By Dave Shedloski

Cherry Hills Village, Colo. – Paula Creamer complained of an upset stomach during her second round Friday in the U.S. Women’s Open.

"I think I drank too much Gatorade too fast," said the recent high school graduate and freshman LPGA player.

Maybe it was the roller-coaster ride.

Paula Creamer battled an upset stomach during her second round Friday. (Sam Greenwood/USGA)

Creamer, 18, who in the same week last month lifted the winner’s trophy at the Sybase Classic and donned a cap and gown, put together a round at Cherry Hills Country Club that was not so much for the ages but, rather, might have aged her a bit. It was wild and frustrating, wonderful and fulfilling. And it put her on the first page of the leaderboard, where lately her name is making regular appearances.

If anyone can shoot a more entertaining 69 than Creamer’s creation, it’s going to take pyrotechnics and an over-nourished imagination, if not earnest imbibing.

The scorecard shows a double bogey, an eagle, four bogeys and five birdies. If you’re scoring at home, once the dizziness subsides, you’ll notice that Creamer managed just four pars at a tournament where par is highly valued.

"It was an up-and-down day. I fought really hard," said Creamer. "I fired at pins when I could and took my medicine when I had to."

She didn’t take medicine when she started feeling ill around the turn, but she had red numbers to comfort her. She slam-dunked an 8-iron from 132 yards at the par-4 10^th hole, and then followed with three birdies in a row. The middle birdie, at the par-3 12^th hole, was set up by a 5-iron that hit the flagstick and stopped 10 feet away.

"There’s always luck involved when (a shot) goes in, but lately I have been zeroing in on the flags and I have been hitting a lot of flagsticks, so I was due for one to go in," said Creamer.

It should be pointed out that Creamer began her hot streak after getting steamed by a sloppy double-bogey at the third hole. Coupled with a bogey at the first, she found herself 6 over par and inching toward the cut line, something she has only failed to clear once this year in 12 starts prior to arriving in the Rockies. She proceeded not to alter her strategy, just her mindset.

"I told my caddie, there’s no reason why I should be three over par through four holes because I felt confident with my game," said Creamer, who last year finished tied for 13^th to share low amateur honors with the highly celebrated Michelle Wie. "With that said I started to play good golf and gave myself some looks at birdie.

And she converted them. The rally started with a 15-footer for birdie and ended with a 9-iron at 13 to about 2 feet. She played that nine-hole stretch in an amazing 8 under par. It would have felt great if she hadn’t been feeling so poorly.

"I was feeling so awful physically (that) I really wasn’t focusing on what was happening at the time," said Creamer, who inadvertently revealed the secret to finding the mythical "zone," which is simply concentration stirred by nausea. "I was trying not to get sick out on the golf course, and it was great though … I think the longest putt was 10 feet, so it was a good stretch."

The stretch ended when a weather delay halted play for nearly an hour. Creamer said the interruption, "shook me up a little bit," and she lost rhythm on her swing. Bumpy greens also disrupted her momentum, leading to a pair of three-putt bogeys on the way to giving three shots back before an 18-foot par save at the last doused her dyspepsia.

"I hated to go backwards, but if you’d have given me a 69 at the start of the day I would have taken it in a major championship," said Creamer, who has top-3 finishes in three of her last four starts, including joint third in her first appearance in the McDonald’s LPGA Championship.

Nothing will be given to her over the next few days as she chases Wie and Lorena Ochoa, whose final-round 65 at the Wegman’s Rochester LPGA relegated Creamer to second place, plus front-runner Nicole Perrot of Chile. Creamer won’t mind. She fires at flags to because her goals are lofty.

"I have very high expectations … obviously Solheim Cup and to win a major," Creamer said. "Just knowing that I am playing good golf and that we have two days left, and I can play good out here, I think that’s the thing I’m really looking at. I know going into the weekend that I can do it."

Dave Shedloski is a free-lance writer whose work has appeared previously on www.uswomensopen.com.