Paula Creamer claimed her sixth career LPGA Tour victory at the SemGroup Championship presented by John Q. Hammons after defeating Hall of Famer Juli Inkster in a sudden-death playoff. Creamer made birdie on the second hole of the playoff to take home the title.
Creamer posted a two-under-par 282 (70-71-69-72), the highest score in relation to par in the Tournament’s history. She held a two-stroke lead on the final hole of regulation but suffered her fourth straight bogey on the challenging 18th after Inkster (72-73-67-70=282) made a brilliant 18-foot birdie putt. The players each made par as they repeated the 18th as the first playoff hole. They then moved on to the par-4 10th hole, where Creamer stuck a 7-iron to eight feet. After Inkster narrowly missed her birdie putt, Creamer calmly made her own to capture the 2008 title and a $270,000 payday.
“It was something that I grinded out all day long. I was not going to lose this week. I was going to win this golf tournament, and I did in the playoff,” said Creamer. “This is a major type golf course and for sure, definitely these four days it was, that’s for sure.”
It was the second straight week that Creamer had to compete past 72 holes of regulation. Last week, she lost to Annika Sorenstam on the 73rd hole at the Stanford International Pro-Am.
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