ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 23, 1994                   TAG: 9407230020
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LAKE ORION, MICH.                                LENGTH: Medium


ANDREWS FIGHTS OFF FRUSTRATION

GOLFER survives rough outing at U.S. Women's Open. \ Donna Andrews woke up Friday with a backache. On the ninth hole, an errant tee shot gave her a heartache. And on 17, a rude photographer gave her a headache.

Still, she was all smiles after her second-round 72 at the U.S. Women's Open at the Indianwood Golf and Country Club. At 3-under 139, Andrews is seven strokes behind leader Helen Alfredsson.

"I feel like I'm still right in there," the fourth-year pro said.

Andrews, who grew up in Lynchburg and now resides in Pinehurst, N.C., started with three birdies, making putts of 6, 20 and 5 feet, to get to 7-under, one behind Alfredsson. She was two behind heading into No. 9, when her day suddenly took a sour turn.

She shanked a 5-wood off the tee at the 339-yard hole, the ball going out of bounds to the right. Her next shot came up short in a bunker, and a bad pitch and two putts gave her a triple bogey 7.

An old stress fracture on the vertebra, she said, had picked a bad time to reintroduce itself. She'd gone from two back to five back.

"I've had back problems on and off for a couple of years and it was really bad this morning," she said. "It usually causes me one bad shot a round and the tee shot on No. 9 was it today. When I turned behind the ball, I kind of got stuck and couldn't get through the ball.

"My reaction after the triple was that I was still even at 35, same as I was Thursday, [when she shot 67]," she said. "I just had to go out and make some birdies like I did the day before.

"I wasn't going to let one bad shot ruin me."

She finished with a 37 on the back despite more aggravation on No. 17. Just as she was about to putt, a photographer distracted her by clicking his camera.

Despite the pain and frustration, Andrews says she isn't finished.

"I know I can win with this back pain," said Andrews, who has three wins this year and is third on the money list with $351,702. "I just have to put aside the pain and swing."

Keywords:
GOLF



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