March 2, 2014: America’s Paula Creamer sank a 75-foot eagle on the second playoff hole against Azahara Munoz to seal victory at the HSBC Women’s Champions on Sunday. This is Creamer’s first LPGA title since the 2010 U.S. Women’s Open.
Creamer’s putt curled across the green and then rolled slowly down the slope into the hole. She ran across the green, then fell to her knees and put her head on the ground, laughing and pounding the grass.
Creamer and Munoz finished 72 holes tied at 10-under 278, setting up a playoff after Karrie Webb, the leader after every round this week, made a series of mistakes to give up a three-stroke lead on the back nine.
“This has been such a long time coming,” the 27-year-old said.
The American made a difficult 12-footer for birdie on the 15th to pull even with Webb at 10 under. Then, after hitting into the bunker herself on No. 18, she recovered to save par and headed to the clubhouse to wait for Munoz to finish.
The Spaniard, who had trailed by five strokes early in the round, came out of nowhere to join the leaders by sinking a 12-foot birdie putt on the 17th. She had a chance to win it on the 18th but pulled her birdie putt wide.
Webb had three bogeys in her last six holes to finish third at 9 under.
“I’m a bit in my head right now,” Webb said after the round. “Just not a lot of good decisions.”
Creamer, who trailed Webb by four strokes at the start of the day, has had a number of top-5 finishes since her breakthrough win at the U.S. Women’s Open, but hadn’t been able to capture another title.
She was third in Singapore last year and finished in a tie for third twice to start this season: at the Women’s Australian Open and the Bahamas LPGA Classic.
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