Baldry: Who will win major No. 1?
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RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – Lorena Ochoa is off the hook in at least one major championship category: She finally won. Ochoa ran away from the field at the Ricoh Women’s British Open last summer and shed the best-player-to-have-never-won-a-major title. Of course now she’s expected to win plenty more to validate her position among golf’s greats, but she had to start somewhere. That long-winded, slightly flattering, pressure-packed moniker now falls on someone else’s shoulders.
So who’s next?
As far as tournament titles go among active players, Mi Hyun Kim and Rachel Hetherington have the most wins without a major at eight apiece. Michelle McGann is at seven, Hee-Won Han has six and Paula Creamer checks in with five. (Ochoa was at 12 before breaking through at St. Andrews.)
There’s no question that Creamer, No. 2 in the
Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings, headlines that list. She’s played the strongest in recent seasons, finishing second on the money list in 2005 and third in ’07.
The Pink Panther gears her season around the majors and is well-versed enough in pressure situations to handle a final group on Sunday.
At this point in her career, it’s unfair to question Creamer too much for not winning a big one. She’s only been on tour since 2005. She’s only 21 years old. But the five-time winner knows what people have come to expect.
“I think it’s nice that I have that ability in people’s eyes to win majors,” Creamer said. “At the same time, I’m trying my hardest. It’s not like I want to sit here without a major win.”
Kim’s been dreaming about her championship dive since she joined the tour in 1999.
“I can swim well,” she said.
The petite Korean, known on tour as “Peanut,” has finished in the top eight on the money list seven of her nine years on tour. Kim, 31, raised a few eyebrows in the media room several years ago at the Kraft when she said her parents wouldn’t let her get married before she won a major championship.
Turns out they weren’t joking.
“They change their minds because I’m older now,” Kim said with a laugh. “Now if I have a good boyfriend it doesn’t matter.”
Kim started dating Olympic gold medalist Won Hee Lee in Korea during the offseason after they rehabbed at the same hospital. Hee, who won gold in judo four years ago in Athens, was recovering from foot surgery while Kim underwent knee surgery in December immediately after the Pinx Cup and spent 78 days recovering in a Korean hospital. She didn’t swing a club until the HSBC Women’s Champions in Singapore last February. The 5-foot-1 Kim lost 20 yards in distance that week and withdrew on the weekend because she feared her knee wouldn’t hold up in poor weather.
Kim returned home to Orlando, Fla., after Singapore and began working with her trainer to gain back those precious yards. She’s recovered all but five, but when you average 241.8 yards off the tee, every little bit counts.
Any other year, Kim would consider the Kraft Nabisco her best chance at winning a major. But the fairways are on the soft side this year and she might not be strong enough to contend. Kim estimates her recovery right now at 80 percent and said the pain usually starts flaring up around the 14th hole. It will take pinpoint accuracy and a fighting spirit to have a major breakthrough this week.
In some ways, however, Kim has already come a long way in 2008. Her relationship with Lee helps keep poor rounds in perspective.
Golf used to be her life.
“Right now if I play a little bad I’m happy because he makes me happy,” Kim said.
The pressure nowadays is a different kind of pressure. If Kim doesn’t perform to her usual standards, she worries people back home will blame the presence of a new beau.
“They can’t see what’s in here,” she said, patting her heart.
Critics only see results. And in some cases, only care about majors.
Posted: 4/2/2008
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