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Creamer holds off Inkster
05/05/2008 08:11 - (SA)
Oklahoma - Paula Creamer sank a tension-packed eight-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole to defeat veteran Juli Inkster on Sunday to win the $1.8m LPGA SemGroup Championship.
Battling an LPGA Hall of Fame legend into extra holes for the second week in a row, Creamer twice missed title-winning putts at the 18th hole before finding the bottom of the cup at the par-4 10th to capture her sixth LPGA crown.
"We had to have a little chat, my putter and I," Creamer said.
One week after losing a playoff to Annika Sorenstam and complaining about feeling nervous in the extra holes, 21-year-old Creamer prevented 47-year-old Inkster from becoming the oldest winner in LPGA history.
"Juli, what can I say? She definitely made me win it. I'm done. I'm mentally done right now."
Inkster, seeking her 32nd LPGA title, rolled in a dramatic 72nd-hole putt to force a playoff with Creamer, rolling in a 20-foot birdie to finish 72 holes on two-under par 282.
"That was such a clutch putt at 18. That's why I idolize her," Creamer said. "I look so much up to her. We're so competitive."
Inkster curled in a birdie on the 18th last year to grab a share of the lead but lost a playoff to South Korean Mi Hyun Kim.
Creamer, who led by two when she reached the 18th tee, sent her approach over the green and blasted her third shot eight feet past the hole, giving her a chance for par and a victory in regulation.
Tapped
Instead, Creamer rolled her par putt right of the cup and one foot beyond, then tapped in to put herself in a playoff for the second week in a row, fighting off memories of missed chances and a loss to Sorenstam.
Replaying the 18th hole to start the playoff, Creamer put herself 12 feet from the cup while Inkster pulled her approach well left of the flag. Inkster rolled the ball near and tapped in for par, giving Creamer another putt to win.
On nearly the identical line as her prior putt at 18, Creamer's putt went just left of the cup. Creamer fell to her hands and knees as the ball rolled just wide.
On the second playoff hole, Creamer dropped her approach at the par-4 10th eight feet from the cup while Inkster, who won eight LPGA events before Creamer was even born, was again on the far side of the green.
Inkster just missed a birdie and tapped in for par, and this time Creamer took advantage of her chance to win and found the bottom of the cup.
During the final round, Creamer had answered three bogeys with birdies on the next hole each time to hold off Inkster until the final hole.
Bogey
Creamer took bogeys at the second, seventh and 13th holes but responded with birdies at the third, eighth and 14th - keeping Inkster at bay each time when the veteran might have had a chance to close the gap on her 21-year-old rival.
Inkster, two down to Creamer when the day began, birdied the third hole but took a bogey at the sixth and birdied again at seven only to squander it with a bogey at the eighth. She then made nine pars in a row before the drama at 18.
American Angela Stanford and South Korean Jeong Jang shared third on 286, one stroke ahead of Americans Dorothy Delasin and Brittany Lang and world number one Lorena Ochoa of Mexico.
Ochoa, who fired a final-round 69, was trying to win an LPGA-record fifth event in a row but could not overtake Creamer and Inkster.
"I tried really hard. It didn't work. Hopefully I will start a new streak next week," Ochoa said. "This was a tough course for me, especially on the greens. It seems I didn't get the breaks."
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Rugby
