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Rust remover Creamer makes Hooters Tour stint to prepare for LPGA season |
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WINTER GARDEN, Fla. – There were quite a few cars lining the parking lot of West Orange Country Club this brisk February morning. It seemed several members had shown up to watch Paula Creamer make an unusual appearance in a NGA/Hooters Women's Series event. Or maybe not. A foursome of retirees on the first tee box offered directions to a roving reporter. When asked why they weren't out watching Creamer, they noted they'd "rather play golf." Apparently they weren't going to interrupt their Thursday morning game simply because the eighth-ranked player in the world was playing a mini-tour event on their home course. In fact, only three men were watching Creamer and Co. on the front nine during the final round Feb. 8, including her father, Paul. On the back side, a foursome of ladies waited patiently on each tee box behind Creamer's group. Guess they weren't out looking for pointers either. Much of the tournament felt like a practice round to Creamer. Players rode in carts and blended in with members. If a group needed a rules official, the tournament hard card gave participants a number they could call along with permission to use their cell phones. Because she's a non-member, it cost Creamer $750 to play in the tournament. With 17 players in the field, the winner's share was $3,000. Obviously Creamer, who earned $1,076,163 on the LPGA in 2006, wasn't in it for the money. She was in it to shake off a little rust. To get the nerves pumping over a 5-foot putt. To put the swing techniques she's been practicing into use. To resist the urge to drop another ball after a mishit. "The reason she's here is to remember what it's like to get one shot," said Paul Creamer. For Creamer, it was the longest offseason of her golfing career. In years past the 20-year-old hadn't gone more than a week without touching a club. This year she went five. Creamer admits she didn't even want to look at her clubs the first two weeks off. But then she started missing them and had to force herself to leave her beloved pink bag in the closet. "I kept wanting to get them out," said Creamer. "That was the best thing for me, missing it and wanting to start and work hard again." Perhaps the biggest benefit to Creamer's extended vacation is that the pain she's felt for months in her right wrist is gone. And the pain on top of her left foot that slowed her down at the end of the season is gone too. The Ritz-Carlton Members Golf Club in Sarasota, Fla., made Creamer an honorary member and she's been practicing there since the start of the year with her longtime swing coach David Whelan. But there's no practice session that can simulate something like hitting a fairway bunker shot to a tucked pin in tournament conditions. Rumor had it that Creamer hit her first tournament shot of 2007 out of bounds. That's not true. She blocked one right on No. 13, the first drive she's hit OB since she turned professional, as far as her father can recall. She went on to shoot 76 on that cold, windy day with Whelan acting as caddie. They went straight to the range after the round to continue their work. But no one was particularly worried. "I think a lot of players just rush onto the range with panic pressure," said Whelan, "trying to look for something rather than sticking with what they've been doing." With all that time off Creamer had plenty of time to ponder her winless sophomore campaign. She's come to the conclusion that she put too much pressure on herself. She realizes that she might need to go backwards before stepping forward as she works on some technical issues. Certainly she's learned more about how to balance her many sponsorship obligations, tournament schedule and personal life. (She has 11 sponsorship contracts for 2007.) Creamer and her family moved into their new home in Isleworth earlier in the week and are trying to sort through boxes before flying to Hawaii Feb. 11 for the start of the LPGA season. Her eyes sparkle and she gets downright giddy at the mention of this year's Solheim Cup. It's the "only thing she can think about" as she prepares for her third year on tour. Creamer finished second in her '07 debut at West Orange, 11 strokes behind Jenny Gleason, a UNC-Greensboro grad who made $11,004 in 12 starts on the LPGA last season. The only real drama of the day came on the 17th hole when a large, cockroach-looking creature stuck to Creamer's signature Sundog glasses in the middle of her downswing. "Get it off," Creamer squealed as she handed the glasses to Whelan. She somehow managed to hit her ball short of the green, and after chipping it past the hole, knocked in a testy putt to save par. Creamer may have started off the year a little bug-eyed, but really, hardly anyone noticed. • • • Beth Ann Baldry is a Golfweek senior writer. To reach her e-mail bbaldry@golfweek.com. - Posted Feb. 8, 2007 -- Click here for a printer-friendly version of this story |
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