Golf

Creamer wins US Women's Open by 4 shots

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-07-12 09:57

Creamer, from Pleasanton, Calif., had four birdies and two bogeys, all but wrapping it up by hitting to within 10 feet out of the thick rough on the par-4 14th and dropping the putt for birdie. Only she didn't know for sure; she never looked at a leaderboard until the 18th.

She hit another exceptional mid-iron to 4 feet on the 442-yard 15th and made that, too.

Right about then, she sensed a major was finally hers. Two weeks after Cristie Kerr won the LPGA Championship by 12 shots with domination, Creamer won with determination.

"Without a doubt, I've matured over the last couple of months," said Creamer, so bored during her layoff she attended the Masters as a spectator. "It was hard. I've prepared for this for the last three months and it makes everything so much better. ... It (the adversity) made me more of an adult."

Creamer played only her fourth tournament since that operation required mechanical changes in her game because her right side is much stronger than her left. Forced to play 29 holes Saturday, she feared unwrapping her throbbing thumb because "it might explode."

Her game certainly didn't. Even if she worried in February that the thumb injury that initially occurred last year and worsened during a Thailand tournament might prevent her from regaining the form that allowed her to win eight times as an LPGA golfer by age 21.

"I thought, 'Gosh, I might never play again,' " she said.

Don't think she wanted this tournament, this title? She first studied DVDs of Oakmont Country Club a year ago, watching the 2007 US Open won by Angel Cabrera. A valuable lesson it was, as Sunday's pin placements were exactly the same as three years ago.

"Even when I had a cast on my hand, I was thinking, 'Oakmont, Oakmont, Oakmont,' " she said.

Creamer stayed poised as most of the contenders around her kept tumbling, a reversal from her most recent US Women's Opens.

Brittany Lang, the first-round leader with a 69, climbed to within two shots before bogeys on the 15th and 16th dropped her six back at 287. Lang, Yang and former world No. 1 Jiyai Shin tied for fifth at 286, one behind In Kyung Kim of South Korea.

Kerr, the world's top-ranked player, tried to charge with consecutive birdies on No. 2 and No. 3, but fell back with four bogeys in the next six holes. She tied for 17th.

"I played terrible, and Paula played great," Kerr said.

Alexis Thompson, the 15-year-old Floridian who is the successor to Michelle Wie as the next potential big star in women's golf, tied for 10th in her fourth Women's Open despite some faulty putting.

"She's the best 15-year-old I ever saw," Pettersen said.

Choi, seven back before the final round began, couldn't pull off the biggest comeback in tournament history. No golfer has rallied from more than five down in the final round.

"I didn't think about trying to win, I tried to focus on my game," Choi said. "I hit my shots with 100 percent confidence."

Creamer is the 12th first-time winner among the last 15 majors. Until Kerr won the LPGA and Creamer won the Women's Open, the United States had won only eight of the previous 39 majors. All nine of Creamer's LPGA victories came as she led going into the final round.