especially up in New York, they really set up well for me because you have to hit it down the middle. You really have to hit your driver straight here and play good, solid golf, and you usually have to bring your putter with you. If you're going to play well, this golf course, you have to be putting well. And I've been struggling with my putter for the last month, and I just -- I've been playing really well, especially at the McDonald's and then at Atlantic City. I felt like I could have contended in winning both of those events, but I just didn't have a good putter. And suddenly yesterday, I stumbled into, you know, something that felt good, and it's working for me and I'm watching some putts go in. It's really nice.

ROSIE JONES: Well, I just kind of lined it up wrong, and, you know, just to line it up right isn't always easy. Something has to click in your setup to make it work and comfortable, and I just kind of did that yesterday. It just kind of found me, you know.

ROSIE JONES: No, you know, actually I got some great advice from a friend of mine who just said, "Let it come to you," whatever the problem is. If I go looking for how to fix it, you know, I'm usually working on something that's not really wrong. And eventually if I just left it alone long enough to be, you know, to have an awareness of the right thing, you know -- and that's kind of how it happened. It was just, you know, an alignment problem and I just had to figure out how to solve that alignment problem, you know, without like forcing the issue. You know? It's hard to explain, but it's just, you know, I just had to be a little bit athletic about it.

ROSIE JONES: Right, exactly. If you're not lined up good, it doesn't feel good in your hand, your touch is off, your, you know, your speed, you know, wherever you're aiming it, and you're not, you know, you think you're going here, but you're not and so you're seeing it wrong. I'm missing 10-footers like 5 inches off the hole, and I mean I didn't have a chance coming in. I didn't have a prayer. I said, "Hey..." I mean, I'm looking out there, going right at the hole. It's really nice, a totally different feel. I have a lot more confidence, and, you know, it's a lot easier to play golf when you feel confident with your putter.

ROSIE JONES: That's because, you know, you have to hit it straight. I think, you know, when we get into the summer events we're playing a lot of tired golf courses, and the rough is grown in in the summertime. And, you know, I shoot it down the middle. I don't miss too many fairways; I don't even know if I missed a fairway today. But, you know, it's just a lot easier to hit it from the short grass, and that's my game, you know. I can, you know, that's my advantage over the longer hitters, you know, that are trying to hit it out of the rough a few times during the day.

ROSIE JONES: Oh, yeah, who wouldn't? Yeah, sure.

ROSIE JONES: Where, 14? It's, you know, it's front middle, you know. It's not a difficult pin. It was left side, left middle, and I hit what I thought would be a good shot in there. I hit it thin, so it didn't hold. I went back, it was on the back fringe, a little bit slick, I babyed it. I had a 10-footer for par. I thought it would be faster than I thought - and felt. And I just wagged it down there. ...(Inaudible). So I just kind of, you know, was one of those things where you're just being a little too cautious and, you know, the front of the green is so slick. If I knock one by, you know, what should have been a one-footer turns into a four and coming back with a bogey like that. I was kind of lagging that down there, I didn't mean to be up there in the first place.