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These last-day surges
Posted: Friday June 09, 2000 08:26 AM
Leta Lindley, 28, 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 (nine under par). Check out Lindley's diary each Wednesday on CNNSI.com.
June 7, 2000 What's with these last-day surges of mine? I just don't know. I shot a 68 on Sunday, following two rounds of 72 and a 71 on Thursday. (I finished the tournament tied for 12th.) Matt and I have been discussing it a bit. It must have something to do with the fact that it's the last chance before the tournament is over to make up some ground. I think sometimes on Thursday my approach is the same. I try to birdie every hole, but I guess I'm just more focused on Sunday. I need to bring my focus in tighter earlier on. I actually did play well in the first round, finishing tied for 13th. Then I played respectably on Friday and Saturday, although it wasn't exactly what I wanted.
I don't know if I hit the ball any better on Sunday, I just made fewer mistakes. I didn't bogey until 18 (bummer). I missed some shots, but I was able to get up and down. I was able to recover better. On the other days, I might have missed greens and didn't recover quite as well. I'm going to have to try to be more aggressive in the beginning of the week. I may have been shying away from certain pins. Instead of just cozying up there, I've really got to go for it. There are always going to be sucker pins you're going to want to play a little to the left or right of, but at the same time, when I have an opportunity, I need to be aggressive. These last few weeks have been an interesting development. And while I'm not at all upset about shooting a low round on Sunday, it does give me something to think about. I'm continually learning about myself. You may wonder if I'm satisfied with my year. I'm currently 21st on the money list, having earned just under $160,000. I'm pleased, but not totally satisfied because I still think there's room to be better. If I was satisfied, what would that say about my desire to win a tournament? Even when I win one, I'd like to think I still won't be satisfied. I guess the biggest change from last year to this is that I'm more confident. I'm a different player than I was two years ago. I'm even different from the player I was last year. Of course, the biggest difference has been I've been playing without Matt for the first time. It has really been a good experience for me, in terms of my doing more on my own. I'm reading my own greens, and I'm not relying on someone else so much for advice or encouragement. All that builds into my confidence, in terms of really thinking of myself as a good player. I think that's a lot of it, too. I think I'm more confident in my abilities. I think other people are more confident by nature. Matt always believed in my abilities and now I do, too. One of my goals has always been to be up there on a weekly basis. The type of player that, week in and week out, when you start at the top you don't have to go down too far to find her name on the leaderboard. I've always admired players like that. And I wasn't always like that. I'd have a good week and then I'd miss five cuts. That hasn't been the case this year -- I've only missed one cut. So I'm very pleased -- I just think it can be better. After this tournament, Wegmans Rochester Invitation, it's the Evian Masters in France. I bought plane tickets for me and Tommy (it's standard that a player purchase a ticket for such an expensive trip for her caddie). I bought them so late, I'm sure we'll be sitting all the way in the back of the plane right next to the bathrooms! But I don't care. I haven't actually seen my name on the list of players who are invited, but according to all my calculations, I'll be there. I'm really looking forward to it. It was one of my goals for the year to play in this tournament, so I'm happy I've accomplished that. It's a limited field event, maybe only 40 girls from the LPGA and then the rest will be from the Ladies European Tour. It's going to be a very competitive field. There's no cut and a large purse. So I'm guaranteed some money. The tournament starts next Wednesday and goes through Saturday. There's a chance it will be difficult for me to file from overseas next week, so if that happens, I'll catch everyone up in two weeks. -- Leta
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