Although Annika Sorenstam will be defending her title this week at the John Q. Hammons Hotel Classic all eyes will be gravitating to the young Americans who triumphed at this year’s Solheim Cup. Annika may be the tournament favorite but triple-threats Creamer, Gulbis and Kim will probably steal the show.
Nine of the top-ten money earners will compete among the 144 tour professionals slated for the final field. The $1 million purse is smaller than at other championships but the Cystic Fibrosis Jr. Achievement Charity is a good cause. Also whenever Sorenstam is in the field you’ll most likely see the best of the best challenging in an attempt to topple her from her number-one perch.
At the 2004 Classic Annika Sorenstam’s victory margin was four strokes from Shi Hyun Ahn. Ahn will be back this year but the spotlight will focus heavily on Paula Creamer. In her rookie year Creamer has captured the hearts of both viewers as well as her playing partners in the Solheim Cup.
And why not? For a 19-year old Creamer is both poised and confident. Juli Inkster raved about her last week as did a beaten and dejected Laura Davies from the European team. But her current number-two spot on the ADT Money list just beneath “Annika the Great” confounds players the most. While it’s not unusual to see a rookie charge out of the gates showing their best game and then slowly receding into anonymity, Creamer backs up her outspokenness with pinpoint accuracy and confident putting ability.
The Pink Panther is also setting the bar high for newcomers like Morgan Pressel, the 17-year old who recently won the U.S. Women’s Amateur and hopes to become a full-fledged member of the tour next year. Creamer has only missed one cut in nineteen starts and has racked up two wins and eight top-10 finishes in her first professional season.
Natalie Gulbis and Christina Kim are also among a new breed of LPGA player who are fearless, competitive and exciting to watch. The word “can’t” is not in their vocabulary. They are dressing funkier, acting more hip and allowing viewers to see the real world of the professional golfer. Just recently Natalie Gulbis starred in a reality series about her life showing a portrait of a calendar girl with more entertaining interests than just golf.
There is a new attitude amongst these young golfers. Gone are the days of drab clothes and quiet demeanors. These girls are boisterous and colorful and are out there to make a name for both themselves and the LPGA. They are also pursuing other interests which have nothing to do with the LPGA. For example Cristie Kerr made an appearance on the Apprentice and (according to the July/August 2005 issue of Golf for Women Magazine) had a six-figure offer to pose nude in Playboy Magazine (which she did not accept!). I guess they’re proving out the new slogan of the LPGA which states “These Girls Rock!”.
On the flip side veteran Laura Davies will be in the field this week looking to rebound from her humiliating defeat in her singles match against the pretty Panther. Last week putts failed to drop and her confidence waned. She looked like an angry John Daly (easy to picture).
Other veterans in the final field this week include Rosie Jones who is counting down the tournaments to her retirement from professional golf and Michele Redman who took a pounding from Annika Sorenstam in a Sunday singles match at the Solheim. Karrie Webb still has a chance as there are still a few tournaments remaining for 2005. Webb thought this was her “comeback season” but waned after winning early.
The Asian contingency will be on the course in full force. Hee-Won Han has had seven top-ten finishes in twenty starts and has earned a respectable $500K this year. Jeong Jang won the Women’s British Open. Jimin Kang took the Corning Classic. At 5′ 1″ tall Mi Hyun Kim can really hit the golf ball.and has six top-ten finishes to prove it as well as over $395K in earnings for 2005. It’s important to give credit to these familiar names on tour. They are all terrific golfers and you never know when one of them steps up and wins one of the final tournaments of the year.
The par-71, 6,551 yard Cedar Ridge Country Club in Tulsa has undergone extensive renovation making it an even more beautiful stroll for the golfers. New bridge construction, modifications to the creek that runs throughout the course as well as improvements to some of the tee boxes enhance the natural beauty of a course that the top golfers love to revisit. To further prove the difficulty of this course, Annika Sorenstam was the only golfer to finish below par each day during last year’s tournament and there were only seven golfers in total who completed their rounds under par.
The 54-hole stroke-play event will be featured on The Golf Channel September 16th-18th from 6:00-8:00pm (ET).