{image1} The LPGA has found its next superstar.
She's a teenager with a Madison Avenue smile. She's a prom date dream, and the apple of any dad's eye. Her game is flawless. Her attitude, fearless. She'll talk trash, and then back it up.
And her name is not Michelle Wie.
Meet Paula Creamer, the 19-year-old phenom who will soon have everyone saying "Annika who?"
Even though it was tucked away on the Golf Channel during the NFL's opening weekend, Creamer's tour de force showing at the Solheim Cup has already made waves in golf circles.
As if simply qualifying for the event as an LPGA Tour rookie wasn't enough, Creamer was the rock of the team, winning three and half points in playing all five matches.
Then came Sunday.
Creamer didn't just draw some random Euro-scrub like Iben Tinning, or Gwladys Nocera. She got the Big Dog, Laura Davies. The female Monty.
And she gutted her like a fish.
Davies took iron off the first tee and hit it fat. Creamer took driver and smoked it down the gut. Her scorching 6-under par 30 on the front made Davies look utterly helpless. Then Creamer floored it to the finish line for a 7&5 drubbing that will be piled upon her spectacular debut season on tour.
The numbers are dizzying. Two wins, two seconds, and a third. $1.2 million in earnings. Eight top-10 finishes in 19 starts. Tied for second in birdies and putting, plus top-10 in three other stat categories.
Excuse me for asking, but where is ESPN and the rest of the "hype media" to give this girl her due? Oh yeah, that's right. She has no intention of playing the PGA Tour. All she wants to do is win and dominate on her level.
How quaint.
Creamer not only has the ability to captivate the relatively tiny audience of fans who already follow the ladies tour, but also to bring many more golf fans into the tent. And yeah, a lot of it has to do with good looks.
But before anybody brands us men as just drooling ogres whose idea of a perfect female sport is anything with hot bods in tight clothes, think again. If that were the case, beach volleyball would rival the NFL in ratings.
Creamer has both good looks, and "the look." And it's important to know the difference. That she's closer on the LPGA spectrum to Natalie Gulbis than Pat Hurst is nice for marketing sake. But it is the look in her eyes when lining up a winning putt that will keep newly minted LPGA fans tuned to the TV.
Women athletes with a killer instinct have always had an appeal to men. To see the competitive animal which alpha males identify with, wrapped in feminine skin, is nature's ultimate aphrodisiac.
Television, movies, and pop culture are rife with examples of this. There's a reason why it was "Xena: Warrior Princess" and not just "Xena: Warrior." The Princess part of it was essential. Who wants to watch a female warrior with a hunched back, bad teeth, and hair on her lip? Same thing with "La Femme Nikita." A hit-man named "Earl" can't compare to a hot blonde in heels ready to put a bullet in somebody's head.
This killer instinct was on display when Creamer made the team. Captain Nancy Lopez turned as pink as one of Creamer's headcovers when she heard the rook inform the Europeans that "they should get ready to get beat." Heady stuff for a kid yet to hit her first ever Solheim Cup shot.
Killer instinct. You heard me. Now come get some.
"I'm laying it down," Creamer said with a mega-watt smile in front of everybody at the press conference. Boy did she ever.
Maybe Creamer should take a whack at the PGA Tour a few times, if for no other reason than to soak up the cheap publicity. I doubt she'd do any better than Wie, especially since she's not nearly as long at 249.5 yards average off the tee, 64th on the LPGA. Still, that's only six yards behind Corey Pavin, and he's 93rd on the PGA Tour money list this season.
The fact that Creamer has no desire to be in also ran among the men, but a legend among the women is a huge bonus for incoming LPGA boss Carolyn Bivens. Mix in what might be a sizzling rivalry between the Pink Panther and the Big Wiesey, and the ladies tour is primed for growth.
And let's not forget the persistent 17-year-old Morgan Pressel, who is so chomping at the bit to turn pro, she even scolded outgoing Commissioner Ty Votaw in a letter for strictly upholding the LGPA's 18 and over age limit.
The three of them, plus a Natalie Gulbis (who is apparently not just in this sport to sell calendars) will draw plenty of guys like myself to the tube on Sunday afternoon.
Especially when it comes down to a choice between watching these gals, or figuring out the difference between Geoff Ogilvy and Joe Ogilvie on a random Tiger-less week in July. (Hint: stare at their last names closely until you notice the difference, or pass out from boredom.)
Most of the time, us men get browbeaten by feminists to pay more attention to women's sports. They tell us to appreciate their subtle skills, and learn their game's nuances. That approach never works. It's like being yelled at to eat your broccoli.
In the end, the product must be good, the stars must shine, and the rivalries need to be real.
As Paula Creamer is proving, the LPGA is poised to make convincing arguments on all of those fronts to millions of golf fans who never gave the women's game a second thought.
Steve is a native Washingtonian and has worked in sports talk radio for the last 11 years. He worked at WTEM in 1993 anchoring Team Tickers before he took a full time job with national radio network One-on-One Sports.
A graduate of UC Santa Barbara, Steve has worked for WFNZ in Charlotte where his afternoon show was named "Best Radio Show." Steve continues to serve as a sports personality for WLZR in Milwaukee and does fill-in hosting for Fox Sports Radio.
