Golf Central

Lost in all the hubbub of Tiger Woods' smashing victory at the WGC-Match Play Championship in Arizona is the fact that Paula Creamer has really nice legs.

(Sorry, we digressed there, for a minute. But try looking at nothing but pictures of Tiger Woods for five straight days, and then you see a picture of Paula Creamer's legs, and it makes you realise that there's more to golf than the Big Cat. Sorry, Tiger).

And not only that, Paula's victory in Kapolei, Hawaii at the Fields Open was dramatic in its own right. The 21-year-old starlet has a streak of her own going: Creamer has now won twice in her last four starts, and that's LPGA Tour victory No. 5 for the chirpy little daughter of an airline pilot from California. Using her trademark pink ball in the final round, Creamer shot 66 for a 16-under total of 200, with four birdies on the final five holes to beat Jeong Jang of South Korea.

"I'll always remember this finish," said Paula. So will we. Thanks, Paula ... and look out, Lorena Ochoa ...

PGA Tour
Mayakoba Golf Classic: About the only scenery more stunning than Paula Creamer's pins this weekend were the gorgeous vistas of El Camaleon Golf Club in Playa del Carmen, on Mexico's tropical Yucatan peninsula. This is where the PGA Tour kindly sent the rest of its players not qualified for the elite-only world match play field in Arizona, and what a nice trip it was for the "opposite-field" boys.

It was especially so for Brian Gay, who won his first PGA Tour title by two shots over Steve Marino after closing with a 1-under 69. It was Gay's 293rd career PGA Tour start (only 12 active players had entered more events on the tour without a win than the 36-year-old Texan). Gay had notched a pair of second-place finishes, at the 2001 Colonial and the 2002 Buick Open ...

Champions Tour
Champions Skins Game: There was another rally in Kaanapali, Hawaii, where the old-timers were battling it out in the alternate-shot team skins event. Fuzzy Zoeller and Peter Jacobsen teamed up to win six skins and $320,000, knocking off defending champs, the legends Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus. One of these days, we want to turn 50, go to Hawaii, smoke stogies, and win a lot of money for a skins game. We just need a little more time to practice the old golf game, though ...

Nationwide Tour
Moonah Classic: In the co-sanctioned Australasian-Nationwide Tour event in Melbourne, Australia, 25-year-old Aussie Ewan Porter waltzed to victory with a final-round 66 for a 13-under winning total, enough for a seven-shot win over DJ Brigman and Tee McCabe from the States.

So they were just a bunch of pretty faces, huh?...:  I never said they weren't.
Don't you argue with me. You said all I cared about was the way the LPGA Team looked...:  I was right. Do you feel validated now that these three blonde bombshells have beaten the big boys from the PGA and Champions Tours?
You bet. Especially the way Cristie Kerr got over that clutch putt on the playoff ...: Stop it, you perv!
Hey, it was a clutch putt...:  Fair enough. So just how did our lovely trio of Natalie Gulbis, Morgan Pressel and Cristie Kerr go about this, ermm, stunning victory?
I just told you. They tied with the senior tour guys at 7-under and Fred Funk missed his putt ...:  Actually that's not what you said.
Well anyway, and Cristie's putt won it for the LPGA threesome for only the fourth time in 16 years...:  Who won the individual honours?
I dunno. I think it was Bubba Watson. He shot 64 or something...:  I can tell you were really watching the tournament.
Natalie and Morgan were really giving Cristie a lot of encouragement on that last putt ...: You caught the highlights obviously.
It was hard not to!...:  Well, the LPGA girls had an advantage, they got to play off shorter tees ...
Yeah, and they wore shorter skirts too ...:  I've had enough.
Did I say that Morgan shot a 68? ...

Whoooo hooo! I love Vegas baby!...:  Good lord who are you, Vince Vaughn? Calm down.
Did you see that blondie over there on the driving range?...:  Which one? ... oh yeah ... that's Cristie Kerr. By the way, she's the US Women's Open champion.
Phwoarr....:  Have you nothing else to say?
Yeah. Who's the one in the middle?...:  That's Natalie Gulbis, first-time winner on the LPGA this year. And the one on the right is Morgan Pressel, one of the ladies' tour's top players. Satisfied yet?
Wellllll ....:  Stop it. Dear me. Look, there goes Nick Price. He's one of the best golfers and nicest guys of all time. Don't you care one bit?
Nick who? Who's the old geezer standing alone on the side of the driving range hitting balls all by himself? ...:  That's Jay Haas. Along with Price and Fred "Bust Out Da" Funk, he's part of the Champions Tour team that are taking on the PGA Tour team of Chris DiMarco, Camilo Villegas and Bubba Watson, and the LPGA trio of whom, emmmm, you've noticed already.
Who's Camilo Villegas?:  The guy that the chicks like.
Oh. Three-tour challenge huh? I like this three-tour challenge, as long as ...:  Stop it right there. It's for a good charity. It's for the Dave Thomas charity for children who need adoption, you idiot. They've raised millions for a good cause while you've been sitting here salivating ...
OK. Just let me watch the players....:  Better yet, it will be on TV at Christmas-time. Set your Tivo and shut up til then ...

While the rest of her pretty blonde competition were off in Vegas smoothing up to the Silly Season at the Three-Tour Challenge festivities, Paula Creamer was still out playing real golf on the LPGA Tour.
     And despite her pretty in pink looks, Creamer's game looks in pretty good form, too. When was the last time you finished a round birdie-birdie-birdie-birdie-birdie-birdie-birdie (Paula's first round)? Or shot four straight rounds in the sixties, like Paula did (67-65-68-68)?
     Didn't think so. Well, that's just what Our Girl In Pink did. Paula smoked the competition at the LPGA's Tournament of Champions in Mobile, Alabama, running away with an 8-shot victory over Birdie Kim, who did not have enough birdies in her name or game to match Paula. It was Creamer's fourth LPGA title, and she is only 21 years old.
     How competitive is our Paula?...

For those of us who can't chew gum and walk at the same time, it's nice to see a guy like Rick Rhoden come along, proving men can actually multi-task. Even if Rhoden didn't do all his multi-tasking at once.
     You see, Rhoden, at age 54, is on the verge of winning a card to play full-time on the PGA's Champions Tour. Last week the Floridian shot a pair of 68s at MetroWest Country Club in Orlando, Florida to finish T6 in the regional stage of the senior circuit's Qualifying School at 4-under.
     Not bad for a guy who spent the first 16 years of his professional sporting career in major league baseball...