Solheim Cup serious business for Creamer
Posted on Friday, July 4, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Sports/230475/
ROGERS — It’s pretty easy to spot the top-ranked American player on the LPGA Tour.
Just look for the color pink.
The color is woven into Paula Creamer’s identity, from her clothing to the Pink Panther cartoon character stitched on her club heads to the pink golf ball she uses.
But she doesn’t mind mixing in other combinations for special occasions.
“Any time I get to represent my country, I wear red, white and blue,” she said. “There’s nothing really like that.”
This weekend Creamer is chasing her third LPGA victory of the season at the P&G Beauty Northwest Arkansas Championship, but nothing has moved the 21-year-old more than contributing to two winning Solheim Cup teams.
The Solheim Cup is the women’s golf version of the men’s Ryder Cup. The U. S. women play Europe in the biennial competition, and Creamer has participated in the past two events, in 2005 and 2007.
Those events have taken on more importance in recent years as America’s dominance has cooled on the LPGA Tour and the world stage. Creamer is third on the money list this season, but she is the lone U. S. player in the top 15.
So there is no gray area for the pink lady when it comes to playing for the United States.
“That’s my Olympics,” said Creamer, who has earned a little more than $ 1 million in 14 tournaments this season. “For me, it’s wonderful.”
Winning it is even better.
Creamer came aboard for the U. S. team in 2005, after the Europeans won the 2003 event for their second victory in three tries. Creamer, then 19, was coming off a remarkable rookie season in which she was named the tour’s rookie of the year and became the youngest player ever to win a tournament and reach $ 1 million in earnings.
She’s been just as efficient in Solheim play, winning both singles matches, a resounding 7-and-5 victory over future Hall of Famer Laura Davies in 2005 and beating Swede Maria Hjorth last year in Halmstad, Sweden. In two Solheims, Creamer scored seven of a possible 10 points for the Americans.
“The highlight of my golf career is the Solheim Cup,” she said. “You can bring 12 girls together that compete head to head every week and make them a team. I think that’s the coolest point you can have. It’s going out and playing well for your country.”
She’s still doing well for herself, too.
While other young LPGA stars such as Natalie Gulbis and Morgan Pressel are striving for consistency at the midway point of the 2008 season, Creamer is 14 for 14 in cuts made.
Besides her two victories in Hawaii and Broken Arrow, Okla., she lost a playoff to Annika Sorenstam in Aventura, Fla., and was a shot off the U. S. Women’s Open lead entering the final round before finishing in a tie for sixth last weekend in Edina, Minn. Maybe it shouldn’t come as a surprise Creamer has been so consistent on the LPGA Tour.
“She was such an accomplished junior player. It was not her first time,” said Gulbis, comparing Creamer to pros like Pressel and Lorena Ochoa who also hit it big early. “These players have been really successful at every single level, so they continue to build on it one step at a time.”