US Open (Creamer)

[bangkokbobby]

Much like my post about Michelle Wie, a win by the Pink Panther would be huge for American LPGA fans. However, the writer of this article thinks the setup of the course will not be favorable for Paula given her thumb injury.

original link: 2010 U.S. Women's Open: Firm set-up not ideal for Creamer's thumb

2010 U.S. Women's Open: Firm set-up not ideal for Creamer's thumb

Monday, July 05, 2010
By Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

It is difficult enough trying to prepare for a U.S. Women's Open, especially at that old brute, Oakmont Country Club. But it is even more difficult for Paula Creamer, who can't practice shots off the ground and has to limit her practice rounds because of a left thumb injury that has bothered her for more than a year.

Creamer will be on the course today when the first of three practice rounds get underway at Oakmont, but how long she plays -- and how many days she will practice -- is yet to be determined.

"We'll see how my thumb feels," Creamer said.

It has been that way since June 2009.

Creamer's left thumb has a stretched ligament that has led to hyperextension of the joint that connects the thumb to the palm of her hand. She just returned to the LPGA Tour a month ago and has played in only three full events this season and missed the cut this past weekend at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic in Sylvania, Ohio -- a tournament she won in 2008.

When she practices, Creamer is mostly limited to hitting shots off a tee to avoid the vibration of her club hitting the ground. She will practice wedge shots of 50 to 60 yards off the grass, but that is it.

It did not bother her two weeks ago at the LPGA Championship -- her second tournament back -- because the ground was wet and soft from rain. But, at the Jamie Farr Classic, she said the firmer ground on the practice range and in the fairways was more troublesome to her thumb.

Much of the same awaits her at Oakmont, which quickly has been hardening to tournament conditions with all the dry, warm weather.

"Its tough everyday," Creamer said. "I keep saying it's a new day, and we'll see how it feels that day. It's kind of going through a shock right now. On [firmer] grass, it doesn't give, it doesn't want to rip through it. It just wants to stop.

"I've kind of overcome that I feel like I know it's going to hurt. At the beginning, when I first started hitting balls, you had to tell yourself it's going to hurt, but that's something you have to do. Out of the rough, yeah, it's going to hurt more. But it's not like it's a problem mentally or anything that I have to overcome."

Creamer is more than just one of America's sweethearts, a player who is nicknamed the "Pink Panther" because she always wears the color pink. She is one of the tour's best and most marketable players, an eight-time winner who has appeared on three U.S. Solheim Cup teams.

What's more, she has finished in the top 20 in each of the past six U.S. Women's Opens, including a sixth in each of the past two. Before her thumb injury, she had finished in the top 20 in 17 of her past 21 major tournaments. But, oh, that thumb.

It was around this time a year ago when Creamer initially injured her thumb hitting a shot from the rough at the Wegman's LPGA Classic. That forced her to withdraw the following week from the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic, where she was the defending champion. Creamer tried to play through the injury, then aggravated her thumb in the season-ending LPGA Championship in Houston.

The same injury forced her to withdraw from the tour's season-opening event in Thailand and she did not return until three weeks ago.

"I would say my thumb is a 6," Creamer said, asked to categorize her injury on a scale of 1 to 10. "My game, I would say, is the same. It's not where I want it to be. However, I am out here and I'm playing as well as I can. I'm very limited with what I can do, which is tough to take the next step."

And it is even tougher to do so at Oakmont, which is playing host to the U.S. Women's Open for the first time since 1992. Creamer played a couple of practice rounds there a month ago when the course was a little softer.

And Mike Davis, the USGA's senior director of rules and competition, already has added 15 more yards to the course setup, extending the yardage to 6,613 yards.

"It's fantastic," Creamer said of Oakmont. "I can't say enough about it. It's a great golf course. It's going to be tough, and I'm sure they're going to make it even harder than what it should be. But that's a U.S. Open.

"The preparation for me has totally changed from last year and year before that, just because of my injury. For me, I need to play more than just hitting balls on the range. I have to be able to go out there and hit different shots. My warm ups consist of balls off the tee. That wouldn't do me any good."

Especially at Oakmont.

[bangkokbobby]

Paula walks us thru #3 at Oakmont...and talks about her thumb...

Pink Panther Prowls the 3rd Hole at Oakmont

[NTB]

Video removed. Why?

[bangkokbobby]

The owner reloaded the video...try it now...I reposted it with the new url...should be ok...

[Blue]

Great video. Thanks for posting.