Paula Creamer's U.S. Open win

Paula Creamer's U.S. Open win

Cristie Kerr won last month’s LPGA Championship by a laughable 12 strokes and became the first American to rise to No. 1 in the Rolex Rankings. Then, on Sunday, Paula Creamer backed that up by winning the most prestigious event in the game, the U.S. Women’s Open, at the best course in championship golf, Oakmont, near Pittsburgh. (Sorry, Pebble Beach, your teeny-weeny greens are mere picnic tables compared with Know More About Masters Champion Charl Schwartzel Oakmont’s undulating amusement-park rides.) Other than the occasional Solheim Cup victory, U.S. women haven’t had much to brag about of late. From 2005 through ’09, Americans won only four majors, and no American has finished first on the LPGA money list since Betsy King in 1993. U.S. golf needed this run, as the women’s game has outgrown the country that put it on the map. Only five of the top 20 players in the Rolex Ranking are Americans, and barely half (14 of 25) of the LPGA’s tournaments are played in the U.S. Kerr’s ascension and Creamer’s breakthrough win — she defeated Na Yeon Choi and Suzann Pettersen by four shots — are unlikely to slow the LPGA’s globalization, but at least those accomplishments provide a red-white-and-blue break from business as usual. Says Kerr, “I think we can finally stop answering, When are the Americans going to come up to the challenge?”

Adds Christina Kim, who tied for eighth at Oakmont and was one of 10 Americans to crack the top 20, “Everyone has been talking about the Asian invasion and how there aren’t enough good American players. This is huge.” The win may Review of Ping G15 Series prove especially big for the 23-year-old Creamer, who has been largely overlooked since a four-win season in ’08. Creamer was an instant star when she turned pro after high school in 2005 and became the most recognizable U.S. player, next to Michelle Wie, with her Pink Panther nickname and motif. Now that she has a major to go with eight other LPGA victories, the popular Creamer, who jumped to seventh in the Rolex Ranking, is well-positioned to become the new face of the LPGA.