Creamer cards record 60
Paula Creamer knew she was playing well. Just not how well.
Creamer birdied nine of the last 11 holes, including the final three, for a course-record 60 on the par-71 Highland Meadows layout in Sylvania, Ohio. She held a five-stroke lead after the opening round of the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic.
Only after she finished did she realize how close she came to golf’s magic number of 59.
“I didn’t know it was a par 71,” Creamer said. “I thought it was a par 72. If I would have known that, who knows?”
She would have had to hole out a 137-yard, 7-iron from the fairway to shoot 59. She rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt for her 60 — her best round on tour by four strokes. Only a handful of players have reached 59 in a competitive round on the PGA or LPGA tours.
“We were all standing on the green and Kimmie [Mi Hyun Kim] was looking at me, ‘Wow, that was unbelievable,’ ” Creamer, 21, said. “[I thought] what did we shoot here? Sixty? I didn’t know. I didn’t realize it.”
Elsewhere in golf:
• Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els failed to break par in the first round of the Scottish Open in Luss, while Alexander Noren and Thongchai Jaidee shared the lead with 7-under 64s.
• Ken Duke and Charlie Wi shot 7-under 64s in the first round of the lightning-delayed John Deere Classic at Silvis, Ill., one ahead of Kenny Perry.
