home jobs contact us
Our Clients:
Browse by Sport
Find us on ASAP sports on Facebook ASAP sports on Twitter
ASAP Sports RSS Subscribe to RSS
Click to go to
Asaptext.com
ASAPtext.com
ASAP Sports e-Brochure View our
e-Brochure

LPGA CORNING CLASSIC


May 23, 2002


Beth Bader


CORNING, NEW YORK

MODERATOR: Awesome round, hole-in-one, very good. We'll pass the microphone around for questions.

Q. Looks like the scores out there, everybody is shooting very well. Talk about the course conditions. Looks like there's going to be a lot of really good scores today.

BETH BADER: The course is in excellent shape. The greens were rolling very well for me today. It's a beautiful day. There's no wind. You know, it's a golf course where you have to be smart. You know, there were some times I wanted to take drive and I ended up taking 5-wood or even 3-wood.

This course is going to be good, but there are some tough holes out there, too. You just never know. I had some good breaks, and I hit some really great irons. I'm very pleased.

Q. Tell us about the hole-in-one. What was going through your mind as the ball was on its way? Did you think it had a chance?

BETH BADER: I don't know. Me and my caddie Amy were contemplating what the number was because I had 108 front and she had 106. I'm like, "All right, let's do 107, then add 10 to the pin." I'm never exactly precise with my numbers, which is okay, it's just how I've always done it.

I pulled a good pitching wedge. I almost pulled a 9. She kind of looked at me funny and said, "How about hitting a hard pitching wedge, stay aggressive with it." That's exactly what I did.

It never wavered really. It was on line the whole way. I just kind of drew a blank from there. I just remember jumping up and down (laughter).

Q. What's it like being atop the leaderboard, even though it might not last the whole day?

BETH BADER: It feels great. You know, I'm new at this, so it gets better and better every time. You know, coming into the last hole, I hit a good 4-wood off there today and just gave myself a chance. I couldn't be more happier at the swing I made coming down the stretch, and my last 9-iron that I hit in there. I definitely stayed committed the whole day. That's one thing I'm very proud of.

Q. Other than getting more holes in one, what's your strategy tomorrow?

BETH BADER: Same thing, you know, go out and stay committed. That's really been the name of the game for me. I had such great ball striking the last few weeks, but just haven't been able to put a number with it. It finally felt good to put them both together.

No different strategy tomorrow. Just go out and do the same thing, have fun, smile, see what happens, you know. Other than that, it's out of my control.

Q. You said out there you had a 66. Was that earlier this season? In the guide it says 67 is your career best.

BETH BADER: Okay, then it was 67. It was at Mount Vintage Plantation. That was 66. It says 67?

Q. Yes.

BETH BADER: Whatever. Yeah, so, it is. If that's the case, yeah, it is my best round, yeah, out here.

Q. Was there a certain point today where you felt you were on top of your game?

BETH BADER: I don't know. I think from the very first tee shot -- 1 is also a tricky hole. I don't normally play a left-to-right ball. It kind of needed that today. Actually, I stayed committed with it.

I think from really the get-go, just the way I felt on the tee, it felt good all day. Nothing struck me like, "Hey, this is going to be a good day." I actually bogeyed the 1st hole. I just stayed with it.

Q. 17, you had a pretty good look with your approach. What happened there? You got off to the rough a little bit on 17.

BETH BADER: Yeah, 17 I was actually in the bunker. I just pushed my 3-wood a little bit, and it landed just in the bunker, so my feet were out of the bunker and the ball was in. I was trying to advance it just a little bit up the left side. I had to chip from the left side. Didn't hit it as good out of there as I wanted, left a tough chip from the right side in the rough with the pin on the right side. But, you know, I hit a hole-in-one, so who cares?

Q. Got to feel good to make a couple mistakes and make a good score like that.

BETH BADER: Exactly. I think of it, I made some good solid strokes today, and I had two bogeys. Big deal. I'm pleased.

Q. Any advantage at all to starting early in the morning as opposed to afternoon? Does it vary?

BETH BADER: I think it definitely varies. You get a morning tee time, and it was cold this morning, you know, it took a little bit longer to warm up. It's beautiful out there today.

Right now, I don't think that there's any one advantage to the morning or afternoon. Granted, sometimes you'll get rain in the afternoon. People in the morning are, "Yeah, we lucked out." What comes around goes around. I've been in that cycle before. I've been lucky, have an afternoon and morning, then vice versa, came back and got me.

Q. You said this is new. Have you ever been in the lead after a round?

BETH BADER: Yeah, I was. I was last year. Actually, I still had seven holes to play after the first day. I didn't complete my first round. I was happy to go out last seven holes and shoot even par to finish at 67. Yeah, I have had it one time before. I've been close other times.

MODERATOR: Let's go ahead and do your score card.

BETH BADER: The 1st hole was a good drive, like I said. Then I just pulled 6-iron into the bunker, that short bunker. I missed my putt for par, but made a bogey.

2, I parred, the long par 5. Got in trouble off the tee, just punched out. Routine par there.

7 was the par 3. I've got to think about this. Oh, yeah, up the hill. I hit a great 7-iron and thought I had gotten it all the way back there. It must have just spun back just a little bit. I had the reads of the other two girls I was playing with, I putted last, and that definitely helped me a lot. I played a little bit right-to-left. I hit it good, drained it right in the heart. It was probably 25 feet.

Then No. 8, hit a really good drive and had a pitching wedge in my hand. Actually, a gap-wedge, great gap-wedge. Hit it just past the pin four feet, made a good four-and-a-half, five-footer there for birdie.

Then 10, I hit 3-wood off the tee there. Wind was helping us a little bit. 9-iron to about six feet below the pin, made that.

13, hit a good drive again off the tee. I think that's one of the longest holes out here. It's pretty wide. It was good, the wind was helping us today. Normally, I never really felt it helping us. I hit a great, great 8-iron. Totally was committed to that 8-iron. That was probably key, like you said earlier, to my day. I hit it to two feet, tap-in for birdie. It was like two feet, it was close.

MODERATOR: The 8-iron?

BETH BADER: 148 to the pin.

And then 14, the par 5, hit a good drive just to the right side of the fairway. I laid up with a choke 4-iron to a hundred feet or a hundred yards (laughter). I hit a really solid 50-degree to six feet, seven feet below the pin.

Then the wonderful 15. Like I said, just hit a great pitching wedge and stayed totally committed with it. It was actually 117, I think, what we finally ended up with to the pin. I think I bounced three, four feet, rolled right in. The wind was kind of coming off the left, just a hair left, so it was perfect.

Then after I calmed down, I made a great birdie on 16. I hit 4-iron off the tee. It's a short hole. You know, there I've hit driver in the past, and it's risk/reward there. My adrenaline was going a little bit there, so I just hit a really good 4-iron to right at a hundred yards.

I hit those hundred yarders today, which was great. I was feeling my wedges. They were definitely on for me. Hit my 50 degree, which I can hit like 110. I think the pin was 106. I hit it to six feet, made the putt.

Then I bogeyed on 17. I just pushed my 3-wood to the right, got a bad stance in the bunker. It was actually a pretty good bogey, so...

Q. (Inaudible)?

BETH BADER: Yeah, a little bit. I don't know really how to put it. One of my key thoughts that I've been working on is commitment. Yeah, it's just been to the fact that I've doubted myself a little bit. I finally have dialed my irons in a little bit where I feel like I can be committed.

That's one of my keys, you know, last week, the week before, this week, here on out. "Committed" is a huge word for me, because when I'm committed, I feel like I can hole out. That's a good feeling.

Q. (Inaudible)?

BETH BADER: Iron, everything, everything, putting, staying committed, seeing the line, not second-guessing yourself, seeing it, stroking it there. I mean, I can't be unhappy when I stroke it like on the green and miss it to the right. If I stay committed, that's exactly where I wanted it to go, you know, that's being committed. If I miss it, so be it. That's exactly where I wanted it to go.

Q. What did you say the name of your caddie is?

BETH BADER: Amy Lavesik (phonetic).

Q. How is the last name spelled?

BETH BADER: I don't know. I always call her Amy Lovesick. It's a weird spelling. I wouldn't even dare doing it.

She just jumped on the bag this week. She's a friend of mine. Played a little college golf together. Was at Michigan State. Played the Futures Tour for a couple years. She has a job in New York in about a month.

Q. Again, she's the one who swayed you for the pitching wedge?

BETH BADER: Yeah. She kind of looked at me. She didn't actually verbalize it. She kind of looked at me. I'm like, "Okay, go ahead, pitching wedge." We were good. We had a lot of fun out there today.

Q. (Question regarding heart monitor)?

BETH BADER: If they want me to, I would. Usually they come up and ask me. You bet I'll wear it.

Q. (Inaudible)?

BETH BADER: I really didn't know what I thought coming out after getting my card the first year. Yeah, I knew it was going to be difficult. It has been very difficult. There's times where I'm like, "What am I doing out here? Why am I here? Is this worth it?"

Today definitely makes it worth it, you know. I could really feel myself letting go a little bit today, which was good. I laughed a lot, blew off that first bogey, where it's really been bothering me lately. I had a little anger built up inside on the golf course. Today was a good day.

Who knows, I hope it's an open door for me and I can just kind of ride it because it feels good right now.

End of FastScripts....

About ASAP SportsFastScripts ArchiveRecent InterviewsCaptioningUpcoming EventsContact 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