Paula Creamer said that she was a little sad to have to pack up her 2010 U.S. Women's Open trophy in a box recently to ship it back to the USGA in preparation of this year's tournament. The trophy had sat on Creamer's kitchen table over the past year after she captured her first major championship title and she had grown accustomed to seeing it there every morning.
But Creamer hopes she can carry some of the lessons that she learned in her victory at Oakmont Country Club last year, as she attempts to defend her title this week on the East Course at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs.
This year's U.S. Women's Open will present many challenges, including its length. The par-71 East Course is the longest in U.S. Women's Open history at 7,047 yards. Creamer said that she took out one of her wedges from her bag this week and added a rescue club to help with the additional yardage. She also said that the difficulty of the greens will force players to have to play smart golf.
"It's an exhausting golf course," Creamer said. "It's a long walk, lots of thinking. Definitely if you lose your mind on one shot, it's gonna cost you big time here."
Creamer certainly has seemed to thrive under the tough conditions at the U.S. Women's Open. Since missing the cut in her first U.S. Women's Open back in 2003, Creamer has not finished outside of the Top 20. Including her victory last year, she has 3 straight top-10 finishes in this tournament. And now her hope is to bring back that trophy to sit on her kitchen table once again.
"It's been fun," Creamer said of being the reigning U.S. Women's Open champion. "I have done a lot of really neat things because of it. I got to fly in an F-16, just things that I don't think I would have done before. It's been a great ride. Hopefully I can feel it again if not this year then next year or the year after. It has been nice. It was a tough day when I had to give my trophy back, that's for sure."
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