FanHouse Talks to Anna Rawson About the LPGA and Jamming Out to Britney Spears

Anna Rawson, one of the LPGA's newest members, recently took time to sit down with FanHouse and talk about Q-school, playing on tour, her relationship status, and what's bumping on her iPod.

Will Brinson: First of all, Anna, thanks for taking the time out to talk to FanHouse.

Anna Rawson: No problem at all.

Brinson: And congratulations, of course, on picking up your Tour Card recently. You want to tell us a little bit about Q-school and that whole experience?


Rawson: Oh, awful ... just a tough, long week, and I was fortunate enough to come in fresh, because I just flew in the night before. My approach was to be conservative with my golf game -- I didn't try to make a lot of birdies, but just to play solid and kind of let things happen.

Brinson: Well, whatever you did, it worked well -- you really carried the momentum from your run at Q-school into Dubai, matching the low round on Sunday and tying Annika [Sorenstam] overall at the tournament. How good does that make you feel about your chances for the upcoming year?

Rawson: Yeah, it was good. There's no real way to prepare for a tournament than by playing another tournament. And Q-school is like the hardest tournament in the world, so it actually felt easy in Dubai, just really relaxing and just way more cruisier. (Ed. note -- if it wasn't a word before, it is now.)

It's kind of nice -- a tournament is such a different condition -- you can really just attack the pins and go at it a lot more than maybe at Q-school. But yeah, I'm definitely excited about next year, my game couldn't be in better shape, so it should be fun.

Brinson: Awesome. Speaking of Annika, I've heard you say that her retirement "opens up an opportunity for new people to emerge." Do you really think her retirement can end up being a positive thing for women's golf?

Rawson: Oh, most definitely. You know, I think, it's great. It's only going to give more opportunities to younger and up-and-coming players. I mean, sure, she's going to be missed -- she's a regular fixture and people love to come and see her game. But there's always going to be another Michael Jordan, there's always another good golfer that's there. I don't think -- she'll step away for a while -- but hopefully she'll have some kids and come back, and be even better later on.


Brinson: Hopefully they'll be good golfers too; another youngster who was at Q-school with you is Michelle Wie. Does her actually having a tour card make a difference in the way she's perceived by her fellow golfers?

Rawson: Yeah, I mean, I think everyone has to judge by her current performance and her performance has been pretty good, so, I think -- from what I know, and I don't socialize too much on the Tour -- she brings too much to the tour and she's so popular that you'd be stupid to not want her around. The way Q-school was run and the media involvement was just so much better than any other year; so, uh, I think everyone's excited that she's playing well, we want her to play well, we want her to succeed so the LPGA can succeed as well.

Brinson: Right, right -- well, people have probably said the same thing about you. GQ said that you could "make golf popular with people who hate golf" which would be impressive to say the least -- can you talk about stereotypes that exist with attractive athletes, for instance Anna Kournikova's failure?

Rawson: Um, well, the golf world is totally different from the tennis world. They're really harsh and all about results; I don't think there could ever end up being an Anna Kournikova in golf because you don't get the exposure and endorsements that she got back then ... I mean, no one's risking that with golf. It's just like a totally different thing -- it's all about your results and that's all that people really look at. I just hope I can attract new people to the game and new people outside of golf, because the golf fans are always going to be around. You've got to get outside the golf market, get creative and promote your personality and your style and that is what's going to attract new people.

Brinson: Oh yeah ... and I didn't mean to compare you to Anna Kournikova by any stretch of the imagination because obviously you've had success early on ... um ... ah ...

Rawson: That's fine -- it's not a bad comparison.

(Knowing laughter ensues on both sides.)

Brinson: Talk for a second about the Australian Open -- you're probably not going to play in the tournament this year -- and being disappointed in not being able to play, considering it is, you know, your home.

Rawson: Yeah, um, it's not in my hometown -- it's in Melbourne, I'm from South Australia -- I think if it was in South Australia I'd be more motivated about going and playing. But it's just unfortunate that their schedule crosses with the first LPGA event, and the problem with the LPGA is that you have to play a lot in the beginning to qualify for the U.S. Open, the British Open, etc and if you don't get off to a great start it just really makes everything really hard. You can't afford to miss any tournaments at the beginning of the year, and so, I'm definitely not going to be at the Australian Open ... and it's sad, but it's weird -- people always want to win, like, their home tournaments, but I'll win any tournament ... I'm happy to take any tournament.

Brinson: I just ask because, well, I didn't know if you thought it might benefit the LPGA to work more congruently with the European Tour in some cases like that or to adjust their scheduling?

Rawson: Normally they do, normally they set it up really well -- I'm not sure why this year it was different. I know that the Australian Open has had a really hard time getting television time in the past and clashing with other events; it's hard all around, you know, because we have to compete with other sports.

Brinson: How about playing in men's events? Is that something you might be interested in the future ... or, like, what level would you want to play at if you did?

Rawson: Um, I think if I was good enough, if I dominated my own tour -- kind of like Annika did -- I think it would be a fun experience to definitely do that. I think it's important for women's golf as well, to really put it on the map and to really show that women can compete. I mean, that was such a big thing that Annika did. You know, it's scary and it's risky and it really brought a lot of attention to her and the game, and I think that's important when you're dominating the tour you need to step up and try something like that. Plus, it would be nice to try and compete for that kind of money.

(Laughter all around)

Brinson: Yeah, that's true -- they play for a little bit of coin. Do you have a take on the Tiger Woods - Phil Mickelson semi-feud that's going on, you know, where Steve Williams came out and called Phil a nasty name?

Rawson: I kind of saw it on ESPN, but I didn't know what ... happened exactly ...

Brinson: Well, I don't know if I can say the name in an appropriate fashion ...

Rawson: Oh, like Steve Williams called Phil a name or something?

Brinson: Yeah, it was an impolite name and basically implied that he and Tiger didn't like Phil. I didn't know if you had an opinion on whether caddies should be talking about other golfers or not.

Rawson: No ... yeah, I don't think that's smart. Especially ... it's never good for a caddy to become high profile enough where people know his name. I don't think Tiger would like that either ... I'm sure they don't like each other (huge laugh from WB) ... yeah, I have no clue, I don't know how to comment on that.

Brinson: Fair enough ... I've got a couple, um, well, I think I'm required by some sort of blogging law to ask if you're in a relationship anyone right now ...

Rawson: Nope. Completely single.

Brinson: [Stunned] Totally single? So, um, is that something you do ... because you're still doing modeling and writing a golf column right now ... does it help to be single with all that going on and how much modeling do you have planned for the upcoming year?

Rawson: Um, yeah, just being single has to do with the fact that you're never in one spot at a time. It's just so hard to date anyone -- you go on one date and then you see them six months later, so it doesn't really work out too well. I'm just not really down with sacrificing for someone right now ... I couldn't give someone as much as I would want to give. I just really want to succeed at this and put all my attention into golf and that's why that's not really working.

Modeling wise, there should be a lot planned for next year. I got back Monday and it's what, Wednesday, so I really haven't had the meetings with my publicist and manager yet but I'm sure there will be a bigger push for next year. I think I did like seven shoots this year, so probably maybe more like 10 or 15 and maybe a runway show if we can fit it in.

Brinson: That's pretty impressive with all the golf you've got going. One last question that I'm always fascinated to ask athletes -- what's playing on your iPod right now?

Rawson: ... What is playing on my iPod? I'm so behind with music ... I, um, still have Britney Spears and stuff ... actually, you know what? I love the new Offspring song -- have you heard that?

Brinson: No, um, I didn't know they had a new song ... I loved them back in the day but I didn't know they had a new song out.

Rawson: Yeah! They have a whole new album, so I definitely have to get on iTunes and download the album, but I heard the song on the radio and actually recorded it and made it my ringtone. I really love Offspring, but I love everything; everything's playing on my iPod ... I have Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, all the rap music, everything that's popular I have.