HSBC Women’s Champions
Sentosa Golf Club, Serapong Course
Singapore
Final-Round Notes and Interviews
March 2, 2014
Paula Creamer -11, Rolex Rankings No. 11
Azahara Munoz -11, Rolex Rankings No. 32
Karrie Webb -10, Rolex Rankings No. 7
Suzann Pettersen -7, Rolex Rankings No. 2
Paula Creamer sank what may have been the putt of her career on Sunday to clinch her 10th career LPGA victory at the HSBC Women’s Champions. Creamer drained a 75-foot eagle putt on the second sudden-death playoff hole to defeat Spain’s Azahara Munoz. The victory snaps a 79 event winless streak for Creamer that dated back to the 2010 U.S. Women’s Open Championship.
“It might be one of my favorite wins, and that's going -- taking a pretty big leap right there,” said Creamer. “But you know, it has, it's been almost three years and you know, so much has happened…It has been coming and it just shows you perseverance. That's why I love the game. I work hard for this reason. And holding that trophy, gosh, it was so nice.”
Creamer shot a 3-under 69 on Sunday to force the playoff with Munoz who finished with a 2-under 70. The duo finished atop the leaderboard at 10-under par. She said she had flashbacks to the 2012 Kingsmill Championship where she lost in a 9 hole sudden-death playoff to Jiyai Shin and promised herself she would let it go that long again.
“I guess I've come close and playoff with Jiyai and wasn't going to go play it eight times and come back the next day, that's for sure,” said Creamer.
Creamer and Munoz escaped a three-player playoff with Hall of Famer Karrie Webb who had a late round collapse to fall out of contention. Webb bogeyed three of her final six holes including the par 5 18th hole where she hit the lip of a fairway bunker. She had a three-shot lead after seven holes and said some bad decisions down the stretch put her in trouble spots. The 20-year LPGA Tour veteran finished with a 2-over 74 and one shot out of the playoff.
“Just not a lot of good decisions,” said Webb. “I mean, bad swing on 15 but -- just bad decisions. I shouldn't have probably hit 3-wood off 16 just because I missed with that club for some reason this week. I've had that club in my bag for ten years and it's going left, so might need to look at a different 3-wood I think. Just shouldn't have hit 3-wood off there but I made a good par.”
Webb said she didn’t think it was the pressure that got to her but there were some lessons to be learned from club selections down the stretch. Webb already has a win this year, two weeks ago at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open.
“Two weeks ago I handled the pressure well and made very good decisions coming down the stretch and I made all the putts I needed to make,” said Webb. “It just sometimes just go your way. Doesn't feel great at the moment. There's lessons to be learned from the decisions made. Even if you learn those lessons, sometimes you're going to repeat in that situation. I've doubled the last to lose a tournament to Se Ri Pak before. You know, it's happened to me before. It's not the first time.”
Creamer and Munoz both pared the first playoff hole and Creamer said she did not hesitate to go for the green while Munoz laid up.
“Aza has been playing great and I knew she was not going to make a mistake, and I knew someone was going to have to make a birdie,” said Creamer. “It's a tough pin placement and decided to lay up in the second time in the playoff. I had a number and I trusted it, but you know, it's one of those things that, would you do it again, would you not; of course I would do what I did.”
“Between a 5-wood and a 3-wood, it's so fast above the pin but you've got to carry those bunkers,” said Creamer. “I weaved it right through the middle of it hit it a little bit thin out in the fairway. But I knew I had enough club and it would have been fine, and the putt, just, what do you do.”
Creamer said the win was even more special to share with close friends who stayed to watch her finish. Morgan Pressel, Brittany Lang, Cristie Kerr and Irene Coe were the first ones along with caddie, Colin Cann to congratulate her.
“My friends were next to No. 9 across, and Morgan was there in front of my best friends and Brittany and Cristie and Irene, they are all just standing over there,” said Creamer. “I literally looked right at them, because as a golfer, you know, things happen for reasons, and when it went in, it's so neat to have your friends there, and of course Colin, he was just shaking his head.”
Motivating memory: Creamer has historically played well in Singapore with two third place finishes (2008, 2013) and a tied for third (2009) and said sitting on the 18th green last year at Sentosa Golf Club watching Stacy Lewis received her trophy was a memory she has not forgotten.
“It's funny, I remember sitting on the 18th green last year when Stacy won and I was in the mix there and I didn't play that great on the back nine,” said Creamer. “I remember sitting there just watching her hold the trophy, and there's obviously times in everybody's life where things happen and this and that, and just watching her there and knowing that I could have played better on the back nine, just kind of really motivated me and made me just want it even more.”
Creamer made her own memories this week that she will never forget and thanked the photographers and video cameras around the 18th green for capturing her final putt. She said it might have been the best shot of her career, rivaling another clutch putt she had at the 2009 Solheim Cup.
“There were so many photographers and cameras there, I can relive the moment,” said Creamer. “We have it captured so we can relive the moment over and over again. It will be fun to show my kids one day; see, this is what your mom did.
“But like I said, I made another putt similar to that,” said Creamer. “It was in Solheim with Cristie Kerr, it was a huge moment in one of our matches. It was the 16th hole and it was a huge long one, above, all that kind of stuff. It was very similar to that. It's one of those putts, you hit it the perfect speed, and I hit the back of the hole. I don't ever have to do it again hopefully, you know, until next year.”
Queen of the week: Paula Creamer could’ve been called the queen of the week in Singapore due to her sponsor obligations and tournament appearances leading into the event. Creamer recently signed on with the mattress topper company Air Weave who was also a tournament sponsor at the HSBC Women’s Champions and took part in several appearances including the official photo call where she put on a kung-fu demonstration.
The 10-year Tour veteran said she thinks she won here for a reason and that everything aligned perfectly. Her management group IMG, runs the event as well.
“You always have to do sponsor days with your partners, but being able to sleep on an Air Wave, do an Air Weave announcement, it's meant to be in a sense, it's an IMG event, Ricoh is out there,” said Creamer. “It's funny how things do all fall together.”
Creamer said she saw her trainer who taught her the Kung-Fu moves on Tuesday in the crowd at the 18th hole on Sunday. She joked that it must have helped her get mentally ready for the week.
“I think it must have been my Kung Fu moves on Tuesday that brought me in the mental state of where I'm at,” Creamer joked. “And she was there; she came out and she was giving me thumbs up, my Kung Fu trainer. She said, ‘Oh, great job, great job.’ I said, ‘I owe you, I owe you a beer.’”
Rankings remain: The Rolex Rankings are projected to remain the same toward the top with Suzann Pettersen and Inbee Park both finishing in a tie for fourth. Park will remain No. 1 and Pettersen No. 2. Creamer will moved into the 8th spot from 11th.
Quotable: Well, I can't say that -- it has everything to do with it. 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. It all comes down to believing in yourself; if you don't, then nobody else will. –Paula Creamer on her current state of happiness off the course
Show me the eagles… Six total eagles were made over the weekend at the HSBC Women’s Champions and players raised $6,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project as part of the season-long Wounded Warrior Project® Weekends.
Par 5 4th hole: Gerina Piller
Par 5 7th hole: Na Yeon Choi, Karine Icher, Katherine Kirk, Azahara Munoz, Sun Young Yoo
The six eagles this weekend pushes the season-total to $52,000.
Wounded Warrior Project® Weekends is a season-long charity program that will be tied into the Race to the CME Globe. Each Saturday and Sunday at LPGA tournaments, CME Group will donate $1,000 to Wounded Warrior Project® for each eagle that is recorded. This amount will increase to $5,000 for each eagle during the weekend of the CME Group Tour Championship and a formal check will be presented to the Wounded Warrior Project® during the trophy ceremony at the CME Group Tour Championship. To get involved and learn more, visit woundedwarriorproject.org.
SUZANN PETTERSEN, Rolex Rankings No. 2
Q. Talk about your second shot?
SUZANN PETTERSEN: I felt like I dropped two shots to the field. But I'm hitting better golf shots, so overall, pretty happy. But it's a shame to play so close to good golf and being so close to the lead.
Q. Your play is getting better and better?
SUZANN PETTERSEN: Yeah, my game is getting better. It just feels like I need to test it in competition after practicing. Overall it got better as the week progressed.
Q. Can you tell me today the course conditions?
SUZANN PETTERSEN: Conditions are great. Greens are perfect. A little less wind, wind comes out of a little different direction, as well. This is probably the calmest day of the four days.
Q. How were the pin placements?
SUZANN PETTERSEN: There were some dodgy ones, pretty close to the edge, right on some slopes. But it was always nice to mix it up so it's not always the same year after year.
Q. How were the iron shots and putting?
SUZANN PETTERSEN: Overall, my overall game was pretty good.
Q. Overall, how was this year's HSBC?
SUZANN PETTERSEN: HSBC always puts on a world-class event and it's always a pleasure coming here and they look after us really well. And just look out on the golf course, it looks like a prime event.
Q. After this tournament, please tell me your schedule to play.
SUZANN PETTERSEN: I'm actually going to China to play the World Championship for the Ladies European Tour and then I get a week off and then I go to Phoenix and start preparing for the West Coast Swing. So a lot of golf ahead and I'm happy to have the game going the right direction.
KARRIE WEBB, Rolex Rankings No. 7
Q. Obviously not the final stretch you wanted but talk about the final holes.
KARRIE WEBB: I'm a bit in my head right now. There's a lot going on. Just not a lot of good decisions. I mean, bad swing on 15 but -- just bad decisions.
I shouldn't have probably hit 3-wood off 16 just because I missed with that club for some reason this week. I've had that club in my bag for ten years and it's going left, so might need to look at a different 3-wood I think. Just shouldn't have hit 3-wood off there but I made a good par.
We got put on the clock on 17, which doesn't help when your mind's already gone pretty quickly. With the wind into us on 18, I just should never have hit driver off that tee. I had said to Mickey, if I can't reach a 5-wood, there's no point in going, and I don't think I could have hit it far enough down there in that situation. So I'm not sure why I let Mickey talk me into hitting driver there. I should have just laid up off the tee and given myself a wedge in, but I didn't do that and so not a lot of good decisions.
Q. Difficult to ask questions, but do you not trust your instinct? What happens to you in a situation like this, if you have one bad hole, do you feel that there's indecision going on in your mind and does it snowball a little bit; what happens?
KARRIE WEBB: If you're a sports psychologist, you make a lot of money doing that.
I hit a great drive down 18 yesterday from the front tee, and part of me felt like I could do that, and if had pulled it off, it wouldn’t have even – but my gut feeling was just to lay up off the tee.
Q. And the 3-wood, the same thing, you were saying on 16, you shouldn't have played it, again --
KARRIE WEBB: I don't know what club I would have hit but it's -- I don't know why it's all of a sudden misbehaving. Something I need to look at.
Q. I don't want to bring age into it but it is there; is it harder to lose these things at 39 than it would be at 29?
KARRIE WEBB: It's bad whatever age you're at. I don't think it has anything to do with it.
And if you're insinuating that that could be the last time that I have a chance to be in --
Q. I'm not doing that at all. I'm just asking questions, that's all. I'm only asking because --
KARRIE WEBB: Two weeks ago I handled the pressure well and made very good decisions coming down the stretch and I made all the putts I needed to make. It just sometimes just go your way. Doesn't feel great at the moment. There's lessons to be learned from the decisions made.
Even if you learn those lessons, sometimes you're going to repeat in that situation. I've doubled the last to lose a tournament to Se Ri Pak before. You know, it's happened to me before. It's not the first time.
PAULA CREAMER, Rolex Rankings No. 11
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
Q. Never been a more dramatic playoff?
PAULA CREAMER: I'm shaking. Oh, my gosh, this has been such a long time coming and I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for Colin, my caddie, my best friend, he's been there through it all.
We've had such a good last seven months working on what we've been doing and obviously a bit of luck going in on that one. Aza hit a great shot in there and she's such a great competitor, as well. When that happens, there's nothing you can do.
Q. You must have had nerves of steel in regulation play.
PAULA CREAMER: I did. I definitely tested myself coming down the stretch, that's for sure. I had to make a bunch of 6- , 7-footers, but I just kept grinding and kept on just doing what Colin and I were planning on doing. And you know, it was fun playing with Morgan and Teresa. It was nice playing with one of your best friends and kind of kept me calm out there.
You know, it was, it was a grind all day and like I said, it's been a long time coming.
Q. You went for the green in two, can you talk us through that?
PAULA CREAMER: It reminded me of a putt at Solheim Cup that I had. Just get it in the right spot it would fall down -- but I could stand there all day long and putt that. I finally hit the fairway in the playoff -- I was in a playoff a couple years ago and I refused to go to eight, nine more holes so I was going to try to end it.
Q. You were on the phone a second ago, who were you trying to call?
PAULA CREAMER: I was calling my mom and dad. They have obviously seen it all. Derek was at the second one -- we're not married yet so my dad would have been upset if I called Derek first. It's pretty neat when you can share it with everybody.
Whatever call it was -- I called them actually before the playoff, too, and they just said, stay calm, be happy you and don't have to prove anything. Just go out there and play some golf.
Q. Good to be back in the winner's circle again?
PAULA CREAMER: Oh, it feels so good, oh, my goodness, I can't tell you how good it really does feel. This is a huge win and it's a lot of hard work.
PRESS CONFERENCE
MEGHAN FLANAGAN: It is my absolute pleasure, like to extend the biggest congratulations to our 2014 HSBC Women's champion, Paula Creamer.
PAULA CREAMER: Thank you.
MEGHAN FLANAGAN: Holy moly, what a finish. Let's just talk about the putt and just take us through that, because what an absolute epic finish.
PAULA CREAMER: I said it in the interview, I could stand there all day long and hit a putt there, and charting it, it was saying five, six feet, and you know, it hit the back of the hole and went in. I really didn't even watch the last four feet of it. I was just hoping it would slowdown when it was near the hole and then it disappeared. It's funny. I looked at Colin, he said this has been coming, you've been working so hard, and things haven't gone your way in certain situations and finally kind of had a bit of luck with that one, and it did and it went in. I seriously cannot tell you the way I felt. It was like somebody just knocked the wind out of me. It was pretty amazing.
MEGHAN FLANAGAN: Well, knocked you to your knees. Was it one of those moments that you just think, immediately, this is what I play for? It looked like one of those moments that overtakes you.
PAULA CREAMER: Yeah, and my friends were next to No. 9 across, and Morgan was there in front of my best friends and Brittany and Cristie and Irene, they are all just standing over there. I literally looked right at them, because as a golfer, you know, things happen for reasons, and when it went in, it's so neat to have your friends there, and of course Colin, he was just shaking his head.
MEGHAN FLANAGAN: Let's talk about the round in regulation, a pretty stellar round overall on a day that didn't see too many low scores. Take us through the front nine, two birdies on the front, two on the back and then the bogey on 13, just take us through the round and how you put together a really, really solid round Sunday.
PAULA CREAMER: You know, I played well on the weekend. I didn't play that well on Friday, and was working with my coach, David Wheelan, sending videos back and forth every day and trying to get some good swing thoughts.
We found one Friday afternoon when I woke up Saturday morning with the time change and it really helped. David knows my golf swing better than I do for sure, and with what he said, just kind of clicked. Worked really hard on practicing with the greens and the speed. I practiced a lot after every round, and you know, I played well in the front, I had some looks, for sure. You know, made a ton of par saves coming down the stretch. Made a little bit more difficult than what I needed. It was unfortunate with Webby on the last hole hitting the lip of the bunker, because she would have been right of course in the mix of that, too, in the playoff.
MEGHAN FLANAGAN: Talk about some phone calls, I saw phone calls before the playoff, phone calls after the playoff. I heard it was mom and dad.
PAULA CREAMER: Mom and Dad was first.
MEGHAN FLANAGAN: What did they have to say to you?
PAULA CREAMER: When I called my parents after the first round -- or the first time I played 18, after the final round, I called them and they were like, "Great job, man, you're stressing us out over here, what are you doing, grinding it out." And obviously tape delay, so I was telling them, get ready.
I haven't hit the fairway on 18 all four days. I was in that right bunker, so I kind of talked to them and talked to my caddie, Colin and said, what do you want to do, and just stuck with the plan and hit driver. Then the next thing you know, we're in the playoff and I called Derek and he's like, what is going on here. He's like, a playoff? What's happening?
You know, a bunch more phone calls after the playoff. I think my dad is still on cloud nine as we speak.
MEGHAN FLANAGAN: The last playoff you had was at Kingsmill with the epic playoff there. I heard you say in the TV interview, you wanted to get this one finished pretty quickly. What was mind-set going into that against Aza?
PAULA CREAMER: Aza has been playing great and I knew she was not going to make a mistake, and I knew someone was going to have to make a birdie. It's a tough pin placement and decided to lay up in the second time in the playoff. I had a number and I trusted it, but you know, it's one of those things that, would you do it again, would you not; of course I would do what I did.
MEGHAN FLANAGAN: Was that not even a second thought to go for it --
PAULA CREAMER: -- between a 5-wood and a 3-wood, it's so fast above the pin but you've got to carry those bunkers. I weaved it right through the middle of it hit it a little bit thin out in the fairway. But I knew I had enough club and it would have been fine, and the putt, just, what do you do.
MEGHAN FLANAGAN: I'm sure half of this has to be very, very -- a good feeling in terms of snapping the winless streak, which I've heard you get asked enough times that I'm almost sick of hearing it. But this has to be so sweet to win again since 2010 for you.
PAULA CREAMER: It might be one of my favorite wins, and that's going -- taking a pretty big leap right there. But you know, it has, it's been almost three years and you know, so much has happened. I guess I've come close and playoff with Jiyai and wasn't going to go play it eight times and come back the next day, that's for sure. It has been coming and it just shows you perseverance. That's why I love the game. I work hard for this reason.
And holding that trophy, gosh, it was so nice.
Q. Couple of things, could you just tell us what Dave Wheelan advised, and then can you just confirm details of your previous playoff.
PAULA CREAMER: Well, David Wheelan, we -- I lose my height a little bit in my golf swing. It's actually at the takeaway. So been really working on keeping my height and I get a little bit long, I get a little bit too long on my backswing to shorten and tighten everything up and basically to just trust the release with my hands. For so many years because of my thumb I've been coming across it and coming this way and my right shoulder goes forward. Basically we've been really working on my right shoulder going down instead of towards the ball. He just said those key words, keep your right shoulder down and let it go, and don't hold onto it too tight.
Q. And the other playoff?
PAULA CREAMER: The playoff with Jiyai was at Kingsmill. We played the 18th hole eight times, and I 3-putted it in regulation. So we went into a playoff.
I played it eight times. We all parred it eight times. And some of the best up-and-downs I think we've ever had. And then we came back the next morning and we switched holes, and I ended up 3-putting it and she 2-putted it and won. So thanks for coming, nine holes. I couldn't believe we changed the hole the next day. I said, we just played it eight times, I think we can play it nine times.
Q. Last year, the LPGA Tour added a fifth major, the Evian, yet there are none of those majors here in Asia. Can you tell us your views on that and why the HSBC does not figure among those?
PAULA CREAMER: Well, I think as players we view this as a major. Logistics-wise you have to talk to the Commissioner about that. I'm not inclined to talk about that one, that's not my position. We do love this event. We do have five majors and this is a major towards us as a player.
They do such a great job hosting us. I said down on the 18th green, they are a great partner with us and they have been very loyal to our tour and hopefully that can continue for many more years down the road.
Q. Four events this year and no Asian winners yet. This is a tour that's been dominated by Asian players for a long time, do you think there's a sense of a shift and its Asian dominance is under threat in some way?
PAULA CREAMER: You never know. It's early. We've only played four events like you said. It's funny, golf always goes through waves. You can't predict which country is going to do better than one.
Obviously there's many players from Asia out on our tour so they tend to be more at the higher top of the leaderboards and there's some great players but every country has good players. Look at Aza from Spain look at from the United States here, and you have Webby from Australia on the board, Angela Stanford from the United States.
I think it's just a really good time for women's golf right now, but it's easy to say, there's been no Asian winners. I'm sure that's not going to be the case the whole year. But just got to take care of your own business.
Q. Were you surprised given how well Karrie has been playing this week that she had kind of the mental breaks on the back nine today? Did you think that that was even a possibility?
PAULA CREAMER: I mean, I don't know how she played on the back nine. I don't know what -- if she made mistakes or this or that. Obviously I saw the shot on 18 when she hit the lip of the bunker but she's been playing awesome. She's always been a really good ball-striker. She has a lot of confidence obviously coming off the win in Australia, and I don't know what the discussion was on 18 with the lip of the bunker, but obviously look back in hindsight and say, man, should have just tried to lay up instead of going over that other bunker, but things happen.
Q. I think you were third in this tournament twice when it was at Tanah Merah, can you do a comparison between the two courses?
PAULA CREAMER: It's funny, I remember sitting on the 18th green last year when Stacy won and I was in the mix there and I didn't play that great on the back nine. I remember sitting there just watching her hold the trophy, and there's obviously times in everybody's life where things happen and this and that, and just watching her there and knowing that I could have played better on the back nine, just kind of really motivated me and made me just want it even more.
And you know, I've played well here; I've played well at Tanah Merah, as well, but this golf course just seems to really fit my style of golf. You have to think a lot. You have to, you know, it's not just a place where you go and hit driver on every hole. And I like that. I always have played well that way. You know, it just fits well.
Either course, if we go back to Tanah Merah or not, I like that one, as well. I think it just has a lot to do with the toughness, the difficulty of it here.
Q. At the press conference a couple days ago, you mentioned that you were in a happy place because of your engagement. So how much has that contributed to your performance this year?
PAULA CREAMER: Well, I can't say that -- it has everything to do with it. 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. It all comes down to believing in yourself; if you don't, then nobody else will. They have just really kind of opened my eyes and said, you know, it's not going to be like this forever. There's low times that I've had; they have been difficult. 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.
Q. You talked about the value of perseverance and about how you've been practicing on the greens every day. How big a part did that play in that final putt today?
PAULA CREAMER: Oh, huge. Even in the regulation on the putts on 16, that 2-putt that we had on 16, I had a very easy up-and-down on 7 or 17, something you should make. And I had to make a 7-footer. I think that it all comes down to just working hard.
My dad told me before I went out today, he said, you know, whatever you do, just don't give anything away. At the end of the day, just -- if somebody plays better, somebody plays better, but don't sit there and say, I could have -- don't let shots get away from you if they don't need to. You know, I just was grinding. I just grinded as hard as I could. Even in regulation on 18, I had a four and a half footer that broke two cups. It wasn't like the easiest 2-putt there, either. So I do; practice is always something that makes you stronger.
Q. This I believe is your 10th year as a professional. Can you try to envisage ten years from now where you'll be?
PAULA CREAMER: That seems to be the question everybody's been asking me. Ten years, I'm 27; I'll be 37 years old, wow. I want to make it to tomorrow.
You know, I love what I do, and when that passion dies, I guess you could say, is when I hang up my golf shoes. I get nervous when I walk to the first tee. I get nervous when I'm out there playing, especially coming down the stretch today but those are the nerves and that's why I play.
When I don't feel that, is when I have to kind of rethink what I'm doing and of course I want to be a mom and I want to have kids, but it would be very difficult. You see there's reasons why Lorena and Annika did what they did and stepped away from the game to become a mother. And Juli is obviously a huge model, Juli Inkster is obviously a huge role model of me and who I've always looked up to, but there's only one Juli. I don't know if you can balance everything out. So when that time comes, we'll have to have a big sit down. There will be a nice meeting that day.
Q. The significance, ending your LPGA title drought, will it go down as the best putt you've ever made in your career?
PAULA CREAMER: There were so many photographers and cameras there, I can relive the moment. We have it captured so we can relive the moment over and over again. It will be fun to show my kids one day; see, this is what your mom did.
But like I said, I made another putt similar to that. It was in Solheim with Cristie Kerr, it was a huge moment in one of our matches. It was the 16th hole and it was a huge long one, above, all that kind of stuff. It was very similar to that.
It's one of those putts, you hit it the perfect speed, and I hit the back of the hole. I don't ever have to do it again hopefully, you know, until next year.
Q. Well, you're in a good place now, and three years is a long time without a title; going back to three years before today, were there some really difficult times?
PAULA CREAMER: It was the hardest three years -- it's been -- the last, not maybe last year, but probably from two years after the U.S. Open win, and then that following year, so that would be 2012, basically, I just was 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 he 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 did. I got in my own way for a little bit. And it has, 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.
MEGHAN FLANAGAN: I feel like you were the queen of this week starting on Tuesday. I asked you that the other day. You did the photo call, the press conference, Air Weave is your new sponsor, IMG is your management team who runs this event, almost a perfect setting. Do you feel that you were so emotionally invested and dedicated to this event that it makes this that much more sweet.
PAULA CREAMER: 100 percent. You always have to do sponsor days with your partners, but being able to sleep on an Air Wave, do an Air Weave announcement, it's meant to be in a sense, it's an IMG event, Ricoh is out there. It's funny how things do all fall together.
I think it must have been my Kung Fu moves on Tuesday that brought me in the mental state of where I'm at. And she was there; she came out and she was giving me thumbs up, my Kung Fu trainer. She said, "Oh, great job, great job."
I said, "I owe you, I owe you a beer."
It is, and that's the thing, you have to learn how to balance, and ten years out here, I think I've kind of learned how much to take and how much you can chew and all that kind of stuff, and it did. It all seemed to work out and now here we are. It's crazy.
Azahara Munoz -11, Rolex Rankings No. 32
Q. Talk about coming back on that back nine and still sticking with it, you never gave up, which was awesome to see, but talk about that back nine.
AZAHARA MUNOZ: Well, obviously I'm playing really well. Today I started bogey, bogey so that got me really behind and then I made a couple really nice birdies and gave myself a lot of chances. Didn't quite make enough putts today but made really nice putts on the back nine for par, too, and that kept me going and at the end made a couple really nice birdies.
Q. After the bogey, bogey start, what was going through your head? Obviously you did not let it deter you?
AZAHARA MUNOZ: No, I didn't, because I'm playing really well, and on 1 I just hit it a little left and it run-off green but I actually hit a good shot and on 2 it plugged in the bunker. I knew I was playing good and if I just kept doing my thing, I would make some birdies.
Q. How did it feel to be in that type of situation and back in a playoff and get the adrenaline going?
AZAHARA MUNOZ: It was exciting. For starters I didn't think I was going to give myself the chance to be in the playoff, so just being there, I was really happy to be in contention again, and you know, it's always fun.
Q. And for her to finish on that putt, you can't feel too --
AZAHARA MUNOZ: No, that putt, it's pretty much impossible to putt it and to hold it, so nothing you can do about, just congratulate her.
Q. You have to be taking a lot away from this week, and you played solid. What are you going to take away most from your play?
AZAHARA MUNOZ: You know, I know what I've been working on is working, so just keep doing the same thing. Obviously gives me a lot of confidence and hopefully I keep playing like this.
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