JAPAN AIRLINES BIG APPLE CLASSIC PRESENTED BY GOLF MAGAZINE

July 14, 2000

Allison Finney

ALLISON FINNEY: I started on 10 and just made par on 10. 11, that's when the rain delay happened, after 11. So we were on the 12th tee when we were suspended. So I came back on 12 and made par. And then 13 I hit too much club into the green and kind of pushed it to the right, and I had kind of a tough chip there. And I chipped it kind of short, and then I left my putt short. I probably had about a 15-footer for par, and I left that short. And then I started, after that, playing really steady because the fairways were kind of wet, you know, and you had to sort of, you know, pick it a little bit, which is, you know, not that bad for me. (Laughing.) Anyway, so then I birdied 15. I had about 20 yards short of the green off to the right, and I chipped it about 8 feet I guess and made birdie there. And then just regular par on 16. 17, I missed the green left and tried to putt through the fringe and hit really a poor shot there, left myself about 25 feet before par, but I made that putt. And I think that was a big turning point for me there because once I made that, I just -- I felt really relaxed pretty much the rest of the way. And plus the greens had softened up from the rain and they were more receptive. It's not -- I felt like I had the speed then once after 17. And 18, I was just short -- well, I was about 30 yards short of the green just in the right fringe, in the right first cut. And I hit a little wedge in there about 5 feet I guess and made the putt. And then I birdied 1. I hit a sand wedge for my third shot in about 5 feet. And then 2, I hit a little 7-iron in there about pin-high about - I'd say about 18 feet - and made that putt for birdie. Then 3 I made par. Then I think I started to get just a little tight in the stretch because 4, 5 and 6 I hit all my shots kind of short. The pins were all back there, and I was just kind of like, "Okay, get on the green and don't do anything stupid here." My distance control with my long putts today was really, really good, so I never left myself anything but tap-ins in that stretch. 7, the long par 3 down the hill, I came up about 5 yards short of the green. I hit a really poor 5-wood there, but I chipped in. So it made up for it. (Laughing.) Then 8 was just normal. 9, I sunk about a 30, 30-footer, hit a 9-iron in. Came up a little bit short, but I had a straight putt up the hill and rolled that one in for another birdie. So --.

ALLISON FINNEY: Well, it was probably like 5 yards off the green. The pin was on 9, so about 15 yards.

ALLISON FINNEY: Well, I was saying yesterday, you know, it's kind of hard. Everybody out here is playing like little tournaments within themselves all the time. And for me to make the cut last week, I know it doesn't sound like much, but it was a big deal because I have been playing poorly and was missing cuts by one. And I was playing late last Friday, like I did today, and I find that kind of difficult when you arrive at the golf course and girls are packing their bags already and telling their horror stories about what they shot, and you know what the cut is before you tee off. So it kind of adds to the pressure. And so last week I overcame all that and birdied like the second to my last hole last week to make the cut, and it just was very -- it was like you know how they always say "getting out of your way." I think I was able to relax last weekend and just play and get more in a rhythm. But the biggest thing is I'm just playing the ball really well on these greens. I switched my putting a few -- about two months ago to the left hand -- the ever-popular left-land low style. And I've just gotten really comfortable with it. My caddie is -- she just retired from the Tour last year, so she's played the Tour for 16 years. Her name is Heather Drew. She's played this tournament I think every time but this time. So she knows these greens really, really well, too. So she's been a big help with the putting. But overall, I'm just, you know, I'm just hitting it steady - not great, just steady - and just made a lot of putts. So I hope it keeps up.

ALLISON FINNEY: Yeah, the whole rain thing for me was a bonus because I was nervous going out, and I went in for the rain delay and just talked with some friends and had a relaxing time. When I went back out, I just felt better. And the greens were -- I'm sure had it not rained, they would have gotten harder and harder, and it was a little windy. So I think that was a big advantage actually.

ALLISON FINNEY: 4, 5 and 6, yeah.

ALLISON FINNEY: Well, I really hadn't looked at the boards at all. I saw before I teed off that Annika was playing really well but I didn't see how she finished up. I just think those are hard holes. I just think 4 is a long one in terms of par 3. 5 and 6 aren't that long, but they're the kind of hole where you can make a stupid mistake and they can double just out of nowhere. So I think I was just feeling a little bit like I don't want to do that, I want to just play these holes and make sure I get myself relatively easy pars and not try to get too aggressive.

ALLISON FINNEY: Actually, I didn't know about the weather. But yesterday was kind of weird because I was playing through 13 holes yesterday -- or actually through 12 holes, my first 12 holes -- like I've been playing the last few months: Make a bogey, grind out a birdie somewhere. Then the last six holes, you know, I had three birdies and an eagle, and all of a sudden I went from, you know, grinding on everything to making -- grinding for the cut to being in the lead. And it didn't really hit me until I went to sleep last night. Then I started to feel a little, "Hmm, what's going on here?" (Laughing.) So as far as a game plan, I'm just trying to play -- like respect every hole out here and play smart and give myself some chances and not get down when I make a mistake because I know everyone else is making mistakes. And fortunately, you know, it's been great so far.

ALLISON FINNEY: Occasionally. But I'd say over the years I've become a much more consistent driver. I used to be fairly wild. But my iron play is usually pretty consistent.

ALLISON FINNEY: Well, it helped a lot. Because my caddie was killed two years ago. Since then, trying to have different caddies each week when you're not playing full-time -- we have some great caddies out here, but it's hard to get them on your bag when you're not playing every week and when you're not playing well. Obviously, they want to work for the better players. So, you know, with Heather, I know that she - being a Tour player herself - she really knows what she's talking about, and she knows my game well because we've played so much golf in the past. And it's just really very helpful.

ALLISON FINNEY: Yeah. Well, his name was Jim Wilkinson. He had gone -- he had left the Tour in about June of -- what was it -- '98 I guess, and he was going to kind of do some other things and see if he wanted to come back or what he wanted to do because he had been out here for a pretty long time, maybe ten years at that point. And when he was off the Tour, when he was home -- actually, he was in I think it was in Oklahoma -- he was with some friends on a hunting trip and they had a car accident, so he was killed in that. And so that's, you know, that's been tough. All of us really miss him. He was a good guy.