Everything's Rosie

A 13-time tour winner; this LPGA veteran happily spends her off-days puttering around her Atlanta home.

Should you ever have to choose just one person to make a putt to save your life, look no further than Rosie Jones.

In fact, if the LPGA were ever to publish a dictionary, Rosie's picture would surely illustrate the definition of "putter." You could make a case, too, for placing her image right alongside a few other words, such as "determined,""consistent," and "individual." Those are, after all, the hallmarks of her outstanding golf career.

At 5'7" and slight in build, she's never been the longest of hitters. Still, during her 21 years on tour, through 13 (and counting) victories, she's demonstrated time and again that a keen mind for the sport and a spot-on short game can still take the day.

Passion for the Game

Relaxing in the living room of her home,just north of Atlanta, Rosie details how she came to golf. Born in California, she grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where, early on, she favored team sports such as basketball and softball. Lean and athleticlooking, she still resembles the distance runner that she also was before she began to focus on golf.

Her father started her in the game, giving her a broken club that he fixed for play. The talent surfaced quickly. "My first year really playing I went to the state championship and won my age group," Rosie recalls with a smile.

"So right off the bat I found early success, and that was motivation to stick with it." In high school she concentrated on golf, even though she hadn't yet considered a pro career. "There was just this kind of an attraction," she says. "Golf was my passion."

A Game for Life

Rosie attended Ohio State University on a golf scholarship, earning AllAmerican honors and a degree in education in 1981. By that time, there was little doubt where she was headed, and she qualified for the LPGA Tour in July 1982. It took her five years to post her first victory. "That win in '87 gave me confidence," she muses. "It was kind of a barrier that I broke. Then in '88 everything seemed a little bit easier for me." Easier, indeed. That year she finished first three times. At year's end she ranked third on the tour's money list.

Just Getting Better

In the years since, Rosie's name has remained a fixture on leader boards. In July she stood sixth on the tour's career money list, having banked almost $7 million. Even as she has watched plenty of players come on strong, then fade, she has continued to contend, winning nine more times, including the Asahi Ryokuken International Championship at Mount Vintage just last May.

"As I've matured, I've just gotten better and better," she says matter-offactly. There's no brag in that comment, either. At a time when youth and power would seem to dominate, by midseason this year it's Rosie who ranks No. 1 in putting, No. 10 in birdies made, and No. 3 in driving accuracy. "I still think I can play with these girls. I'm competitive enough that if I'm going to be out there on that tour, then I'm going to try to win, and I'm going to try to beat everybody."

Search for Balance

As key as golf is to her, Rosie understands that there's more to life. She prizes the days she spends at home, and she plans her schedule carefully so she has that time to recharge. "I need to balance out my life by doing things that I really like," she says,"and part of that is just staying at home."

Her house sits atop a little rise in a wooded neighborhood, and its cozy feel directly reflects her personality. "I'm still very Southwestern in the way that I live," Rosie says, adding, "maybe more rustic than Southwestern. I've always liked that style, and I just brought it here with me."

The living room is comfortable, with a stone fireplace, a glass-top table fashioned from an old iron gate, and a built-in wall unit that she sanded and refmished with a glaze. An antiques collector with an eye for the unusual, she uses the piece to display items such as an old wooden sled. "I just like looking at stuff like this," she explains with a shrug and a grin. "I need a lot of stimulus when I'm in a room, and every room here is almost cluttered with things to look at. I like that."

Some days she never even leaves the house, content to take care of chores and play with Rosko, a mixed-breed dog she rescued from a nearby shelter. Rosie also tackles projects, such as gardening, retiling the bathroom, or staining the new arbors she's just had added along the driveway. She hung an old door for decoration on her back porch, then built a stoop below it for potted plants. "I'm not a trained woodworker, but I do have some tools. If I need to make something, I can hodgepodge it pretty good."

A 35-foot-long RV that she drives to tournaments sits in the driveway. "I've been doing this for 21 years, and last year I decided that I needed a lifestyle change. I felt like I was sitting in the hotel waiting for the next round of golf and not living," she explains. So now she loads up Rosko and motors to the next stop."I put out my awning and chairs, and I cook out. It's fun."