Paula Creamer pulled her driver out from under her Pink Panther headcover at the range this morning with confidence. That spunk carried the 18-year old through a soggy day to win her first tournament on the LPGA Tour. Creamer also takes home $187,500 from a total purse of $1.25 million and now moves to fourth place on the offical money list. The winner’s check is $20,000 more than the young superstar made in her eight starts this season. Don’t expect to see the rookie win back-to-back next week at the Corning Classic as she’s heading home to Florida for her high school graduation. “It’s going to be fun going home for graduation, that’s for sure,” she said. “I can’t even speak let alone think right now. It’s awesome. I have so much energy right now.”
Continue reading “Teenager Paula Creamer Wins Sybase by One Stroke”
It would be great if all golfers could play as happily as Christina Kim has done for the past three rounds of the Sybase Classic. Kim led in round one. She then tied for second place in second round action remaining just one stroke off of Creamer’s lead. With eleven straight pars two birdies and a solo bogey Kim finished her round with a 1-under 70, a score good enough to topple second round leader Paula Creamer by one stroke. Gloria Park and Joo Mi Kim are challenging with Creamer, but it’s Kim who has been looking the most comfortable this week making pars even when she’s in trouble. If Kim can hang on and win the final round tomorrow she will grab her second trophy on the LPGA tour. When asked what score she had in mind for her final round Kim laughed, “Fifty-four. I’m pretty sure I’d walk off with that.”
Christina Kim showed the veteran tour pros how to score today. Shooting an exciting 6-under par 65, Kim birdied 1,3,5,6, bogeyed 8 then charged with a triple threat of birdies on 13, 14 and 15. At the 15th Kim’s eagle attempt came within three feet of the hole. She easily birdied that uphill putt and every putt but two from within eight feet.
Up close and personal. That’s exactly how attendees feel when viewing the Sybase Classic tournament. You can stand within a few feet of the practice green and watch Cristie Kerr go through her putting routine. Or you can catch a glimpse of Grace Park in the trap blasting shots out of the sand. Lady golfers are everywhere walking side-by-side with the crowd. It’s an exciting week all leading up to the Sunday crescendo. With a total purse of $1.2 million and a beautiful par-71, 6,161-yard country club course, it’s no wonder the tour pros come back year-after-year.
From the first birdie at the very first hole of her final round, everyone knew it was Annika Sorenstam’s day to win. Sorenstam claimed another four birdies today, but what’s more impressive is that she only made three bogeys the entire week, all during her third round. A final round 5-under par 67, 23-under par for the tournament, separated the Swede from her nearest competitors by an unbelievable ten strokes.
A bogey-free 67 placed Annika Sorenstam near the top of the leaderboard in opening-round action today. Challengers were all fighting for the right to be in the lead, but it was Laura Davies who moved into the coveted position with a 6-under 66. Right behind Sorenstam was 
After playing 36 holes on Sunday, Cristie Kerr finally broke through to win her first tournament of the year. The victory, the fifth of her career, provided her a beautiful crystal trophy as well as a whopping $330,000 check, the second largest payout on tour this year. Kerr’s third-round action mimicked her previous two rounds as the fan favorite shot a third consecutive 68. By the afternoon 18, however, Cristie stumbled just a bit and came home in one-over 72. When asked how she felt after her bogey at 18 which clinched her victory, Cristie replied, “I need a Michelob Ultra. We’re going to drink it out of the trophy!” At that moment, Natalie Gulbis grabbed a Michelob, shook it and let it erupt all over Kerr.
Sunshine shone gloriously through the clouds at the River Course after rainswept winds stopped play on Friday, allowing the ladies to play their second round today. Cristie Kerr led a charge going 3-under par and tying her first round of 68. Three bogeys were speckled among her six birdies.