Paula Creamer goes low for Mom

With play at the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia suspended Saturday, Paula Creamer headed some advice from her mother – halfway around the world – and took moving day to heart, firing a 7-under-par 64, the round of the day.

“I always talk to my parents before I play, and it doesn't matter what side of the world we're on,” said Creamer. “My mom said, ‘I have really good feeling today. I know that you're going to play really well.’ So hopefully my mom can say that again to me tomorrow and have another good feeling.”

Creamer made eight birdies Saturday offset by a lone bogey (she rattled off four-straight birdies after she bogeyed the par-4 11th) and currently sits tied for 15th with the third round suspended due to darkness.

“I played great. I hit a lot of really good iron shots. Made a lot of good putts. Just tried to keep the momentum going,” stated Creamer. “I could have shot a lot more under par, but I'll definitely take my 7-under.”

The 30-year-old said, despite a triple-bogey and double-bogey on the card the last two days, she’s been playing well. She’s looking forward to continuing her fine play going into Sunday’s finale.

“If you take those two (scores) away, I’d be pretty much right in the mix of things and I know that,” she said. “I’ve been playing well and putting well, and my short game is on point. It’s just putting them all together and hopefully I can do it tomorrow.”

Creamer’s last victory on the LPGA Tour came in 2014 at the HSBC Champions, another tournament in the Asian Swing. She admitted Saturday that she feels she’s close to winning again.

“I look a lot farther away than what I really am, and that's golf. I've been working really hard with my coach, Gary, and we've made a lot of changes this year,” she explained. “It's just a matter of putting them all together, and today was a great confidence booster.”

Lydia Ko getting better and better as the tournament goes on

Had it not been for Paula Creamer’s sizzling 64, Lydia Ko’s 6-under-par 65 would have been the round of the day. However, Ko, the No.1 player on the Rolex Rankings, had to settle for a bogey-free Saturday that moved her into a tie for 6th.

“I've been striking the ball pretty well. I'm making a few putts here and there but the putts that didn't drop on the first day kind of have been dropping the past two days,” said Ko. “Those little things I think make the difference at the end of the day.”

Ko had to sit out a four-hour, 39-minute rain dealy to just play the par-4 18th hole, but she was happy with her finish.

“No.18 is a tough driving hole to come back to after a few hours of break. But had a pretty okay lie and hit a good shot out of there,” she stated. “It was a pretty mediocre third shot, but obviously to finish off well with a good putt I think kind of summed up my round today.”

Ko is battling with Ariya Jutanugarn – who she leads by eight strokes this week – for top spot on both the LPGA Tour’s money list and the Race to the CME Globe. But for now, she’s only concentrating on how she plays, and can’t control what anyone else does.

“The girls are playing great. Depending on where they put the pin positions, really rely on how low the scores are. But I've just got to focus on my game. That's what I tried to do yesterday and today, and that's how I got to this position, so I think I have to do the same thing for tomorrow,” said Ko.

Yani Tseng with the shot of the day

Yani Tseng, who has not won on the LPGA Tour since 2012, had the shot of the day Saturday at the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia, a shot so rare that even the five-time major champion had never done it in competition before.

On the par-5 6th Tseng knocked her 7-iron from 188 yards right into the hole for an albatross.

“Actually, I see it going in, and everybody was cheering really loud. Yeah, first time,” she said. “I had 188 to the pin, downwind. I hit 7-iron and it landed perfect and just see it go in, pretty cool.”

She enjoyed a fun celebration with the fans who saw her magical shot.

“I was just high-fiving everybody, to the fans. I was two-hands-up. I don't know, it was pretty cool,” she said. “I just tried to calm down after that.”

Tseng said she was afraid to make some mistakes after such a great result like that, but she made another birdie on the following hole (a rare 2-2 on the scorecard), en route to a 1-under-par 70.

She sits tied for 47th going into Sunday’s final round.

Creamer Goes Low, Ko Getting Better and More from Malaysia

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