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CN CANADIAN WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

August 11, 2006

A.J. Eathorne

LONDON, ONTARIO

A.J. EATHORNE: I guess everyone knows the reason why I should have teed off at 7:10 this morning. No, I didn't just sleep in and miss my time. I wouldn't have done that. I've just been really struggling this year on and off with a wrist injury. Mostly we've done some MRI's and I've had two cortisone shots to try and help figure it out and they don't know exactly they just know it's bad tendonitis. There is a slight tear in one of the ligaments. Other than that it's just kind of one of those hit and miss, try something new. And we haven't obviously gotten the right diagnosis yet.

It was unfortunate that I had to pull out this week. It's never an event you want to pull out of in your home country at a great venue like this. I wanted to be here and give it a shot.

Some days I wake up and it's great, it doesn't bother me at all, and other days it feels really week like I could play left handed or something.

It wasn't my week, unfortunately, and now I can go home and give it a 100 percent effort to try and get it better and come back for next year.

Q. Do you know what caused the injury at all?

A.J. EATHORNE: That's the hard part. Basically it's been hurting since the Nabisco tournament earlier in the year. And a lot of it is probably just because it's hard ground, just repetitive use, hitting down into hard ground. And obviously this week it's hard ground as well and it doesn't help the matter much. That's one thing they don't know. It's one thing or another. It's really been swollen and tight for the last couple of months and they said rest probably would help it, but it hasn't done much for me. It wasn't one shot or another. I didn't get stuck in a bunker or the rough or anything like that, but obviously that doesn't help it.

Q. This being the Canadian Open, if this hadn't been the Canadian Open, would you have even attempted to play or would you have gone and gotten the surgery or what else you need?

A.J. EATHORN: I probably wouldn't have. But being a Canadian through and through that's one thing you want to do, is play in your own Open. You're only allowed to play 12 events if you're going to take a medical and I thought, you know what, if I took a month and a half off and tried to come back in Toledo. I wasn't quite ready then.

I thought 3 more weeks would be good to get it stronger and build up for the Canadian and hopefully it will be good and I can play from the Canadian on. But unfortunately, it still is not good and I have to take the time to get better.

Q. Who are you seeing about this? Is there somebody specific you can tell us about in terms of medical prognosis or do you have a team of people working with you?

A.J. EATHORN: I've been getting a lot of work Physiotherapy Associates are our trainers out here on the road and they've been working they were the ones taping it every week. We would do ultrasound. We would do some stim and a lot of ice, do heat in the morning. It's one of those things we tried to not really mask but work with to be able to play.

I worked until May and I went to see a doctor in Phoenix where I live, Dr. Sheridan. It's actually the same doctor Ian Leggat has gone to when he lived down there. The only thing is I want to kind of stay away from surgery right now. I don't want people digging in there quite yet.

I'm going to try acupuncture. I've heard that's kind of the miracle cure, or can be anyways, give that a chance, and hopefully just give it a good amount of rest without touching the clubs, without doing that motion that really hurts it.

I would love to do some other things, but all I know for the last eight years is golf, and a lot more before that, but that's my only job for a long time. I might just take some time off and get a job and make sure it's completely calmed down before I try picking up the clubs again.

Q. Any thoughts at all of the putting and the chipping motion, or is that just like forget it?

A.J. EATHORNE: Putting and chipping a bit, but you might as well, if you have the time, which I do have the time until next season, just might as well let it go. My short game is pretty good. I view myself as a pretty good putter still and short game person, but the longer the club the more it hurts. I don't know if it's the vibration or what, but it's one of those things, if you're going to stop, you might as well stop for a while and focus on getting it better.

I tried to do some weights and stuff like that to try to strengthen it instead of just letting it go all too limp, but in the end it agitated it just as much.

Q. How tough has it been mentally? And when you talk about getting a job, are you in a position now where you need another source of income with the way the year has gone?

A.J. EATHORNE: Not just source of income, but it's more keep my mind off of golf, keep my mind and my feet and everything else busy while I do get some rehab and recover a little bit. I'm not good at sitting still for very long so I think I would start picking up the clubs or start doing something if I didn't get a job. So it's more something just to keep me busy. And mentally, it has been very taxing on my golf game, I think, as well, just the way I play, because it almost makes me scared to hit the ball because I'm afraid of the pain and afraid of hitting down on the ball and what might happen. Sometimes it's no pain at all, sometimes it's a lot of pain. For the most part, I just need to keep my head busy. And I've run out of Soduko books now so I can't do that. You can only do those for a few hours a day.

Q. Are you looking at kind of a newspaper job or television job or what kind of job are you looking at?

A.J. EATHORNE: Any kind of job right about now. I would love a television job because, as you know, I could talk for days. I have a degree in marketing, and something to do with keeping busy keeping in the sports world. I have a few friends in Phoenix that are in the hockey business and stuff like that. That's my other love, so maybe I could slide in there and do something that just would keep me busy for the next few months and then come December, January, I can start really focusing again on golf.

Q. Wayne must have something for you to do.

A.J. EATHORNE: Would someone please tell Wayne I need a job, and season tickets for the season. (Laughter). Everybody knows somebody. I've been lucky enough to have IMG represent me and through them I think we've got enough contacts down in Phoenix and down somewhere in the area that I can find a job.

Q. After maybe Lorie Kane and Dawn Coe Jones, you're probably the most recognizable Canadian women's golfer. I was wondering yesterday when you were obviously struggling on the course, how were the crowds treating you? Were they kind of pumping you up saying, "Go A.J."?

A.J. EATHORNE: Yes, that's kind of the best part. And you know, as far as supporting Canadian golfers, no matter where we are in Canada...(end of audio.)

End of FastScripts.

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