U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 19, 1994

Beth Daniel

LES UNGER: Well, if their statistics are correct, you are already in the second best money year than you have ever had, and the year is just about halfway. That sounds pretty good.

BETH DANIEL: Yeah, that sounds great if it is true. I am not really one that keeps track of money, really. I think the thing that is important to me is the fact that I won three tournaments this year and that the rest of the year I have played fairly consistently. So I feel pretty good about how I have played this year.

LES UNGER: Well, you have a right to be. Has anything clicked? Has anything happened? Are you doing anything differently?

BETH DANIEL: Well, I think my swing is just much better than it was last year and even the year before that. I have worked very hard on my golf swing. And I have worked hard on my putting. I have worked hard on a lot of parts of my game and just sort of disciplined myself this year and said I have got to do it. I do not want to have years like I had last year. That was not any fun, and I did not enjoy it, and I just rather not play golf than struggle like I did last year.

LES UNGER: Is this working by yourself or are you having some coaching or help?

BETH DANIEL: I have been working with Jack Lumpkin and he is somebody that I worked with off and on for -- well, the way I met Jack was through Davis Love who is a good friend of mine, and Davis and I play in the mixed team every year and I was having some problems with my golf swing and wasn't happy with what was transpiring. So I asked Davis if he would help me with my game and he said sure, fly to Sea Island the week before Thanksgiving which is close to when the mixed team is and I flew there for about three days; stayed with Davis and Robin and Davis and I went out like in the mornings or afternoons and hit balls and worked on my game, and he introduced me at that point to Jack Lumpkin who I knew Jack from before, but I had never had him work with me and I really like him. He is a lot like Davis's dad who I took lessons from for quite awhile. And he teaches very similarly, and personalitywise he is very similar, so it was an easy transition.

LES UNGER: My last question. Are you hitting it longer, straighter, putting better or all of the above?

BETH DANIEL: I am hitting it much straighter. That has been the key. I mean, I have a tendency to be very wild and particularly when I am not swinging great at it, I am pretty wild and the thing that I have been able to do this year, for the most part, is keep the ball in play.

Q. You must be hitting it a lot less as well recently?

BETH DANIEL: Yeah, a lot less - which always helps too, but I have hit a lot of greens in regulation this year, which is, I think, two or three years ago whenever they started the stats, I think I finished in the top three in greens in regulation on our tour. Last year I was basically off the chart and this year I am right up in the top again, so you know, that is a big key for me.

LES UNGER: Questions.

Q. Given the double significance of a victory for you here, have you been able to think about other things or is that --

BETH DANIEL: No, instead my new question instead of-- instead of get that one win for the Hall of Fame, now my new question is how come you have 30 wins and you are not in the Hall of Fame. I can't tell you how many people asked me that today. So I don't know, I said I was going to do a top 10 list of why I am not in the Hall of Fame and have 30 wins, but I could only think of one answer and that is that I don't have gray hair yet. But this is going to be a tough week for me because it is -- it means so much because it is -- if I were to win this week, it would not only mean winning the U.S. Open; it would mean entrance to the LPGA Hall of Fame. But I think my attitude -- at least what I am going to try and do with my attitude is just go out and play golf and not worry about winning; that is pretty much what I have done all year. That is what I told myself at the beginning of the year; just go out and try and play good golf; don't worry about whether you are going to win or lose or the next time you are going to win or whatever. Just go play and let things happen. And if you get in position, then see what happens. And this year, it has worked very well.

Q. What about this golf course, as you see it and what it takes to win here?

BETH DANIEL: Well, obviously you have to drive the ball straight here. If you don't, you are in the long stuff which you don't really want to be in. I think it also requires very good iron play because you have to position the ball on the greens, otherwise you are going to have very, very difficult putts. I mean, this course definitely tests every aspect of your golf game; plus I think the weather conditions are going to be such that we will have a lot of wind in the afternoons; the mornings will be fairly calm and the winds are going to pick up in the afternoon. That is exactly what it did today. A person that has two morning times the first two days is going to have a very big advantage and this is one of the few tournaments where that can actually happen. But the course has been lengthened since 1989. There are at least three tees that I can think of that have been moved back. Holes that I had my old yard damage book which I had kept and I was looking at my notes today and on some of the tees the notes didn't even pertain to anything that I was playing. I am looking out there going, okay, I hit a two iron off this tee in 1989 and the hole I am talking about right now is the fourth hole, I hit a 2-iron off that tee to the top of the hill so I wouldn't go through the fairway and then had about an 8-iron in; today I hit driver, 6-iron, so that is quite a difference and could not see the green. I could see about that much of the pin (indicating less than an inch) from where I hit my drive, so that hole is going to play very difficult when it was a fairly easy hole before. As a matter of fact, I think Laura tried to drive that hole in 89 everyday. Because she could blow it over the corner. It is a dog leg right.

Q. She kept having double bogeys.

(laughter)

BETH DANIEL: I am trying to think of the other holes that have been lengthened, and I am -- well, number 2 has been lengthened. I think number 2 I hit a 3-wood off of before and maybe that hasn't been lengthened so much as it is just a little bit wetter than it played in 1989; it was pretty dry, the ball was running a long way, but with the way the wind was today, I hit a driver there and about a 5-iron or something and that was a 3-wood in 1989. Maybe I am just hitting it shorter. But there were a couple of other holes that the tees have been moved back and so I found the course very difficult today, much more difficult than I remembered it playing in 1989.

Q. You had such a fantastic year in 1990 and good year in 1991. What do you think happened in 1992 and 1993; is there an explanation for your --

BETH DANIEL: I mean 1992 to me wasn't that bad of a year. Last year was not a good year. I mean, I just did not play well. I could not find my golf swing until close to the end of the year. In 1992 I started to lose it. I started to lose my golf swing and I mean, I actually -- I wanted to take the second half of 1992 off and in hindsight maybe I should have done it. You know when you struggle with this game that much, sometimes you are better off just walking away from it than coming back later on. The more you struggle with it the more you lose your confidence, you know, the more everything is gone, your swing is gone, everything, because you are trying about 50 different things. I think that affected me in 1993 because I went out and I didn't have anything solid to concentrate on or work on until, you know, I finally said I have had it, I am going to see Jack Lumpkin and I am going to work with him on a day-to-day basis. And that was right before Sprint of last year, and it, you know, the changes that we made have taken awhile to kind of click in, but I feel that now my swing is pretty solid again.

Q. Problems that were developing late in 1992 and then in 1993, was it a combination of mental and physical or was it more physical?

BETH DANIEL: It was more just the physical part of my golf swing. And I couldn't get a good thought to key in on, so I just -- one day I would have one thought; next day I would have another thought. You just can't play that way, and then I think with that, comes a loss of confidence and that is exactly what happened to me. You know, I started out last year and I am, like, why am I even playing, you know? Because it just wasn't good. I wasn't hitting the balls well, and my scores were indicating that.

Q. This year, the things have just gotten better and better as you have gone along you must be in a fantastic frame of mind heading into this week?

BETH DANIEL: I feel good. This is always a tough week because there is so many distractions this week. And I mean, that is the thing about the Open - is that the person who can get through the distractions the best, that is why patience is like the main ingredient that a player has to have to win the Open because there is just so much going on. Today I was playing a practice round; I can't tell you how many people were inside the ropes, and you know, and "I need an interview, I need an autograph, I need you to do this for an ad for next year's Open," and I mean, it is everything. It is like why does it have to go on during the practice round; why can't it go on afterwards. I am the type of person that I like to be on a time schedule. I am a very disciplined person. I like to know that if I am going to do something, it is going to take X amount of time and then I am going to be able to meet Greg on the driving range and go practice. I mean, Greg never gets upset and I mean, he was so mad today. I have never seen him as mad as he was today. And you know, on the range I just said forget it, just go home, you know, he is like, I am sorry, I am sorry, I just got mad. Everybody is like this and that and this and that, you know, he said this is what I hate about winning. I said well, I hate it too. And I do. I don't like what comes with winning, but that is part of it, you know, and I feel like I owe it to my organization to be there when they want me to be there - if it is a reasonable request. And so I am going to do it. But it doesn't mean I like it. It takes a way from the discipline of what I do to prepare for a golf tournament. So it has been a tough week already and it is only Tuesday.

Q. I think Nick Price found that certainly last year at The Masters and again this year that his expectations and everybody else's were so high and he couldn't sort of go through the hassle. He kept being distracted. I think he found exactly the same thing.

BETH DANIEL: Yeah, I think some people can kind of roll with the punches better than others. Certainly players can do that better than others. I think that is one of the reasons that certain players do better in major championships than others. But I am an extremely disciplined person. I like to go out and play my round, you know, go practice, for a certain amount of time, then practice this part of my game for a certain amount of time; then practice putting; I do a lot of drills and that sort of thing, and I mean even on the driving range there is so many people inside the ropes on the driving range coming up and talking to you and we don't have that on our Tour, you know, it is just, you know, it is a different setup here. And I think that you have to come in with a good frame of mind and you have to be -- you have to be rested; that is-- I talked to Patty Sheehan today about it. Patty said, you know, that is why I don't play New York. I want to be rested coming into the Open. So you know, I can come in with a fresh mind and a good attitude. I think it is important.

Q. Perhaps you should put a sign up on the practice ground, "do not it disturb, woman at work."

(laughter)

Q. What is Greg's last name and how do you spell it?

BETH DANIEL: Sheridan.

Q. Is that one explanation for why you haven't won more Majors?

BETH DANIEL: I think it has lot to do with it. Well, Sandi can tell you probably better than me that I don't -- I am often not great with the media and I am not great with distractions. And I am not great if you come up and tell me I have to do something right now and it is not something that I knew about prior to, you know, to doing it. And you know, like one of the things today it is like you know, I don't mind doing things that people come up and say, hey, Beth, would you do this. When someone comes up and says, hey, you knew about this and so and so told you about this, and come over here and do it. I am, like, I didn't know anything about it. But I will go over and do it. You know, that is the kind of thing that throws me out of my routine and makes me upset.

Q. Do you think there is any other reasons?

BETH DANIEL: Why I haven't won a major?

Q. Yeah.

BETH DANIEL: I think, number one, I don't drive the ball straight enough. And I think in a lot of cases in major championships you have to be a great putter. And there are times when I putt great. But I would not consider myself a great putter. I think I am a good putter. But I don't think I am a great putter.

Q. Who are the great putters at the moment?

BETH DANIEL: At the moment I think, you know, putting is so streaky that I don't know -- I think-- I mean, I will tell you who I think have great putting strokes. And I always hate to answer questions like this because I always leave somebody out. But I think if you are going to look at great putting strokes I think Patty Sheehan has a great putting stroke. I think Meg Mallon has a great putting stroke and Betsy King has a great putting stroke. Dale Eggeling also. What I like about their strokes is that they are very fluid and the timing is very, very good on their strokes, and those are the type of players that can putt quick undulating greens. They are more feel putters. And you know, I made myself into a putter even as a kid I was a bad putter. And that is the part of my game that I have always struggled with. So I have what I think is a very mechanical putting stroke, but that is the only way I can make myself into a putter. And I do just fine with it. I have done okay with it.

Q. The Hall of Fame is such a difficult achievement on the Tour. Just get a comment about it in general and it is kind of knocking at your door at this point?

BETH DANIEL: Well, I agree with the fact that you should have to play your way into a Hall of Fame. I think that is a great idea. I do not like the idea of voting players in because I think that you could reach a stage one year and you go, okay, who are we going to vote in this year. You may put people in that aren't as deserving as other people. So I like the idea that you have to play your way into it. I also feel that our Hall of Fame is very elite because it is the toughest Hall of Fame to achieve. The fact that I am on the threshold of the LPGA Hall of Fame is an accomplishment in and of itself. However, I think that I would like to see Player Of The Year and Vare Trophy given some sort of credit towards the Hall of Fame and the reason I say that is because those are both year long awards; that it is not one tournament; it is 30 tournaments or 25 tournaments or whatever, throughout the course of a year, I mean, to even qualify for the Vare Trophy, you have to complete 70 rounds of golf. And you know, I just think that those are very, very big awards on our Tour and they should be given some sort of credit. You know, the problem if I can just say one more thing about the Hall of Fame, the problem with the Hall of Fame now there has been so much talk about it that you have got three players there, you know, on the threshold and if the requirements are changed now, I feel like they would always be an asterisk by anyone of our names, if we got in, you know, by the relaxed requirements; even if you were lax in one tournament that would put Alcott and King in right now, but I think that, you know, you would feel like there is an asterisk by their names, so because there has been so much talk about it, I don't think that it is going to be changed any time soon.

Q. You would just as soon keep it as it is?

BETH DANIEL: I am just -- I feel like because of the publicity I am in a position where you either make it now or the way it is or it is not as good.

Q. I don't think anybody would argue against any of you, any of the three of you that you are totally deserving to be -- you should be in any Hall of Fame. Obviously, I can see why you would think that there might be the little asterisk, but I don't think anybody looking at the names King, Alcott, or Daniel are going to say, oh, well, of course they relaxed the rules; that is why they got in. Could you give more credence to Majors and then if King and Alcott -- I mean, there is not enough credence given to major championships really, and along --

BETH DANIEL: Yeah, there probably isn't enough given for major championships because they are so tough, but you know, that is the way it was setup in the beginning and it was set up years and years and years ago when you know, there is not a doubt in my mind that it was easier to win tournaments even in 1980 than it is now. I mean these standards were set up, when?

SANDI HIGGS: 1967.

BETH DANIEL: 1967.

LES UNGER: Is that because of more good players?

BETH DANIEL: Sure, the talents -- depth of talent is unbelievably deep now and there are more players. You know, when they were playing in 1967, they weren't cutting -- they weren't cutting the fields. Now, half the field gets cut every week. We are teeing it up with 144 players and you know, 74 are gone after two days of play, so. . .

SANDI HIGGS: Lucky to have 60 or 70 players sometimes.

BETH DANIEL: Yeah, certain times they were only playing with 30 player fields, so it definitely is tougher now, I don't -- I know some of them say, oh, it was just as tough then, but there is no way. There is no way.

Q. You won a lot of tournaments back-to-back in your career. Have you ever won one before going into a major and. . .

BETH DANIEL: I think I have.

Q. Really, okay.

BETH DANIEL: Yeah. I have won before and after Majors. I have been all around them, but not there.

Q. Are you playing as well as you were when you played in Lansing?

BETH DANIEL: I don't feel as good about my golf swing as I did in Lansing. Lansing was definitely a peak week for me- looking back on it. I was coming up into a peak and Lansing I definitely peaked. It was just, you know, I played great golf all week there.

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