Paula Creamer could finally look back nearly four years at the gap between two of the highest moments in her 10-year professional career and analyze what happened. The victory chasm spanned from the July 2010 U.S. Women’s Open victory at Oakmont where she gutted out a victory despite still recovering from left thumb surgery until last Sunday’s win in the HSBC Women’s Champions in Singapore that ended with a 75-foot eagle putt on the second playoff hole.

“It was the hardest three years – probably for two years after the U.S. Open win,” Creamer said. “I was just struggling. I was enjoying what I was doing, but I wasn’t loving it. It was hard. My thumb hurt. My arm hurt. I was coming off of surgery and (the doctor) told me to take a year, and I didn't believe him.

“In reality, they were 150 percent right and what do I know? I’m just a golfer. My expectations were way too high. I got in my own way for a little bit. It’s been very difficult. I know my potential and I know how hard I work, and you can't control anybody else but I wasn’t living up to my own expectations, not what everybody else said, not what people thought I should do. I just wasn’t living up to my own, and it was tough. I had to kind of go through it, but like I said, sometimes you have to go backwards to go forward.”

Creamer, 27, estimated her thumb injury, which required surgery in early 2010, was recovered only 60 percent for the Women’s Open title. From that victory, she went 78 tournaments without a victory and has currently made 70 consecutive cuts, the longest current streak on the LPGA. Her last missed cut came at the 2010 season-ending LPGA Tour Championship.

One big change in her life occurred last December when she became engaged to Derek Heath, a 33-year-old Air Force pilot.

“It has everything to do with it,” Creamer said. “I just am in such a good place. I am blessed with what I have. I’m blessed with what I've been given. It’s a lot of hard work. Like I said, there’s a lot of up and downs, but Derek just makes me so happy and makes me want to be better out here. He just motivates me. Not that I don’t need that, but it’s nice when it comes from other people and your team around you.

“I’ve had a lot of high expectations and to have met my match and to have met the man of my dreams, basically, you can’t take anything away from that. There’s 100 percent reason why I’m sitting here today the way that I am. He just makes me happier and makes me – allows me to play better golf.”

Statistically, Creamer has always been an accurate driver and hit lots of greens in regulation, but this season her putting has improved. Creamer is currently seventh in Putts per Green in Regulation (1.722) and 22nd in Putts per Round (29.44). She also leads the LPGA Money List and Rolex Player of the Year points.

Another streak broken

With a T40 finish last week at the HSBC Women’s Champions, the 13-tournament top-10 streak of Stacy Lewis is over. It began in mid-2013 and also included the first three events this year. Last week’s finish were her worst since a T42 at last summer’s U.S. Women’s Open, the last non-top 10. She was closing on Karrie Webb’s record 16-tournament top-10 streak, set in 1998-99.

American surge

American players have moved higher up in the rankings on the world stage during the early portion of 2014. Two Americans have won (Jessica Korda at the season-opening Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA and Paula Creamer at last week’s HSBC Women’s Champions). There are three ranked in the top 10 in the world (Stacy Lewis is third, Creamer eighth and Lexi Thompson 10th) and six in the top 20 (Cristie Kerr is 14th, Angela Stanford 16th and Lizette Salas 20th).

A U.S. player has also won three consecutive HSBC Women’s Champions – Stanford (2012), Lewis (2013) and Creamer.

Etc.

Azahara Munoz, the runner-up to Paula Creamer last week at the HSBC Women’s Champions, has gotten off to a stellar start to the 2014 season. In four starts, she has 13 under-par rounds out of 16 and ranks fourth in Greens in Regulation (78 percent) with a worst finish of T18 in The Bahamas. She credits more frequent tutoring from Spanish coach Marcelo Prieto. … The LPGA schedule resumes on March 20 at the LPGA Founders Cup in Phoenix. But World No. 1 Inbee Park and No. 2 Suzann Pettersen are in the field this week in China at the Ladies European Tour’s Mission Hills World Ladies Championship. So the No. 1 spot could change before the next LPGA event. … When Yani Tseng was dominating the game as recently as 2011, she was the women’s game’s biggest winner and longest driver. This week she is ranked first in Driving Distance (275.2).

Stats and Stuff: Creamer's Drought Breaker

Related Articles