A pregnant woman, a 13-year-old golfer and a hoped for showdown between the two best women golfers in the world are all story lines running through the 2001 U.S. Women’s Open Championship.
Then there is Kris Tschetter and her repaired hip.
The last time the Women’s Open was played at Pine Needles in 1996, Tschetter finished second, six strokes behind winner Annika Sorenstam. She matched Sorenstam’s final-round 66, but a second-round 74 was too much to make up against the Swede. That was before her hip troubles started. She underwent hip surgery in June 2000.
But Tschetter feels like the surgery and just plain experience makes her a different player than she was in 1996.
“I’m such a better player now than I was,” she said Tuesday at Pine Needles. “And I’ve been a better player for a lot of years. And there’s so much to winning. It kind of has to be your week and you’ve got to get yourself in the game. I think being healthy again will definitely help. I feel like I’ll be able to be more consistent.”
She went to doctors for over two years trying to determine what was wrong with her hip, but they kept telling her nothing was wrong. Finally, she was diagnosed with hip dysphasia, which meant that her hips were susceptible to tears.
When the doctor operated, he found she had a cartilage tear, among other problems. The cartilage tear took out of action from June 2000 until the LPGA Takefuji Classic in early February.
Her best finish so far in eight events this year was a tie for seventh in the Standard Register Ping, but she is happy with where her game is entering this week’s championship.
“In the last couple of years, I’ve messed around with my swing quite a bit, just trying to figure out a way to play. And now I’m able to swing pretty much like I want. There are a few things I can’t do. But fortunately my husband, he’s a great teacher and he knows my swing so well that he’s been able to really figure out how to get the maximum out of what I can do.”
Her husband will be her caddie this week, but Tschetter related how her regular caddie “has had to really learn” her game again.
“He’s been caddying for me for two years, and I’ve been lame the whole time,” she said. “And finally one day, I had to look at him and say, ‘Look, I’m a different player now, I can hit these shots again.’”
Hitting the shots that made her so successful in the previous Open at Pine Needles and added distance to her drives thanks to her rejuvenated swing has made her confident that the Donald Ross layout will be to her liking.
The course plays long for the women at 6,256 yards, with a premium placed on long-iron approach shots to many of the par 4s. Hitting fairways and avoiding the rough are just a prelude to greens that are typical Donald Ross turtleback treacherous.
“I really enjoy playing golf courses and playing tournaments where par is a good score,” she said. “Where you really have to think your way around the golf course and place your shots and be patient. So I hope that the course really does kind of stand up and show us who’s the real champion, which would be the golf course, in a U.S. Open kind of way.
“It’s (Pine Needles) very subtle. And you really have to know where you need to hit it. I think it helps to be able to hit different shots into these greens. If the green is sloping this way, you can hit a little fade and not be such a victim of the slope. And I like to work the ball. So I guess that’s kind of why I like it.”
