Havre de Grace, Md. – Eighteen-year-old LPGA rookie Paula Creamer finished in a tie for third place at the LPGA Championship, two spots ahead of 22-year-old Natalie Gulbis. Besides registering their best finishes in a major championship, the youngsters made things very interesting for Nancy Lopez.
Lopez is the captain for the U.S. Solheim Cup team that will meet a European team this fall in the biennial, Ryder Cup-style event. The first 10 spots on the 12-player team are selected via points acquired over the past two seasons; the final two spots are at Lopez’s discretion.
Solheim captains usually have spent those picks on established, veteran players. At the conclusion of play Sunday, Gulbis had moved into ninth place, with Creamer rising from 18th to 16th. If Gulbis were to drop a couple of spots, or Creamer failed to gain enough ground to hit the top 10, they could make Lopez’s decision interesting.
“It’s going to be tough to pick those spots,” said Lopez, who will make the decision in August. “You want experience, but I’m not going to pick someone who’s not playing well or who doesn’t have confidence in her game just because she has experience.”
Creamer said making the team was her only goal entering the season. At the time, the odds seemed very much against her, given the fact that she had just seven months to overtake players who had been gathering points over the previous year. However, a victory at the Sybase Classic in May put Creamer on the radar; now she’s hoping her finish last week at Bulle Rock Golf Club will further catch Lopez’s eye.
“It’s a long time before she decides; I’m just trying to do everything I can,” Creamer said. “I hope I’m making an impression; that’s the plan right now.”
The matches will be played at Crooked Stick in Carmel, Ind., Sept. 9-12.
Ladies Day
Both Annika Sorenstam and Michelle Wie have some gender-bending outings coming up. Sorenstam is scheduled to play today at the private, all-male Pine Valley Golf Club in New Jersey. Tuesday, Wie will attempt to qualify for the USGA men’s Public Links Championships; later this summer she’ll play in the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic.
After a night of celebrating her LPGA Championship, Sorenstam said the emphasis at the exclusive club will be on fun. “I might have to play the ladies’ tees (today),” she said. “They may not even have ladies tees – I guess I’ll have to tee it up from somewhere on the fairway.”
Speaking of her next appearance in a men’s event, Wie said, “I know it will be really hot, and I’ll have to wear long pants; other than that, I’m really excited about it.”
It only takes one
After putting herself into reasonable contention with a third-round 67, Cristie Kerr fell from a tie for 10th to a tie for 33rd after a final-round 78. Kerr’s downfall came on the 555-yard, par-5 second hole, where she recorded a quadruple-bogey 9.
“I made one bad swing and made a nine,” Kerr said after her round. “After that, everything was kind of deflating.”
Denver native Jill McGill also struggled Sunday, finishing the tournament with a 78.
