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Injuries are a drag
Posted: Wednesday May 03, 2000 10:48 AM
Leta Lindley, 27, is in her sixth season on the LPGA Tour. She had her best year in 1999 with a tie for second, as well as four other top 10 finishes. In 1997, she finished second at the LPGA Championship, losing to Chris Johnson on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff. She was a four-time All-American at the University of Arizona and set an NCAA record for lowest 54-hole score (9 under par). Check out Lindley's diary each week on CNNSI.com.
May 2, 2000 I just can't catch a break! At the beginning of last week I got bronchitis, and then a few days after that, I pulled a muscle on my left side right around my rib cage from coughing. It happened the night before the first round of the Chick-fil-A Championship. When I woke up it felt fine. But it got worse on Saturday and Sunday. (I still played all three days of the tournament.) It hurts a tremendous amount to cough and hurts horribly to sneeze. Actually, it hurts to breathe. I was talking to the trainer in fitness trailer that travels with us, asking him what I could do to make it feel better, and he told me I had to keep breathing! I think rest will be the best thing for it, but I can't really do that since I'm planning to play the next two weeks.
It didn't hurt too much to swing on Friday. I thought, "This will get better." But then it didn't get better. I told my caddie that I was just going to be like Monica Seles for the rest of the tournament -- a little grunter. In the middle of the second round, I started to count how many times I would have to use a full swing -- I came up with about 30 or 40 more times, and figured I could handle that. I had an especially tough time on Saturday. I was leading shots out to the right because I was afraid to swing through it. But I hit some really great shots, and I even managed to hit it long. I knew that once I started the tournament I wanted to finish. I wanted to make some money, which I did (I finished tied for 23rd, earning a little over $8,100). That payday could mean the difference between making it into the Evian Tournament or not. The Evian is in June in France and has a field of 80, half coming from the LPGA, half from the European tour. There's no cut and it's got a large purse, so I'd really like to play. I figure if I'm in the top 30 of the money list, I should qualify (the criteria is a bit fuzzy, so I'm not sure exactly what the cut-off is going to be.) Pulling the muscle was just so disappointing. Matt and I had been working on some things and I was hitting the ball really well. And then this happened. But even with the muscle pull, I hit so many good shots, so I feel as if I'm back on track. I was really pleased with how I played. My short game was good, although I three-putted a few times, which was very annoying, but all in all I made a lot of great putts. This week's tour stop, the Philips Invitational, is a four-day event, which isn't necessarily good for me. Tommy, my caddie, is back from his honeymoon. He's got a shiny wedding band on. I think he's happy to be back since he was gone for a month. I've been joking with him, telling him I hope I won't have to train him all over again. I'm still not sure about playing in the pro-am on Wednesday. I still think it's early to use my one exemption. I guess I'm not really sure about anything. I'm just really disappointed. It's frustrating when you can't control things. I just want to feel better (didn't I say that last week, too?). I want to get rid of this bronchitis. I feel like I finally got my swing back to where I want it and now this. But I'm encouraged about where I am with my game. And I'm excited that I've yet to miss the cut this year. I've cashed a check every week. I've even been in contention some weeks. I've always wanted to be one of those players, someone who's always there. So, that's been really nice. Hopefully, this injury won't get the best of me -- Leta
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