Creamer Chasing Lewis at Women's Open
by Mulligan Stu
on Jun 28, 2008 7:36 PM EDT
in News
And Inbee Park is chasing Creamer, and Mi Hyun Kim is chasing Park, and Angela Park is chasing everyong. And Annika is somewhere in the rearview mirror. And Lorena just wants to get it over with.
The leaderboard after Round 3 at the U.S. Women's Open:
Stacy Lewis, 73-70-67--210
Paula Creamer, 70-72-69--211
Helen Alfredsson, 70-71-71--212
Inbee Park, 72-69-71--212
In-Kyung Kim, 71-73-69--213
Mi Hyun Kim, 72-72-70--214
a-Maria Jose Uribe, 69-74-72--215
Angela Park, 73-67-75--215
Young Kim, 74-71-71--216
Momoko Ueda, 72-71-73--216
Teresa Lu, 71-72-73--216
Jeong Jang, 73-69-74--216
Odd to think that Stacy Lewis is two years older than Paula Creamer, and four years older than Inbee Park and Angela Park. Creamer's been on Tour for, what, 12 years now? She joined when she was 9, if I'm remembering correctly.
Lewis, meanwhile, was a fifth-year senior at Arkansas this year and turned pro following the Curtis Cup. And her being in first place is no fluke. She finished fifth at last year's Kraft Nabisco Championship. She's a stud, in a manner of speaking.
And I like her. I like her a lot. I'll be cheering for her on Sunday. Which probably dooms her chances.
Looking at raw talent, the pick has to be Creamer, doesn't it? She's in position, she's putting well, she's overdue. She doesn't have a good record in majors, though. She's done OK, some high finishes, but in the USGA amateur tournaments - going back to the Junior Girls - and in professional majors, she's really never forced the issue on the final day. Can she tomorrow?
I think the winner comes from the group of Lewis, Creamer and Inbee Park. Outside of those three, Angela Park has the best ability go low. If Angela shoots 67 on Sunday, she gets to 10-under, one better than where Lewis is now.
As for the others: Alfredsson? No chance. If Alfredsson wins, I'll play my next round of golf wearing only tighty whiteys. And I'll post pictures of it. So you better hope Alfredsson doesn't win!
I.K. Kim, Mi-Hyun Kim? They won't go low, although I.K. has a better shot than Mi-Hyun. Uribe? Fantastic showing, great young player (anyone catch why she won't be defending at the U.S. Am?), but I can't see her getting below 70 tomorrow. Ueda or Jang? Too far back.
Inbee Park, Creamer and Lewis can win with solid rounds that include lots of pars. Angela Park is the only player beyond those who might get down to 67 tomorrow.
Can anyone shoot 65? Annika can. She won't, but she can. And at 2-under, that would get to her to 10-under, so 65 is what Sorenstam has to shoot to have a chance to win. Not likely.
(Or am I giving the leaders too much credit? Is it more likely, in your opinion, that the leaders will come back a little?)
Lewis, Creamer, Inbee Park. Who's it gonna be?
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not threesomes
According to the Women’s US Open web site, they will be playing in twosomes tomorrow – not threesomes. This makes no sense. They play in threesomes every other week, and have played threesomes the first three days of this tournament. Now they switch to twosomes ??
So the final groups look like this:
Momoko Ueda and Young Kim at 11:50.
Angela Park and Maria Jose Uribe at 12:00
Mi-Hyun Kim and In-Kyung Kim at 12:10
Helen Alfredsson and Inbee Park at 12:20
Stacy Lewis and Paula Creamer at 12:30
I haven’t figured this tournament out. It’s supposed to be a US Open, but there are 19 players under par. If this was the men’s Open, -9 would be a nearly historic number, and there might be one or two players within 3 or 4 shots – but this tournament isn’t weeding out the inexperience players, and the “best of the best” hasn’t been playing her best for the last month.
If this type of leaderboard was at the top of the men’s US Open – I would say that anybody within 6 or maybe 7 shots at the start would have a chance. With the men and the difficulty of the courses they play, you expect to see the top of the field back up.
Interlachen hasn’t seemed to put a scare into anybody. Stacy Lewis has been a pro just a few months and she just put up a 6-under 67 on SATURDAY. That’s not supposed to happen at a US Open.
Stu’s right – Paula Creamer is supposed to be the best player at the top of this leaderboard, but she can’t seem to prove that she’s consistent enough to step up in these big situations. But Helen Alfredsson, thanks to Mark Rolfing’s “gentle reminder” about her age (and he’s going to pay for that one) has more experience in big situations than anyone near the top. She may not have all the wins, but she’s been there and is playing very well.
As bizarre as it sounds, I’m going all the way back to the group at -4 as my cut-off. Uribe looked scary good on Thursday. If she hits her zone again, she could close the gap in a big hurry. It’s a shame that Ueda isn’t a shot better.
Then there are the two Kim’s playing together. Mi Hyun has shown in the past that she can play with and beat the best on any given day – and she seems to be healthy and back on form.
This could be a crazy Sunday. I’m not on the Creamer bandwagon, and I would enjoy seeing Alfredsson win a major, and I picked the Korean contingent before the tournament started.
How about Alfredsson and Mi Hyun Kim in a playoff ?
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on Jun 28, 2008 10:18 PM EDT 0 recs
I'm for Mi Hyun Kim and Momoko Ueda
Winds will be up by the time the leaders go off. Ueda is near the top of both ballstriking and putting stats, so I see her posting a decent #, Kim drawing on her experience to match it, and everyone else ahead of them dropping like flies. Playoff at -5.
by The Constructivist on Jun 29, 2008 8:40 AM EDT 0 recs
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