ASAHI RYOKUKEN INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

September 23, 2001

Tina Fischer

TINA FISCHER: No. 3, I hit 5-iron to like five yards, made the putt.

TINA FISCHER: Hit it on the green with a 7-wood and hit like a ten-yard, 30-feet putt for eagle, missed that, tapped in for birdie.

TINA FISCHER: No. 12 was very exciting. I hit a snap hook into the woods on the left of the tee, tipped out, 7-wood layup, then sand wedge over the green, chip almost in the hole, then tap-in for bogey. 13, 4-wood off the tee, then 8-iron to like 18 feet.

TINA FISCHER: That was it.

TINA FISCHER: Well, obviously I'm very happy because that's what's everybody's trying to, you know, achieve out here: to win. I did it in the last tournament of the season, so that's really wonderful. For me that means, you know, that I have an exemption for a few years now, don't have to worry that much, can go out and play, make a better schedule, not have to wait, you know, to get into the tournaments. And it's wonderful.

TINA FISCHER: Well, I was very sick actually when I came here because I caught a flu last week in Portland so I didn't think that at all. I was just trying to get through at the beginning of the week. With this heavy course, we didn't have that many rides. Okay, it wasn't that greatt. But it's almost gone now. Golf-wise, you know, I was hitting the ball better every day - and that certainly helps. You know, I just felt pretty good. My putting was going pretty well. Just tried to be boring and put it in the middle on the green and then put some in the holes.

TINA FISCHER: I always look at everything. See, I see everything on the golf course all the time (laughter). I look on the score boards, too. I say to my caddie, I think on 14 or 15, "I think, Annika is having a great round." At that point I didn't think she would catch me on anything. You know, it's up to me to play better, and I never have a problem with that. When I know somebody is having a good round, that's wonderful. I just have to try and be better. So it doesn't make me nervous or anything.

TINA FISCHER: Well, I struggled a little bit at the beginning of the year with my ball striking, and then I saw a different coach. He had some really good ideas. That was like seven weeks ago. For some reason it really clicked. I've been trying the same thing for two or three years, but it never really worked. With him, it just had the right words and all of a sudden I understood what I was trying to do. It really helped me.

TINA FISCHER: Well, it was pretty tough because I actually decided to stay in the Futures Tour here, which I hadn't done before. I always went back to Europe and played there. But I wanted to get Top 3 or Top 10 to get an exemption for this tour. Of course, it's a big difference, you know, to go back to a littler tour, when you've been here and you go back to, you know, the Challenge Tour. But sometimes it's good, you know, because you really know the grinding, where you're coming from. You know, those girls, they try hard every week, too. They're great players. Sometimes it brings you a little bit back to the ground. "You know, okay, I've got to get there again." And that's what I did.

TINA FISCHER: I wasn't really sure if I had a one-shoot lead. I saw Tracy. I heard all the clapping. I thought she actually made birdie. I thought I needed a birdie. I had that same shot every day. I hit this little 9-wood. I always wanted to hit 9-wood. I asked my caddie, "Is it 9-wood again?" I tried to make the yardage look like a 9-wood. It was a good swing, then I missed the putt. But then I knew that I didn't need it. But I still tried to make it anyway.

TINA FISCHER: Oh, 15 feet.

TINA FISCHER: Kris' caddie said, "Mark the ball." Kris said, "Go ahead and putt it in." For her it's always difficult because she needed to make that putt, too, for herself. I mean, it's okay. Anyway, I don't care. It's in the hole, you know (laughter).

TINA FISCHER: They must have not had any champagne, they attracted all the wasps and the bees. It was fun anyway.

TINA FISCHER: Who was what?

TINA FISCHER: It was Jonathan Yarwood (phonetic) in Bradenton, Florida.

TINA FISCHER: I think it was my caddie and Marnie McGuire and Theresa Durand, some players and caddies and naughty people standing in the back there (laughter).

TINA FISCHER: I really didn't know what was going on when I was hitting the tee shot there on 12. I had hit the tee shots perfect all week long, then I hit this really crooked golf shot. I got away with it because I thought it was going to be all the way down the hill. I made a struggle to make a bogey, you know. Then I made the birdie right away. And that helps you to get the momentum back and not to keep making bogeys. So that was really good. Yeah, it was very important.

TINA FISCHER: Yeah. I actually was planning to go back to Germany on Saturday, one day after my birthday, my 22nd birthday, by the way (laughter). Then I was going to see my family for a little while, come back to Florida, work with my coach. I mean, we have a pretty long off-season, so I don't really know what I'm going to do yet. I definitely want to spend some time with my family back home because I haven't seen them in a long time, then practice in Florida the rest of the year.

TINA FISCHER: Well, I had a pretty long amateur career in Germany. We don't really have college golf over there, not like here. We play a lot on national teams, play like European team championships, all that stuff. I did that until I was 24. At the same time I went to University over there, graduated in landscape architecture. I got my major in landscape architecture. When I was 25, I turned pro because I still wanted to play golf, wanted to do it professionally. I had played on the national team for ten years. I started out in Europe in '95, played over there for two or three years, then came over here for one year, then went back to the Futures Tour, then came back to LPGA.

TINA FISCHER: Well, my parents, my whole family, plays a lot of golf. They always took me to the golf course when I was really little. I had no choice really. They put the golf clubs in my hand. When I was ten, I started.

TINA FISCHER: He's not here, right (laughter)? No, normally that doesn't bother me at all. He was the only person over there on that side. Normally you have like a hundred people, and it doesn't bother me at all when somebody is moving. When one person is standing right behind your line, I definitely blame it on him that I made that putt so badly (laughter). No, it really was not his fault. It's always nice to have an excuse (laughter).

TINA FISCHER: Well, I actually thought of not playing at all anymore. I mean, when you go out there, and I did really well in Europe, I won a few tournaments over there, then I went back to the Futures Tour here. I didn't really play very well at the beginning of last year. It was just like, "I don't know if I can make it." Then I thought, "I'm better than that. " I really grinded it out the end of the season. I played really well. That gave me a little bit of hope. Well, I'm glad I went through it. I went to Q School, played a good Q School. Lost in a playoff for an exempt spot. That was a little bit of a bummer. From then on, it went pretty well.

TINA FISCHER: I think, you know, everybody, they go through ups and downs in the golf career. You get to a point where you've played for a few years, so many years, and haven't really achieved what I wanted to achieve. We all have great expectations. That's what I had at the beginning of last year. Then I sat down and wrote down all the things that I thought. I figured out, "Okay, you're not done yet." I'm not that old yet. If you give it a try, give it a good try. I did everything I could, and it worked.

TINA FISCHER: Yeah. I mean, it was swing related, physical workout related, mentally. I did the things that I hadn't done before, a little bit more organized. That's what was different. It changed, you know, a lot in the approach. It worked, obviously.

TINA FISCHER: Well, actually I was supposed to fly tonight at, whatever, 9:30 to Chicago because I was going to play a ProAm in Peoria for the next two days. I don't know if the tournament organizer over there is very happy with me if I'm not going. I don't know. Then I was flying home on Saturday, like I said before, home to Germany. I don't know. I haven't really thought about it, what I'm going to do now.

TINA FISCHER: I don't know yet. I'll have to see what my plans are.