Beware the wounded Creamer
BY Bruce Young | LPGA Tour | 2010 US Women's Open | Round Four | 12 Jul 2010
Just three months ago Paula Creamer was undergoing reconstructive surgery to a thumb. Today she not only returned to her winning ways on the LPGA Tour, she broke through for her first major championship.
Creamer won the US Women’s Open by an impressive four shots over Suzann Pettersen and Na Yeon Choi, finishing as the only player under par on the demanding Oakmont layout near Pittsburgh.
In Kyung Kim was 4th while one shot further back in a share of 5th were Amy Yang, Jiyai Shin and first round leader Brittany Lang.
The victory was the 23-year-old’s 9th LPGA Tour victory but given that it was her national open championship and her first major it was by far the most significant point of her still young career.
“It’s just – it’s incredible, it really is,” said Creamer still coming to terms with her achievement. "This is – it’s been an amazing. You know, I’ve always thought of my career as I’ve always been a pretty solid player, but yes, that question always lurked: How come you never won a major? And now we have, and we never get to get asked that question again.
“I just had to be patient. You know, yesterday I said these last couple of months were the most crucial months I think I’ve ever had to go through. You know, they were just maturing, learning how to handle adversity, learning how to, I guess, become more of an adult in a sense, and you have to really count your blessings every day.
“You know, I had my surgery, and yes, there was a time before my surgery where I thought, oh, my gosh, I may never play golf again or, you know, if the surgery goes wrong, what not, but it was what I had to do, and here we are with a U.S. Open championship next to me. So it’s been pretty cool.”
Creamer was required to complete her third round of Sunday morning returning to complete a round that had been impacted by both weather and eventually darkness on Saturday. She played her last five holes of round three in level par completing a round of 70 and she headed back out in the final round with a three shot lead over Wendy Ward.
The conditions on day four allowed for a significant improvement in scoring. Over the opening 54 holes of the event only one score was recorded in the 60’s that coming on day one when Brittany Lang opened with a round of 69. Today however there were a total of ten rounds in the 60’s the result of a golf course softened by storms and a day where there was little wind.
It was still going to be a mental and physical battle for Creamer who had played only four LPGA Tour events in 2010 prior to this week. An early bogey at the 5th was followed by two quick birdies and by the turn she was at 2 under and very much in control of her own destiny. Birdies at the 14th and 15th moved her to three under for the tournament, those holes proving key as she looked to hold off late challenges from Pettersen and Choi.
Three pars later and the title was hers by four.
Karrie Webb finished as the leading Australian in a share of 17th position, Katherine Hull was 41st, Lindsey Wright 48th, Anna Rawson 55th and Tamie Durdin 58th.
The LPGA Tour takes a one week break before the Evian Masters in France starting on July 22nd.
