I'm in Hawaii. Again. Yeah, what glamour. I've been spending most of the last week in a 12'x14' box in the middle of a refinery. I'm living the dream.
Anyway, I had a few hours of reprieve today and attended the LPGA Fields Open, which was being held at the resort where I am staying. After arriving, I started following local phenom Michelle Wie's group. Wie had shot 69 on Thursday and 73 on Friday to put herself 10 shots back and playing for a slighty larger share of the scraps awarded to the back end of the field. I stayed to watch Wie for three holes, and it was Vintage Wie.
On the 17th hole, her 8th of the day, Wie hit a fine fairway metal followed by a gorgeous wedge to 3 feet, which put her in position to get back one of the two shots to par she had lost before I got there. Of course, she missed the putt. Next on 18, she snap-hooked her fairway metal into the palm trees, and with me standing yards away, she hooded her mid-iron out of the rough and dropped the ball in the center of the lake in front of the green. After a drop, she pushed her approach shot right and short, nearly dunking it again. She failed to get it up and down from there and took a 7.
On the Par 5 1st, she pulled out The Big Wiesie and smashed a drive about 290 yards. Her approach shot landed in the front bunker, and she nestled her sand shot within 2 feet, finally making a birdie. So, blown three-footer for par, triple bogey, birdie. She's definitely a crowd-pleaser, but not in a good way. At this point, she's the female John Daly, with a flat stomach and without the alcoholic shakes.
After that display I started following the lead group, Jeong Jang, Song-Hee Kim, and Paula Creamer. The photogenic Creamer was the crowd favorite, but to that point, Jang had maintained her one-shot overnight lead and was playing solidly for the first few holes that I saw. Kim, a boyish, tall, thin drink of kimchi, was having a terrible day, 5 over par for the day when I joined the gallery, and was out of contention. The 5'-nothing Jang was actually outdriving the 5'9" Creamer, which was surprising to me anyway. Creamer was wearing a pink rhinestone-studded belt with a matching rhinestone-studded skull and crossbones buckle. The significance of the buckle would become evident to Jang (and me) only later.
Jang and Creamer traded pars until the 14th, a shortish par 5, where both reached the green in two. Creamer just missed an eagle putt, and Jang lagged her eagle try to 3 feet. Both birdied, and the lead remained one, 14 under to 13 under. On the 15th, a short par 4, Creamer and Jang both hit perfect drives, Paul to about 120 yards and JJ to about 100 yards. Creamer left her approach short, and Jang seized the opportunity like a matador facing a tired bull, spinning a wedge to within two feet. Jang buried the birdie after Creamer had missed her chip, and it looked to me like it was over. JJ had plunged the sword into this tournament's heart.
Creamer then hit a decent tee shot on the par 3 16th, leaving herself about a 12-foot birdie putt. I didn't have any confidence in her ability to birdie at this point, having seen her just miss putt after putt since the 5th hole. JJ hit her tee ball short, and lagged to within 3 feet left. Creamer then somehow finally curled her pink ball right into the right side of the cup to cut the lead to one. This was the first roar from the crowd I'd heard all day.
I still thought Paula was playing out the string, and I walked up to the green at 17 to put myself in better position to walk up 18 and to my car. I could see both drives in the fairway, and Creamer once again was away. She hit another pretty good shot to within about 12 feet. Nothing spectacular, but makeable. Jang played safe to the midde of the green to about 15 feet. JJ's approach put drifted right, and she settled for par. Then the injured bull started looking a whole lot more healthy, as Paula drained her birdie putt dead-center. Another big roar, and it's all-square with one to play.
I made my way up 18 and to the green to get a good vantage point. I could see the scorer at 18 leave his laptop and start making his way up the stairs to the big scoreboard as I walked past. I found a decent spot behind the green to watch the finish play out and I heard the crowd gasp and clap as the scorer put up a red "15" on Creamer's line to match Jang's red 15 that she had maintained since the birdie on the 15th hole. By that point, both ladies had reached the other side of the lake that Wie had almost lost two balls in. Creamer was away as usual, and her pink Bridgestone fluttered in, homing in on the cup. It hit softly, and landed to within 5 feet, eliciting the third and loudest roar to date. JJ landed her mid-iron short, rolling just off the right edge. Suddenly, this bull was not only alive, but kicking.
Jang rolled her birdie try three feet past, and it was Paula's turn. A look from behind, a look from the other side of the cup, and couple of short practice putts, and then, quickly, it was over. JJ, now you and I both know what the skull and crossbones were for. I guess Creamer was the matador, and this toro's ears were hers.
Paula Creamer's line on the last five holes: Birdie. Par. Birdie. Birdie. Birdie. That's about as spectacular a finish as you'll ever see at any golf tournament, or any sporting event for that matter, at any level. It was a privilege to witness. And, it sure beat sitting in a box all day.