Power of Caring
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My Shot

Forget Webb and Sorenstam, I'm the biggest attraction on the LPGA tour

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Posted: Tuesday June 08, 1999 01:13 PM

By Becky Iverson

Becky Iverson, a six-year LPGA veteran. Jacqueline Duvoisin

Do you know me? I admit I'm not a big name on the LPGA tour, but I am big. I thought about trying to get an endorsement deal with Rochester Big & Tall, but I don't know if I'm tall enough. Last week, at the U.S. Women's Open, I finished 12th, 12 strokes behind winner Juli Inkster. I made enough money to buy the perfect couch, the kind you melt into and don't get out of for a week. I'll put a refrigerator next to it so I won't miss any of my favorite show, South Park.

I've been eyeing the couch ever since last month at the Mercury Titleholders in Daytona Beach, where I tied for third and made enough money to get the 60-inch TV that I had wanted. It has nine pictures in one -- just like The Brady Bunch. The TV and the couch will go perfectly in my new house in Madison, Wis.

My main home is the one I use when I'm on tour. Two years ago I skipped the British Open and played in and won the Betty Puskar Classic on the Futures tour (which p.o.'d some of the players there). I made $9,700. With that money I traded in my old car, bought a van and converted it into a luxury apartment on wheels. It's equipped with a full-sized bed, a TV, a VCR, a microwave and a refrigerator, which is filled with Coca-Cola and candy bars. I like all kinds of candy -- if it is sweet, it's me. Almond Joy used to be my favorite, but now it's Kit Kat.

Three years ago I lost 50 pounds because I thought getting in better shape would lead to better golf, but I couldn't hit the ball 200 yards, and I would lose my balance and fall over. I had my worst year ever. That winter I gained the weight back, and I started playing well again. I don't care what people think of the way I look. Growing up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, in Gladstone, I learned it's important to be yourself. I'm most comfortable in a huge, baggy T-shirt and a pair of $12.96 shorts from Wal-Mart.

When I was a kid, I didn't like golf. My dad paid me $50 a week to chip and putt for an hour a day. I'm thankful that he pushed me that way, and more thankful still that he hasn't asked for the money back. That's more dough for the new house.

Becky Iverson, a six-year LPGA veteran, has won $165,502 in '99.

 

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