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Best weekend of the year
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. October 3, 2000
Last week was good! It was really good. I had a new caddie, which is always a bit different. You're trying to get a feel with that person. There is a definite rhythm to the relationship and it takes some time to find that rhythm. You're basically just trying to get a feel for each other under competitive conditions. By the weekend, it was much more comfortable. We just had to get past those initial few days. It was pretty breezy the first few days. The first day I was 2 over. I double-bogeyed, but other than that I played really solid. I was kind of surprised I was right at the cut line. I thought I would be in a little better position because I thought the course was pretty tough and long.
So on Friday, I knew the cut was going to be at about 3. I turned at 5 over and I knew I needed to make up some ground. I was really focused. My new caddie Thad helped me stay in the game. He pumped me up, told me to be patient. I hit some great shots coming in. If only the hole had been a little bigger, I would have made some really great putts. It came down to the last hole. I hit a 9 wood to two feet and made it for birdie. So I birdied the 18th to finish at plus 3 and just made it. I didn't want to miss the cut. It was the last tournament of the year in the States. I just didn't want to end my year going home early. I was so excited, I went out and shot 5 under on Saturday! That ranked up there with my 7 under at Betsy King. I had good rhythm, I capitalized on lots of opportunities, and made some putts. I turned at 3 under and then birdied 17 and 18. I was pleased. I passed a bunch of people on Saturday. I played well on Sunday, but I didn't have quite the same groove I had had on Saturday. Still, I played solid golf. I had a couple of holes where I made some mistakes, but I had three birdies and shot 1 under. I finished in 21st place. I did a lot of good things. It was nice at the end of the year to play my best golf on the weekend. To shoot 6 under on Saturday and Sunday is nice. I was pleased about that. That was always one of my goals -- to finish well -- so I felt like it was a sign that the hard work is paying off. My swing is better. I feel like I've learned some important lessons these past few months. What I've learned and pointed out time and time again to Matt is, if you look down the driving range, everyone has a different swing. And you can take one instructor with five students and each one looks different. I have a good swing. It's not a perfect one, but it has worked well for me. I just think I need to stick to simple things. It all boils down to if you can get the golf ball in the hole. In my striving to be better, I may have gotten away from that. I have a swing that's good enough. I think it's a swing that can win golf tournaments. Maybe I need to focus more on my mind than on being technically perfect. So now I'm home and I have no plans. It's absolutely wonderful to do nothing! I'm enjoying it. It's raining and I don't have to play golf in this weather. I can piddle around and waste time and do nothing. I spent the earlier part of the year being time-efficient -- squeeze in this and squeeze in that -- so it's a nice change. At some point, I'll have to start practicing again since I go to Korea and then Japan in a few weeks. Japan is the final tournament that counts toward making it to the Tour Championship. I'm currently right on the bubble, in 30th place on the money list. But in the meantime I'll probably take five days off. And I just need to clarify something in last week's diary. Last week I wrote that Matt was coming back on Tour next year. He is coming back, but he is not going to be my caddie. Matt does not want to work for me! My caddie job is still open for the time being. -Leta
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