Paula Creamer

Paula Creamer (born August 5, 1986) is an American professional golfer on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour.

As a professional, she has won 12 tournaments, including 10 LPGA Tour events.

Creamer has been as high as number 2 in the Women's World Golf Rankings.

At the age of 12, she won 13 consecutive regional junior events in northern California, and the following year she became the top-ranked female junior golfer in California, before moving to Bradenton, Florida in 2000 and enrolling at IMG Pendleton School, a co-educational prep school for athletic students.

On two occasions (2002 and 2003), Creamer played on the United States team in the Junior Solheim Cup.

During Creamer's amateur career, she won 19 national tournaments, including 11 American Junior Golf Association events, and was named Player of the Year by the AJGA in 2003.

She was a semi-finalist in the 2003 U.S. Girls' Junior and U.S. Women's Amateur, and reached the same stage of both events the following year.

In June 2004 Creamer placed second in the LPGA Tour's ShopRite LPGA Classic, finishing one stroke behind Cristie Kerr.

In December 2004 Creamer won the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament by five strokes to secure membership on the Tour for the 2005 season.

She opted to turn professional immediately after the event at the age of 18.

Creamer joined the LPGA Tour in the 2005 season, and her victory in that year's Sybase Classic made her the LPGA's second-youngest event winner.

Creamer was born in Mountain View, California, and raised in Pleasanton, the only child of an airline pilot father and stay-at-home mother.

The family's home overlooked the first tee of the Castlewood Country Club's golf course.

Creamer participated in acrobatic dancing and gymnastics during her childhood, and started playing golf when she was 10 years old.

Upon joining the LPGA Tour in 2005, Creamer quickly became a top player.

On May 22, she holed a 17-foot birdie putt on the final hole of the Sybase Classic in New Rochelle, New York, to win by one stroke.

Creamer became the youngest winner of a multiple-round tournament in LPGA history.

After her strong first-year performance, Creamer was second behind Sörenstam in the inaugural Women's World Golf Rankings, which were released on February 20, 2006.

Her 2006 season, however, was not as successful.

She did not win a tournament, and was hampered by wrist and foot injuries during the year.

Creamer still managed to earn over $1 million and make the cut in all 27 LPGA tournaments in which she played, compiling 14 top-10 finishes.

Her best result of the season was a tie for second at The Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions.

In 2007, Creamer rebounded with two LPGA Tour titles.

She was the 2010 U.S. Women's Open champion.

As of the end of the 2023 season, Creamer was 19th on the all-time LPGA career money list with earnings of $12,161,187.

As an amateur, Creamer won numerous junior golf titles, including 11 American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) tournaments.

(Marlene Hagge won twice at a younger age than Creamer. Both wins came in 18-hole events.) Her record lasted until 2011, when Lexi Thompson won the Navistar LPGA Classic at the age of 16.

On July 23, she claimed her second title of the year, winning the Evian Masters tournament in France by an eight-shot margin.

She became the youngest and quickest player to reach $1 million in LPGA career earnings.

In August Creamer won the NEC Open on the Japan LPGA tour, and added a victory at the Masters GC Ladies tournament two months later.

Creamer earned a spot on the U.S. Solheim Cup Team, becoming the youngest player to do so.

She helped the U.S. team win the cup, going 3–1–1 for the competition.

Creamer won the LPGA Rookie of the Year award for her season, in which she earned over $1.5 million, second on the money list behind Annika Sörenstam, and recorded eight top-three finishes.

Later that year she tied for 13th in the U.S. Women's Open and represented the United States in the Curtis Cup.

On February 17, she won her third career LPGA title at the SBS Open at Turtle Bay, making a 40-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole of the final round to defeat Julieta Granada by one shot.

In November, Creamer won The Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions, defeating Birdie Kim by eight strokes.

She also played in her second Solheim Cup, leading both sides in points earned.

Creamer went unbeaten in five matches as the U.S. team retained the cup.

For the

season, she posted 13 top-10 finishes and earned over $1.3 million, third on the money list.