Paula Creamer played through the pain this weekend.

The golf course? It was relegated to a bit part.

Sure, Oakmont played the lead for many during the U.S. Women’s Open as a lone golfer emerged on the red side of the ledger.

That was Creamer, who won her first major title by stretching a three-stroke, third-round lead to four by the close of business Sunday.

But while the golf course was getting the better of most who competed in the championship, Creamer had a closer and more personal foe throughout the weekend in Western Pennsylvania.

Paula Creamer plays from bunker in 2009 U.S. Open. Photo by John E. Kaminski

Her thumb, her left thumb that fewer than four months ago was opened to surgically repair a hyperextended joint.

“It just shows, you know, how much the mental side of golf can really take over,” Creamer told LPGA.com.

As Dan Jenkins once said: “You gotta play hurt.”

Creamer estimated the status of her thumb was still below 80 percent by the time she hit the interview room to discuss her victory, but the less-than-perfect digit may have allowed her to play her best.

Winning a U.S. Open is mostly about survival and the vast majority of competitors did not. Creamer’s painful thumb brought into play possibly the most critical element to winning a national championship.

“I’m an aggressive player just naturally. That’s who I am. That’s how I like to play golf,” Creamer said. “I totally have gone the opposite direction this week.”

Aggressive players make the highlight reels, but too often the conditions at a U. S. Open course take those players and their decisions and turn them into nightmares.

What hurt Creamer in the past, when she imploded at previous major championships like last year at Saucon Valley, didn’t at Oakmont because she couldn’t hit some of those shots.

The knockdowns were not in her bag and neither was the ability to aggressively shape a shot to get to a difficult pin. Hitting from the rough was aggravated, too, because of her hand.

So she played within herself and learned an invaluable lesson at the advanced age of 23. When caddie Colin Cain suggested laying up with a five-iron at the 17th, her pause was brief.

“You know, I believed I could do this. I believed I could do this when I had a cast on my hand. That’s what I just kept thinking about was Oakmont, Oakmont, Oakmont,” Creamer said. “And here we are, and it just — it’s amazing how, when you put a plan together how sometimes, you know, it works out. Sometimes it doesn’t, but for the most part, when it does, it’s the greatest feeling.”

Record and runner-up: That 59 didn’t lead to a victory, but it will lead to St. Andrews.

Paul Goydos matched history with a 59 in the first round of the John Deere Classic, becoming the fourth player to break 60 in a competitive PGA Tour round.  Al Geiberger, Chip Beck and David Duval are the others.

But a win was not to be as Steve Stricker’s birdie binge erased Goydos’ heroics.

Stricker shot 60 in the first round and was in the surprising position of second, but he quickly reordered his slot on the board with the outright lead by Friday and then outlasted Goydos by two strokes with a four-day run of 26-under par.

The TPC course at Deere run was simply defenseless.

Stricker’s 31 birdies for the week fell one shy of the record set by Mark Calcavecchia at the Phoenix Open in 2001 and matched by Paul Gow that same year. The 43-year-old Stricker took a six-stroke lead into Sunday and eased with a final-round 70 to successfully defend his John Deere title and claim his second victory this season.

“This is why we’re playing right here, to win trophies and win tournaments,” Stricker told PGATour.com. “No, I wouldn’t trade anything for this. This is the bottom line right here. Doesn’t matter how you get it done. It’s pretty special when they hand you that at the end of it all.”

Goydos, in search of his third PGA Tour victory, instead  leaves town with a piece of history and also the chance to play in his third straight British Open. He missed the cut in 2008 and finished 72nd last year at Turnberry.

“Playing in a British Open at St. Andrews, I think, is about as cool a thing as you can do,” Goydos said.

History on the horizon: The year’s third major for the men will also be the 150th anniversary of the tournament with the simple title: The Open Championship.

The Old Course will play host for the 28th time, the last in 2005 when Tiger Woods cruised to a five-stroke victory. Woods has won the last two Opens at St. Andrews.

Stewart Cink is the defending champion and hasn’t won a tournament since defeating Tom Watson in a playoff last year at Turnberry.

Mike Scarr is the editor of Golflink.com. He can be reached at golflinkeditor@demandmedia.com.

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