I've got to make it to write just my feelings about what has been going on each day!! "Private Diary": I do not know why, but I feel a little uneasy about until when it will last.  Riko Higashio

March 25.2007 Sunday

I thought I’d be envigorated by the sun in Arizona (Safeway International), but when it came down to playing time on Thursday it was cloudy and raining. What’s more, the match was postponed after nine holes on Day 1, just like in Mexico. The rest of the first day was played starting at 6:45 am on the second day.

I’m gonna get a little bit off subject, but how do you think professional baseball or soccer players would react if, after finishing a game or match after 6 in the evening, they were told that their next match the following day would be starting at 6:45? There would probably be comments like, “Are you out of your mind?”, or “Do you actually think I’m going to wake up that early?”. No, there would definitely be complaints like that.

Not in the world of golf. The sun comes up at 6:30, the game starts at 6:45. Warm-up is done in the dark under the stars, with 2 or 3 lights on, in the freezing cold. This doesn’t happen in Japan, but it’s a given in the US. It’s my 4th year, and I have gotten used to it, but it’s like, I was there yesterday until about 7, then had dinner and showered, and I gotta get up again at 4?

Thursday’s 9 holes served as mental training of sorts and resulted in an okay start. Friday’s start was cold mixed with rain, putting was really good, all in all tough conditions, and for some reason my mind was a disaster at the last 2 holes. I don’t know what to say except that I got lightheaded, my sharp concentration faded, and with two consecutive bogies I finished out at 3 over par.

I was telling myself, this is not good, I need to get it together for the next round…but, what?! It was only 15 minutes away…I signed the scorecard, took a quick bathroom break, and had to go right back to the tee. The rain got worse as the second round started. I wasn’t able to calm down, and even though I tried my best, I wasn’t able to pull myself together, and I ended up hitting the ball too many times in the first half.

Looking back, neither my shot nor how I envisioned the ball to go were “up to par” at the tournament level, no pun intended. The only things that were fine were my putting and short game. I have two weeks until the next match in Orlando (Ginn Open). My shoulder’s started to hurt after hitting the ball so many times this week. I think I’ll take it easy with practice, and tee up being careful not to do any more damage.