Sorenstam / Creamer Dispute

[Katabatic]

Associated Press

11/17/2005 9:01:02 PM

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Paula Creamer wasn't about to give Annika Sorenstam an inch.

The season-ending ADT Championship got off to a rocky start Thursday when the top two players on the LPGA Tour got into a tense dispute on the 18th fairway over where Sorenstam should have taken a drop from the hazard.

"Neither one of them was going to budge," rules official Janet Lindsay said.

After a debate that lasted so long it was almost too dark to finish at Trump International, the ruling ultimately went Sorenstam's way. She was allowed to go to a ball drop instead of returning to the tee, although she still made double bogey and fell out of a tie for the lead.

Hee-Won Han led with a 5-under 67 that essentially went unnoticed. So, too, did a strong effort by Charlottetown's Lorie Kane, who fired an even-par 72 that put her in a tie for 10th in the season-ending event.



This round might be remembered as the start of a rivalry between the LPGA Tour's best players - one the undisputed star who already is in the Hall of Fame, the other a 19-year-old rookie with the moxie to stand up for what she thought was right.

"We were trying to determine where it went in," Sorenstam said. "We're standing 220 yards away, and we're talking about inches."

Creamer, who finished with a two-putt par for a 68, stared hard at Sorenstam as the Swede spoke to reporters, and the rookie later had an animated discussion with LPGA Tour commissioner Carolyn Bivens and Lindsay.

She said there were no hard feelings. But she didn't think Sorenstam took the right drop.

"It was her word versus my word," Creamer said. "I don't feel that it crossed (the hazard). We're never going to agree because she saw it differently. ... In my heart of hearts, I did not see it cross. It's her conscience. If she thinks it did, it did."

It wasn't their only dispute.

On the 16th green, after Sorenstam played a difficult chip from the side of a bunker to about six feet, the Swede asked if she could fix what appeared to be a pitch mark in the line of her putt. Creamer thought it was a scuff mark, made by spikes, that could not be repaired.

When Sorenstam called for a rules official, Creamer told her to go ahead and fix it, then turned her back as Sorenstam stooped down to make the repair. Sorenstam missed the putt.

But that was nothing compared with the 18th.

The 420-yard closing hole is among the most daunting at Trump International, with water down the right side as it bends to the right toward the green, with a bunker that feeds into the lake. Creamer hit the middle of the fairway. As evening clouds gathered, Sorenstam hit a four-wood that the strong breeze carried slightly to the right.

There was no splash. They found the ball inside the red hazard line, plugged.

And that's when the dispute began.

"It came in as a little banana," Sorenstam said, reasoning that it had to cross the land before going beyond the red hazard line.

Creamer thought it was over the water during its entire flight, meaning Sorenstam would have had to hit her third shot from the tee. The walking scorer tried to get involved, saying he saw it hit land.

"How could it trickle in if it's in the sand?" Creamer later said.

Another person in the gallery also said he saw it hit land, adding to the confusion.

"I don't know if it was a banana ball," Creamer said. "I think it did not cross up there. It was her word. She's the player."

That's the conclusion Lindsay, the rules official, reached. In case of a tie, the decision goes to who hit the ball.

Creamer is only a rookie, but she already has made it clear she has designs on replacing Sorenstam at No. 1. She won twice this year, including an eight-shot victory at the Evian Masters in France, and further stated her case as a rising star with her play at the Solheim Cup.

Sorenstam already sent one message to the youngsters. She won by eight shots at the Samsung World Championship last month when 16-year-old Michelle Wie made her professional debut. The Swede is going for her 10th victory of the year at Trump International, and already has 65 career wins.

But the gloves came off in the gloaming at Trump International.

Asked if Creamer was satisfied with the drop, Sorenstam said, "She didn't have to worry. She was in the fairway. It was probably the most fair thing."

Lost in the argument was a roller coaster round for both of them.

Creamer started strong with four birdies on the first six holes, until she hit a hybrid club into the water on the par-3 seventh and made double bogey.

Sorenstam, the defending champion, made four birdies in a five-hole stretch to put her name atop the leaderboard, and reached 6 under with a 20-foot birdie on the 13th.

But she caught a buried lie in the slope of a bunker right of the 14th green, barely able to identify the ball. She dug in her heels, knowing it was unlikely she could get out of the sand. She blasted away, only to see the ball roll back into her footprint. She was lucky to get that one out, to about 45 feet, and had to made a 12-footer for double bogey.

Back she came, hitting seven-wood from 210 yards to 15 feet for eagle to restore her lead.

Then came the bogey on the 16th, and the final hole that could serve as the beginning of some interesting times.

[JLindebergFan]

i know most of you don't dig paula so much, but that had to make you smile a little...

i post their post-round interviews (and hee-won's) under their names...
_________________
"Just hold me back or let me run." ---Stephen Malkmus

[SeoulBrother]

Paula, she's a real deal. You gotta have that kind of mentality to be a champ. She may not be my favorite player, but I gotta respect her competitive fire.

[fanofseri]

Creamer is yet another embarrassment to American golf. She basically called one of the most respected and honorable golfers in the world a liar. Trust me, it will catch up to Creamer one day.

[Verdant Garden]

I taped the round. Annika's 18th tee shot was the very last one recorded after my timing of two hours. I slowed down the tape and saw the ball plop into the sand upon landing. Considering the camera angle, it was really difficult to tell whether the ball "bananaed" to the spot but in my opinion, it appeared to do so.
_________________
It is golf. Gotta problem with that?

[PHILK_NJ]

Couldn't one also say that "one of the most respected and honorable golfers in the world" basically called Paula a liar? We have two players who disagree and the official made the call Annika's way. I don't have TGC, so I can't give an opinion.

I'm curious if Annika did a lot of jawing with the official before the ruling. I know of two past instances where she's used the "banana" ball flight argument to try to get excessive relief from temp. immovable obstructions (official rejected it both times). One was the 72nd hole at 2003 U.S. Open, the other was 2005 Samsung, I think.

[fanofseri]

I believe that all of the Seoul Sisters would have respected Annika's decision. Golf is self policing and the Korean players would have believed in Annika because they respect her as a person as well as a golfer. Creamer and her ilk are cancers on the tour.

[bart]

Perhaps Paula will replace Morgan the Mouth as the LPGA's biggest brat who needs a spanking<g>. Paula has the wins, though, to back it up. It's interesting that the 15 year old, now 16, Korean-American (MW) has yet to really shoot her mouth off in such a way as to offend.
BTW, when Paula makes a bad shot and then just stands there for 40 seconds, perhaps an official should go over to her and tell her to get her a$$ moving. Slow play isn't allowed either.
As always, don't take my posts too seriously.
Bart

[bangkokbobby]

Hmmm...maybe this is a good thing. It might not have been proper golf etiquette for Creamer to behave as she did...BUT, nobody has been able to get into Annika's head. Maybe the precocious Paula is the one to draw a line in the sand and fight.

It might not be such a bad thing for somebody...ANYBODY, to stare Annika down and see if she blinks.



Paula Creamer blasts out of a sand trap on the third hole during the first round of the ADT Championship at Trump International Thursday, Nov.17, 2005 in West Palm Beach, Fla.. (AP Photo/Steve Mitchell)
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He Who Rides A Tiger Is Afraid To Dismount (Qi Hu Nan Xia)

---Chinese Proverb

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[Chigger]

[JLindebergFan]

i stayed up late and watched the replay (not 1 mention nor hint of video of soo-yun)...

let's all admit that we have 2 stuborn players there...

not sure the deal with the scuff/spike mark on 16... paula definitely got into annika's kitchen though...

on 18, i don't see how that ball 'banana'd'... the way it was buried and the angle that it came in leads me to believe that she either hit a straight push or one that came back a little...

i don't think anyone has to put up with annika trying to push people around... so i'm cool with how paula handled things yesterday...

keep up the mojo today bert... i, for one, very much appreciate it...
_________________
"Just hold me back or let me run." ---Stephen Malkmus

[SeoulBrother]

One thing for sure, Annika and Paula need to kiss and make up prior to the Lexus Cup...

Even then I doubt that they'd be paired together in any of the match ups...

[HappyFan]

From the replay, it looked like it plopped straight into the sand, no rolling. I don't know what that old guy was talking about who said it rolled in there; no way THAT was true (it was pretty funny when Kay basically accused the guy of being senile). As to whether it curved in or not, who knows, but in that instance you have to take Annika's word for it unless the preponderance of the evidence says otherwise. Personally, I think from the angle of the hole the ball was in (which they showed close up a few times) that it looked like it came in from the water side.

The Creamer whiny face was in full display. At one point, Annika said something to her, and Creamer replied 'Whaat?' You could almost imagine her saying 'ohmigod' before it.

For those who say, 'Well, she got a double bogey': if she had gone back to the tee, it might have been even worse.

One thing I definitely dislike about Annika is her unwillingness to take a ruling. Once the official says that you should do it a certain way, what's the point of continuing to argue? It just makes you look pushy, especially if all you're doing is repeating the same points you made before. She did that at Samsung, too.

And what the heck does this comment mean:

Asked if Creamer was satisfied with the drop, Sorenstam said, "She didn't have to worry. She was in the fairway. It was probably the most fair thing."

It's most fair to whom? Creamer, or the rest of the field? Is Annika implying that just because Creamer had a good drive, she shouldn't question Annika if she thinks Annika is trying to take unfair advantage of the field?
_________________
Celebrating the Korean players on the LPGA
http://www.seoulsisters.com

[ghinhee]

"And what the heck does this comment mean:

Asked if Creamer was satisfied with the drop, Sorenstam said, "She didn't have to worry. She was in the fairway. It was probably the most fair thing."

To me it meant that it was none of her business.

The Whiner vrs the Wiener.

[Say_You_SeRi]

Attn Ms. Creamer.

words of wisdom you are likely too young to know. From a philisopher named Croce...

A. do NOT spit into the wind
B. do NOT pull on Superman's cape


I'm expecting a 58 from Annika today.