Creamer gets mad, prevails in playoff
Paula Creamer squandered another late lead and fell into a playoff she didn't want.
But she got the result she desperately needed, beating Juli Inkster on the second extra hole Sunday in the SemGroup Championship at Broken Arrow, Okla.
A week after losing to Annika Sorenstam in a playoff, Creamer bogeyed the 18th hole at Cedar Ridge for the third straight day and wound up in overtime when the 47-year-old Inkster, trying to become the oldest LPGA Tour winner, made an 18-foot birdie putt.
Instead of getting nervous, Creamer got mad. She twice gave herself birdie putts in the playoff, making an 8-footer on No. 10 for the victory.
Lost in a terrific duel was the end of Lorena Ochoa's winning streak. Going for a record-tying fifth straight victory, Ochoa never got on track, even in a final round absent of much wind. She closed with a 2-under 69 to tie for fifth, 5 shots behind.
Creamer was headed for the worst kind of streak.
She said she gave away the Stanford International Pro-Am last week in south Florida, losing the lead with a careless bogey on the 16th hole and losing to Sorenstam with a bogey on the first playoff hole when she left a 6-foot par putt short.
Creamer was a combined 6 over on her final three holes at Cedar Ridge, and looked as if she finally figured out how to finish it off until a hybrid from the 18th fairway sailed over the green and she missed a 10-foot par putt to shoot 1-over 72.
Inkster, who hasn't won in two years, made her longest putt of the day for a 70, and both finished at 2-under 282. But the seven-time major champion never gave herself a good look in the two playoff holes.
Creamer earned $270,000 for her sixth career victory, and second this year.
Wachovia Championship: Anthony Kim became the youngest PGA Tour winner in six years, cruising to a 5-shot win over Ben Curtis in the Wachovia Championship at Charlotte, N.C.
With Tiger Woods home recovering from knee surgery and unable to defend his title at Quail Hollow Club, the 22-year-old Kim turned in a masterful performance that brought comparisons to Woods.
Entering the day with a 4-shot lead, Kim birdied the first hole and was never threatened on his way to a 3-under 69. He set the tournament record with a 16-under 272 total, well ahead of a stacked field that included 18 of the world's top 25 players.
Kim earned $1,134,000 and became the youngest winner since Sergio Garcia won his third PGA Tour title in the 2002 Mercedes Championship.
Curtis closed with a 65. Jason Bohn (71) finished third at 10 under.
FedEx Kinko's Classic: Denis Watson birdied the final hole to win the FedEx Kinko's Classic at Lakeway, Texas, taking advantage of Nick Price's back-nine errors.
Watson, from Zimbabwe, closed with a 3-under 69 to finish at 10 under. He earned $240,000 for his second victory of the year and fourth overall on the Champions Tour.
Spanish Open: Ireland's Peter Lawrie won the Spanish Open in Seville, Spain, for his first European tour victory in 175 attempts, beating Ignacio Garrido with a par on the second hole of a playoff after the Spaniard's approach shot rolled into the water. Lawrie closed with a 5-under 67 to match Garrido (72) at 15-under 273.