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Creamer Shoots Course-Record 60

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The Associated Press

Published: July 11, 2008

SYLVANIA, Ohio - Paula Creamer knew she was playing well. She just didn't know she was close to golf's magic number of 59.

Creamer birdied nine of the last 11 holes, including the final three, for a course-record 60 on the par-71 Highland Meadows layout Thursday. She held a five-stroke lead after the opening round of the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic.

The only surprise at the end of the day was the score.

"I didn't know it was a par 71," Creamer said with a laugh. "I thought it was a par 72. If I would have known that, who knows?"

Creamer would have had to hole out a 137-yard 7-iron from the fairway to shoot 59, though she didn't realize it at the time. She made a 20-foot birdie putt on her last hole for 60.

Only a handful of players have reached 59 in a competitive round on the PGA or LPGA tours. But Creamer was oblivious that she was so close to making history.

It was the 21-year-old's lowest LPGA round by four strokes. It matched the tour record of raw score for nine holes with a 27 on the home half.

"We were all standing on the green and Kimmie Mi Hyun Kim was looking at me, 'Wow, that was unbelievable.' I thought what did we shoot here? Sixty? I didn't know," Creamer said. "I didn't realize it."

Eun-Hee Ji and Gloria Park each shot a 65 and were largely overlooked in the wake of Creamer's round. Eva Dahllof and Young Kim had 66s. Defending champion Se Ri Pak, trying to become the first player to win the same LPGA tournament six times, shot a 68. Michelle Wie had a 70.

Twenty-one players had yet to finish when play was suspended late in the day by lightning and heavy rain. Annika Sorenstam set the LPGA Tour mark with her 59 in the second round of the 2001 Standard Register PING on a par-72 course. Creamer became the fourth LPGA Tour player to shoot 60 - the others are Meg Mallon (2003 Welch's/Fry on the par-70 Dell Urich Golf Course in Tucson, Ariz.), Jung Yeon Lee (2004 Welch's/Fry) and Anna Acker-Macosko (2004 Longs Drug Challenge, par-71 The Ridge Golf Course, Auburn, Calif.).

David Duval (1999 Bob Hope), Chip Beck (1991 Las Vegas) and Al Geiberger (1977 Memphis) are the only players to shoot 59 on the PGA Tour.

Creamer, No. 3 on the LPGA Tour money list, started on the back nine and was 4 under at the turn after birdies on 17 and 18. The rest of the way, she had all birdies except for a pair of two-putt pars.

Se Ri Pak shot rounds of 63 and 61 - establishing the course record - in winning the Farr in 1998.

PGA: At Silvis, Ill., Kenny Perry continued his best run in more than two decades on the PGA Tour, firing a 6-under 65 in the first round of the John Deere Classic that put him one stroke off the lead.

Perry, 47, is right behind Ken Duke and Charlie Wi in a tie for third after winning two events last month. Woody Austin was in a group at 5 under, with 2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson five strokes behind the leaders.

PGA EUROPEAN: Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els failed to break par in the first round of the Scottish Open, while Alexander Noren and Thongchai Jaidee shared the lead with 7-under 64s.

OBITUARY: Former PGA Tour professional and Duke Sports Hall of Fame member Mike Souchak, 81, died Thursday in Belleair.

Souchak won 15 events on the PGA Tour from 1955-66 and had 11 top-10 finishes in major championships.

He set a tour record for four-round low score at the 1955 Texas Open, opening with a 60 and finishing at 257. That record stood until Mark Calcavecchia's 256 at the 2001 Phoenix Open.

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