Text Size:
A|
A|
A
Email
Print
On a magical Sunday afternoon in which she dramatically leaped from marketable commodity to major champion, Paula Creamer did something at Oakmont Country Club that Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller and Ernie Els never managed to do.
With safe-cracker precision and unflagging determination, Creamer won the 65th U.S. Women's Open by four shots with a final-round 69 that put the finishing touch on a four-day performance that was as gritty as it was impressive.
When it was all over, she stood in the brilliant sunlight on the 18th green, her hands over her mouth in joyous disbelief, a major champion for the first time in a career that had produced eight LPGA Tour titles and countless more endorsements.
Along the way, Creamer fashioned her winning score of 3-under 281 by finishing with three consecutive sub-par rounds, something no other major champion had done at Oakmont except John Mahaffey in the 1978 PGA Championship. Not Hogan, Nicklaus or any of its other great champions.
"It's incredible, it really is," Creamer said. "I've always thought of my career as I've always been a pretty solid player, but that question always lurked -- how come you never won a major? And now we have, and we never get to be asked that question again."
Just one week after missing the cut at the Jamie Farr Classic, Creamer regrouped her game -- and put up with her throbbing thumb -- to craft an impressive victory on a course that was thought by some to be too difficult for the women.
PDFShe never lost the lead she shared at the end of the second round with Japan's Sakura Yokomine. And she was never really threatened in the final round, never letting her closest pursuers -- Suzann Pettersen and a fast-charging Na Yeon Choi, who shot 66 after a front-nine 31 -- get closer than two shots from the lead.
"I didn't look at the leader board until the 18th green," Creamer said. "That was a goal of mine, to just go play the golf course, and if somebody played awesome, then somebody did. I didn't want to change my game plan."
Creamer's victory was another boost for the LPGA Tour in general and American golf in particular because it comes two weeks after Cristie Kerr's record 12-shot victory in the LPGA Championship. But, despite their back-to-back majors, Creamer is just the ninth American in the past 40 majors to win a championship.
"Everyone has been talking about the Asian invasion, that there aren't enough good American players," American Christina Kim said. "But with Cristie annihilating the field at the LPGA and Paula winning here, it's been a huge step. It proves America is still a dominating force."
Creamer was playing in just her fourth tournament of the season after having surgery to repair a damaged ligament in her thumb. But, despite having to limit her practice sessions because of the injury and playing on a firm surface that caused vibrations in her thumb, Creamer barely flinched all week, especially in the final round.
She didn't miss a fairway until she yanked her tee shot into the deep fairway bunker at the par-5 12th, leading to only her second bogey. But all that did was make her more determined, and she finished off her coronation to the clubhouse with four pars and two easy birdies at Nos. 14 and 15.
"There was a time before the surgery where I thought, Oh, my gosh, I may never play golf again; or, you know, what if the surgery goes wrong," Creamer said. "But it was what I had to do, and here we are with a U.S. Open championship next to me. Pretty cool."
Creamer began the round with a three-shot lead after returning to the course at 8 a.m. -- along with 29 other players -- to complete the suspended third round. She played five holes and finished off her morning with a stunning birdie at No. 18 -- her ninth birdie in three rounds.
And the lead stayed at three by the time she made the turn in the final round, thanks to a two-putt birdie from 18 feet at the par-5 ninth. Creamer went out in 1-under 35, never missing a fairway and making three crucial par-saving putts at Nos. 1, 6 and 8 after missing the green
The only player who really made a charge was Choi, last week's winner of the Jamie Farr Classic. She went charging through the front nine in 5-under 31, highlighted by an eagle at the 477-yard ninth, to get within two shots of the lead.
But, shortly after Creamer birdied the ninth, Choi missed the green at the par-3 13th and made bogey, building the advantage back to four shots.
"I believed I could do this," Creamer said. "I believed I could do this when I had a cast on my hand. That's what I just kept thinking about -- Oakmont, Oakmont, Oakmont. And here we are. For my fourth week out, I'll take it. I'll definitely take it."
Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.
