Creamer The Competitive

In Spite Of The Smile, She Plays To Win

Southern Pines, N.C. – Do not let the smile fool you.

When Paula Creamer flashes that mega-watt smile, she appears to not have a care in the world. And, quite frankly, what could be wrong.

At age 20, she has already been the LPGA Rookie of the Year, won three times on tour and is just shy of $3.3 million in career earnings.

While her smile is quite capable of cracking even the hardest of souls, when it comes to golf, she would just as soon step on your throat. On the issue of winning majors, she wants to win multiple. Four in the same season, preferably.

"I’m incredibly competitive," said Creamer Wednesday. "I don’t like losing. I don’t like it at all. I do have a little bit of that tom-boyishness in me, so I think that’s where it comes from."

Paula Creamer has an inner fire that belies her outgoing personality. (Fred Vuich/USGA)

After her banner rookie season in which she broke the LPGA record for most money earned by a rookie, she went winless in 2006 and one national magazine went as far as to vote her Most Disappointing Player of the Year.

Such a smack slid off Creamer, but it’s the kind of fuel that’s easily combustible.

Creamer, of Pleasanton, Calif., simply countered by winning the season-opening SBS Open at Turtle Bay and has added six more top-10 finishes.

"I play every tournament trying to win and either someone plays better or I don’t meet my expectations," she said. "But I don’t play a tournament that I don’t feel I can win."

Creamer is at this week’s U.S. Women’s Open for that very reason. This will be her fifth appearance, and she has yet to finish higher than 13th - that being in 2004 when she was still an acclaimed amateur player. And in 13 majors, her best finish has been a tie for third at the 2005 McDonald’s LPGA Championship.

So if she has designs on winning multiples, Creamer had better get started.

Creamer has been in contention at majors, just at the wrong times - especially at the U.S. Women’s Open. Since 2004, Creamer has been ninth, fourth and sixth, respectively, after 36 holes. She ultimately faded to tie for 13^th, 19^th and 16^th.

She does enter on a positive note, an indication that maybe, just maybe, this could be a breakthrough week. She finished sixth at the McDonald’s LPGA Championship two weeks ago, closing with a final-round 68.

"The more I'm out on Sunday, in the later part of the tee times, the more I can take into my golf game," she said. "I made enough birdies to win the tournament, but it's just those bogeys that creep in once in awhile."

Creamer’s scoring average over the final 36 holes at the U.S. Women’s Open is 74.33, or a combined 20 over par in six rounds.

Taking Creamer to task for her inability to win a major, though, is a bit premature. The world’s No. 1 player, Lorena Ochoa, has not even won a major. Ultimately, she believes that time will be kind to her in terms of winning majors. But she also has to do her part.

"I think it’s all about learning how to control your emotions under the pressure of a major and having that patient mindset that 15 or 20 under par is not going to win this tournament," she said. "And if I can go out with that kind of mindset, then I’ll be OK."

She then flashed her smile. As if she didn’t have a care in the world.

Thing is, though, she does.

Stuart Hall is a writer for the Golf Press Association whose work has appeared previously on www.uswomensopen.com.