Hanson Looks To Open Well In Portland After Slow ‘97 Start, Rathdrum Star Is Beginning To Heat Up At Right Time

Rathdrum’s Tracy Hanson is saying and, perhaps, thinking all of the right things.

“I’m not going to do anything different than I would for any other tournament I prepare for,” she claimed earlier this week, prior to a practice round in preparation for the 52nd U.S. Women’s Open Golf Championship that starts today at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club.

“The only pressure is the kind you either create for yourself or the kind the media hypes up,” she added.

But below all of that surface calm, there are indications that Hanson’s competitive juices are coming to a boil.

This, after all, is not just any other tournament. This is The Open. And it will be played out in front of swarming, enthusiastic galleries and a national television audience on Pumpkin Ridge’s immaculate par-71, 6,365-yard Witch Hollow layout.

The fairways will be agonizingly narrow, the rough long and gnarly and the greens as slick as a Madison Avenue sales pitch.

Adding to the drama will be Annika Sorenstam’s attempt to win an unprecedented third consecutive Open.

All of which eventually prompts Hanson to admit, “Yeah, it is a big tournament - it’s the Open. I guess it’s always in the back of your mind to play well in the majors, and if you’re going to win a tournament, this is definitely one you’d want to win.

“But, ideally, you approach it like any other tournament, because you want to win every tournament you play in.”

Hanson, who has set up residence in Ormond Beach, Fla., but still lists Twin Lakes Village as her home, isn’t among the favorites heading into today’s opening round.

After posting five top-10 finishes and placing 33rd on the LPGA money list with $175,895 in earnings last year, she has struggled with her game in 1997. She missed the cut in seven of the first 13 tournaments she entered this spring and had won less than $35,000 heading into last weekend’s Jamie Farr Kroger Classic in Sylvania, Ohio.

But the errant driver that had plagued her early in the year suddenly warmed to the idea of long and straight at the Kroger, and Hanson finished in a tie for 10th to push her 1997 earnings to $47,605.

“I had a good weekend,” Hanson said. “Actually, I’ve been feeling pretty good the last few weeks. I think my mental game is coming around more than it has the last two months. My swing has come around the last three or four weeks, too, and I’m getting back to being comfortable out on the golf course.”

In addition, Hanson has a couple of other things working in her favor - one being the fact that she is no stranger to U.S. Open pressure.

Back in 1991, while still a collegiate standout at San Jose State University, she qualified for the Open by winning the U.S. Public Links Championship and finished as the low amateur in the field. And she has played in two other Opens since joining the Tour in October 1994.

She is also healthier than she has been since undergoing back surgery in 1993. And she will be playing this week in front of several friends and family members who will make the 6-hour drive from the Spokane-Coeur d’Alene area.

“I’ve probably got more requests (for tickets) than I have tickets right now,” Hanson admitted.

The last time Hanson played in the Pacific Northwest, she missed the cut at the 1996 SAFECO Classic in Kent. The weather there was cold and rainy and her back barked at her on nearly every swing.

When asked what differences her friends might notice in her golf game this time around, Hanson replied, “Probably just that I’m walking upright.”

As for Sorenstam, the dominant player on the LPGA Tour the past two seasons, Hanson insists she will not get caught up in the Swedish star’s run at golfing history.

“I’m not looking to beat any one person out there,” she explained. “I’m looking to beat the golf course.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: U.S. Women’s Open on TV Today-Friday: 1 and 4:30 p.m., (ESPN) Saturday-Sunday: 1 p.m., (NBC)