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Playing in the zone
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 hold 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. September 12, 2000
If someone had said to me last week, "Leta, you're going to finish seventh this week," I would have said, "I highly doubt it." So on one hand, tying for seventh place at the Betsy King Classic was terrific. But when you start off Sunday in second place and you finish seventh, there's a part of you that is disappointed. But I'll take it. It was a good tournament and tons of great experience. On Friday I turned at four under, but finished two under. I felt I left a lot on the golf course. So for Saturday, I was just hoping for a good round. I really just wanted to play well and make the cut. I started Saturday birdie, birdie, birdie. And the first three holes of that course are tough (at least I think so). I made a 12-footer on the first, an 8-footer and then a 3-footer. I was so excited. I just hit so many close shots on Saturday. I shot a 65! Even with nine birdies, I lipped out a couple of other times. And my two bogeys were just stupid. I was just in a zone. Everything just seemed to go my way. When I got done, I couldn't even remember what I had hit, it was a blur. I was going moment to moment. When you're in that state of mind, you're just so free and everything goes like it's supposed to. I feel bad saying this, but even though I shot that great score, I still don't feel as if I'm hitting it all that great. I hit a lot of greens, I did hit it better, but my swing is still not where I want it. I abandoned a lot of the mechanics I had been working on with Lud. I was just hitting it terribly. So I decided to focus on tempo, which helps me control my ball flight better. When I get too mechanical, I don't play well. I guess the simplest way to put it is I'm a swinger of the golf club, not a hitter. If I'm a hitter, I feel like I'm forcing something. Tempo is very important. I'm just going to try to keep it as simple as possible. I just want the golf ball to go straight. I haven't talked to Lud about this. It's hard to do over the phone. For me, it all boils down to, do you know where the golf ball is going to go? And that's what I'm trying to find. It's been a lesson for me. Sometimes you have to go through that other stuff to learn that about yourself. I think I know the best way I can swing. I know what works for me, from the past. I've got to keep it simple and work on tempo and flow versus getting too mechanical. I played in the final group on Sunday, which I've done only one other time in my pro career. I wasn't really that nervous about it. By the time I got finished practicing and showering on Saturday night, it was already 9 p.m. I didn't have a lot of time to think. I didn't have much trouble sleeping. And in the morning, we had to pack up to get out of the hotel, so I wasn't sitting around all morning thinking about it. I had a real sense of calm. And even though I wasn't hitting the ball as well as I would have liked, Matt had some good words of encouragement. He basically said that you don't have to have a perfect round, just give yourself some opportunities. Which is what I tried to do, it just didn't always go my way. I had a lot of putts lip out, so I finished one over. It was Michele Redman's day. She came out of the box. She had a fast start, which made it difficult to catch her. I had solid pars, but when you're trying to chase someone, pars just don't cut it. I birdied 11 and 12, but she birdied those, too. So I didn't gain any ground! She played really well. Of course, I'm excited that I put myself in that position. It wasn't quite the round I wanted, but it was a fabulous experience. I'm back in the top 30 on the money list. I jumped five spots (I earned a little over $21,000). I'm very excited that I'm closer to my goal. It was a good week, especially coming off Springfield, where I was really disappointed. After missing the cut there, I was thinking, "This was not what I had pictured." But I've said how quickly things can turn around. Now I'm off this week. I'm going to practice some so it won't be a hang-up-your-clubs kind of week. But I'm also going to do my workouts and enjoy being here. --Leta
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