Creamer started playing golf at age 10; by 13 she was the top ranked amateur in her country.
Paula was away from the winners' circle for over a year, since she grabbed her last title at the 2008 Samsung World Championship, before a strange bacteria took over and put her in pain and health issues for almost 12 months.
Furthermore, the "Pink Panther" injured her left thumb after hitting her ball out of the rough at the 2009 Wegman's LPGA, which made her WD from several events and receive cortisone shots. Nevertheless, after the off-season everything seemed just in place until the injury reappeared at the Honda PTT LPGA Thailand, making her leave the tourney and fly back to the States, where she finally got surgery.
With a pink cast on her hand and resting as much as possible, Paula focused on one thing only: winning the U.S. Women's Open; knowing that the pain would be excruciating and her game would be limited, her determination and fierce pumped her up and, almost four weeks after leaving the OR, she won in Oakmont, one of the most demanding courses in the world.
She knew the path would be long and her game restrictions had to be replaced with strong mentality, such as the one that Annika Sörenstam, Meg Mallon, Juli Inkster, Babe Zaharias, Louise Suggs and Mickey Wright showed when they managed to engrave their names in one of the most prestigious trophies.Creamer got around the course's challenges and had to play more than 25 holes on Saturday and over 20 on Sunday, since Friday round was suspended due to a storm.
With lots of pain and swelling, Paula kept the calm and focused on her shots, she left the physical difficulties behind and went back to the basics, hitting every fairway possible and putting her ball as close to the pin as possible. At the end of the day the strategy paid off; she won by a nice four shot lead over South Korean Na Yeon Choi and Norwegian Suzann Pettersen, who had a 1 over par overall. The "Pink Panther" was the only one to break par, she shot 3 under for the tourney.
After 72 holes, Creamer dropped her putter and burst into tears, this time she was crying out of joy and not of frustration and impotence as she did last year. Her emotions boost, and her passion and dedication gave her one of the most satisfying moments of her career.
Paula Creamer has joined a very select group of golfer, one in which only the greatest can write their names and become inmortal. Without a doubt, she made history.
*This video is property of the United States Golf Association (USGA)
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