U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 12, 1995

Betsy King

BETSY KING: No, I played here at least once. I think 1976, maybe one other time, I don't remember. But to be honest, I didn't really remember too much about the golf course. I didn't even remember -- I found out when I had done an interview a couple of weeks ago that I lost to Nancy Lopez of the semi-finals of the Broadmoor 3 and 2, but I hadn't remembered that.

BETSY KING: Probably. If I had won the tournament, I would remember. But, you know, it was such a long time ago. So I don't remember the holes very well at all. The only thing I could remember is a pond, I think we played it as No. 15; that is now 18. But other than that, I really didn't remember too much.

BETSY KING: Well, obviously the greens are going to be the big factor. I think I played one early round one late round -- it seems as though the wind comes up quite a bit in the afternoon. I think that will have an influence on scores. I haven't really decided how much. You hit further, you hit the ball with the altitude, I haven't made a decision on that. I think I am going to play it by ear as the round goes along.

BETSY KING: Well, I think some of the par 4s are playing a little bit shorter. It is hard to say. You never know how it is going to play when the tournament rolls around, but, you know, there are a couple of holes I hit wedges into, but around -- certainly not like Laura. I can't imagine. She is hitting a wedge in No. 3?

BETSY KING: The par 5?

BETSY KING: She can hit it over the corner there. Cut something off. But...

BETSY KING: That is what I say, I can't really -- I don't know. I haven't decided. I guess somewhere around a club, but I don't think it is that consistent. I think it is hard to judge. Sometimes the shot you are hitting is a little bit uphill. I am not sure exactly how much uphill the hole is playing, but I usually record it how far I hit the club. I will go on that when I get in the position tomorrow.

BETSY KING: Right.

BETSY KING: That is true... Sometimes, I came up a little bit short thinking that I would hit this wedge. Say -- I normally hit a middle wedge 100 yards think wide; hit 110; came up a little bit short and I attributed that more to it played uphill more than I realized, so...

BETSY KING: Well, I guess a little bit like Oakmont. It is funny because I guess from what I have heard, there are kind of two different architects on this course. So they are different. You start out in the 1st hole on this side of the road, the greens are smaller. They slope pretty much back to front, so you don't want to get it above the hole; then you cross the road, first green you play 1st hole 7, the green is huge and it has some undulations in it, but it is more sectioned and it is flatter. It doesn't have the slope on it that the first 6 holes have. So they are a little bit different in character. I think it is going to make you want to get it on the correct side of the pin. A lot of the holes you want to be short of the flag. Some of the holes you want to be to right of the flag. So, you have uphill putt; so I think many times you are not really going to be shooting so much at the flag, but to the side of the flag. So it is going to make -- put some importance on your approaches into the greens.

BETSY KING: I don't really think so. Obviously, the long players can hit it far, but there is only two par 5s. So, in my mind, that takes away a little bit of the length advantage because, you know, the most holes they are going to be putting for eagle are going to be 2 instead of 4. But, I don't know. It is hard to say. I feel like I am playing okay, but that is always scary going into the tournament because, you know, I felt pretty confident sometimes and I played poorly. Other times I didn't feel too good about my game and came out and played well. So I don't really think there is one person that has an advantage here.

BETSY KING: Well, I think --

BETSY KING: If I free-wheel it, I would be in trouble. You have to play more conservatively. I definitely feel more relaxed playing. I don't feel the same sense of urgency to win, you know, the last year and a half, if I didn't win, it didn't matter what I did. It wasn't good enough. It seemed like for a lot of people, but I like -- I feel I am a good putter on greens that are difficult that have a lot of break that requires a little bit of imagination. I played pretty well at Indianwood and those greens were similar in that you could have putts that you had 7, 8 feet of break, but you still have to play well, so it really comes down to who is on their game. You could feel confident and feel that you -- your game fits the golf course, but if you are not playing well, it doesn't make any difference.

BETSY KING: I don't even want to say one because I really -- it would be easier to say after tomorrow, I think.

BETSY KING: I have enjoyed it. I think the biggest thing for me is in my mind is when the other players came up and congratulated me. When people that you know take the time to congratulate you, not that -- I mean, obviously, there is a lot of people pulling for you that you don't know; unless you know the person, I think it just means more when it is someone you know. I was surprised by the number of people that were at the back of the green on 18 the last day in Atlantic City, that was fun and just the number of players that have come up and said something since then. I think every person that I have seen on Tour has said something to me, so that has been nice.

BETSY KING: I think the Hall of Fame thing is a nice thing to have at the end of your career when you look back and say, well, I made it into the Hall of Fame and there is only 14 players in there, whatever. And I think that is the time I will think about it more is probably when the career is over, but you know, I am very thankful. You know, it was kind of -- I tried not to let it consume my life. It is silly to have something like that consume your life, but it definitely was something that became a big part of my life for something that was brought up to me virtually everyday in the last whatever 15 months, so it is nice to have it brought up in a nice way now instead of "when is it going to happen" and even though people meant well, it was still in terms of a sports psychology thing; it wasn't the kind of approach that when you have 100 people wishing you well, it doesn't make it easier. But I am aappreciative of it. I basically had 2 careers; went on seven years without winning and certainly was not thinking about the Hall of Fame; then two years ago, all of a sudden it becomes something to think about, so it has been a different career.

BETSY KING: I believe that basically two things. One was meeting Ed Oldfield who made some changes in my golf swing, and second was becoming a Christian. I believe that helped me a lot in terms of channeling my competitiveness in a more positive way. I am a very competitive person, but I think I tried almost too hard at times or worried too much about what other people did and compared myself to others instead of worrying more just about myself, and my performance. And actually both those things happened in 1980. I became a Christian in 1980 and I met Ed in the fall of 1980 and started working on my swing and it took about -- I actually won a tournament in Japan end of 1981; that kind of showed me I was working on the right things. Then a couple of years I started winning here in the States, so I think those two factors were the biggest changes.

BETSY KING: Well, I felt like I played okay the last couple of years; maybe just not quite as well as before. I think the level of competition even improved a little bit. I really felt you know, that I had won some tournaments without necessarily playing my best golf and I think now it is pretty hard to do that. You know, if you are off a little bit somebody else is going to be in there. You know, we have so many first-time winners and I think that is an indication that it is just harder to win, and then I think the Hall of Fame thing was a little bit of a factor. It wasn't something that I thought about teeing off Thursday on the first tee, but when I got in contention to win, I definitely think it became a factor.

BETSY KING: Well, I don't think it changes my approach in terms of strategy on the golf course. I mean, when you play a U.S. Open, you need to try to keep the ball in the fairway off the tee, and get it on the right place on the green. I think it is going to be difficult to get the ball up-and-down around the greens if you are on the wrong side of the green, but I definitely feel more relaxed. I just can't explain the difference. It is just -- I think there was almost a sense of urgency to keep grinding and to play as much as possible, whereas now, I don't feel that. It doesn't mean that I am not going to try to do as well, but it is a little bit more relaxing.