Paula Creamer gave herself quite a graduation gift.
The 18-year-old made a 17-foot birdie putt on the final hole Sunday to win the Sybase Classic by one stroke and become the second-youngest first-time winner on the LPGA Tour.
Creamer won’t be able to win two weeks in a row, though, as she has to return to Bradenton, Fla., for her high school graduation Thursday.
“It’s going to be fun going home for graduation, that’s for sure,” she said. “I can’t even speak let alone think right now. It’s awesome. I have so much energy right now.”
The former amateur star closed with a 1-under-par 71 on the Wykagyl Country Club course in New Rochelle, N.Y., including three birdies in her last five holes. She had tap-in birdies on the par-4 14th and par-5 15th and the clincher came on the par-5 18th after she was just short of the green in two. She finished with a 6-under 278.
Two par-saving putts on Nos. 12 and 13 were just as big as the birdies in keeping her in position for her first win.
“Those putts, that’s when I got momentum,” she said. “That was a big swing moment.”
Marlene Hagge won the Sarasota Open in 1952, just 14 days after her 18th birthday. She won the Bakersfield Open two months later.
Both of those tournaments were 18-hole events.
Creamer is the youngest winner of a true LPGA tournament. Amy Alcott was one day past her 19th birthday when she won the Orange Blossom Classic in 1975.
“They told me about that when I was signing my scorecard,” Creamer said of being the second-youngest winner.
Creamer, who finished second in the ShopRite Classic last year as an amateur, is 18 years and nine months old. Her previous best finish this year was a tie for third in the Takefuji Classic.
The $187,500 winner’s share from the $1.2 million purse is almost $20,000 more than Creamer won in her eight starts this year and will move her from 19th to fourth place on the money list.
Jeong Jang (67) and 2002 Sybase champion Gloria Park (71) tied for second at 279, one shot in front of Christina Kim (73), who led or shared the lead after each of the first three rounds.
Creamer hit a 7-iron to tap-in distance on 14 and then pitched to within inches with her third shot on the next hole.
Jang, also looking for her first win, had three birdies in her final four holes, including a 15-footer on the 18th that brought her into a tie with Creamer.
Park made it a three-way tie for the lead with a 5-foot birdie putt on the par-4 17th. She just missed a 40-foot birdie putt on the final hole.
PGA Tour: Kenny Perry matched his Colonial record of 19-under par, shooting a 1-under 69 to win by seven strokes over Billy Mayfair in Fort Worth, Texas.
When Perry won at Hogan’s Alley two years ago, he was overshadowed by Annika Sorenstam being the first woman in 58 years to play on the PGA Tour.
This time, Perry had to settle for matching his tournament scoring record after a double bogey on the 17th hole. He finished at 19-under 261, seven strokes ahead of Mayfair and the largest margin of victory on the tour this year.
“I wanted to finish 20-under. But that’s OK, I tied my own record. That’s pretty special. I just wanted to win again,” Perry said. “It was Annika’s week the first time. This week it was my week. So it’s 50-50 now.”
Perry also shot 19-under in 2003.
“It was a funny sort of feeling,” said Peter Lonard, among three golfers tied for third at 269. “I felt like I was playing pretty good, but I was 10 behind.”
Mayfair shot a 69 to finish at 12-under. David Toms (66), Durant (66) and Peter Lonard (69) finished tied for third, and seven golfers were tied for sixth at 10-under.
It was the ninth career win for Perry, who won just three titles in his first 16 seasons before the 2003 Colonial. Along with another plaid jacket, he won $1 million, pushing his career earnings to more than $18 million – $2.6 million of that in 16 Colonials.
“I hit the ball better when I was young, but course management and my thinking and how relaxed and how comfortable I am on the golf course is so much different,” he said. “Sometimes it’s a little nerve-racking out there. But today was a nice stroll down the park.”
Champions Tour: D.A. Weibring shot a 3-under 69 for a two-stroke victory over Tom Jenkins and Tom Kite at the Bruno’s Memorial Classic in Hoover, Ala., surviving a scare on the 18th hole when his ball appeared to move before his putt.
Weibring’s celebration was put on hold until Champions Tour officials ruled that his putter didn’t touch the ground before the ball moved. That violation would have cost him a two-stroke penalty and forced a three-way playoff.
Weibring finished at 15-under 201 for his third tour victory and first of the year.
European PGA: Stephen Dodd birdied the first extra hole to win the Irish Open in Maynooth, handing David Howell his second straight defeat in a playoff.
Howell hit his second shot into the rough and failed to get up and down. Howell, who shot a 70 on Sunday, also lost in a playoff last Sunday in the British Masters.
