American Paula Creamer defied the odds to win the women's US Open by four strokes at Oakmont to claim her first major championship.
The win was all the more incredible because of a career-threatening thumb injury that left Creamer fearing that she would never play golf again. She had surgery as recently as March to repair torn thumb ligaments and had to play through the pain during the final day, when she played 23 holes due to earlier rain delays.
Creamer, nicknamed the ‘Pink Panther’ because of her fondness for wearing the colour, beat joint second-placed Na Yeon Choi of South Korea (66) and Norway's Suzanne Pettersen (69) by four strokes. Her final-round 69 gave her a three-under 281 for the tournament.
Creamer, only 23 but considered the best player not to win a major, had won eight times on the LPGA Tour but had been frustrated by near misses in the big events. She was in tears after watching her final putt sink in the hole and became the first American to win the US Open since Christie Kerr in 2007.
