Rawson banishes head games, sets course record
Leads by one at Open in strong tourney field
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/09/2009 (6183 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
PRIDDIS, Alta. — Maybe Anna Rawson will finally start to believe that she picked the right profession.
It was only a couple months ago that the 28-year-old Australian found herself fighting mental demons and doubting whether she should continue playing professional golf.
The decision to stick with it was rewarded Thursday when Rawson shot a course-record 64 at Priddis Greens and held the early first-round lead at the CN Canadian Women’s Open.
She was one stroke up on Suzann Pettersen, two ahead of Lorena Ochoa and Amanda Blumenherst, and three better than Louise Stahle, Il Mi Chung, Momoko Ueda and Joo Mi Kim.
The birdies piled up so quickly in ideal morning conditions that Rawson stopped counting how many she’d rolled in.
“I really tried today to just stay in the moment,” she said. “I’m so good at getting ahead of myself and saying, ‘Oh, if I get to 3-, if I get to 4-, if I get to 5-under.’ So I just didn’t even think about it.”
It’s the kind of approach that would make Kevin Sverduk proud.
The sports psychologist from Long Beach, Calif., started working with Rawson over the summer and has emphasized the importance of staying focused on the task at hand.
The advice couldn’t have started yielding results at a better time, as Rawson confesses that she recently considered quitting golf — something she even withheld from her psychologist for a month.
The 28-year-old has missed nine cuts in 13 events during her second year playing the LPGA Tour and blames it mostly on a poor frame of mind.
“I think this year has just been terrible mentally,” Rawson said. “I don’t even want to tell you what’s been going through my head — it’s that bad. I thought about everything that I shouldn’t.
“I really haven’t hit the ball that bad. I just haven’t been here. I haven’t been enjoying it.”
Her nine birdies and two bogeys broke Dawn Coe-Jones’ course record by one shot in a strong field.
Rawson was eight shots better than current money leader Cristie Kerr (72) and 12 ahead of teenager Michelle Wie (76).
Amateur Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., and Adrienne White of Red Deer, Alta., posted the lowest score among the 12 Canadians by each shooting even-par 71.
Hamilton’s Alena Sharp got in at 72 while Canadian amateur champion Jennifer Kirby of Paris Ont., and A.J. Eathorne of Penticton, B.C., both shot 73.
— The Canadian Press
