Paula Creamer, the 2005 Evian Masters champion, opened the first round of the Evian Championship with a seven-under-par 64 at the Evian Resort Golf Club on Thursday, where 14 years ago, she won as a teenager.
The 32-year-old Californian last topped a leader board in a major when she won the 2010 US Women’s Open and she hasn’t won for five years, since the 2014 HSBC Women’s Champions, but made seven birdies in a bogey-free round to end a scorching day a stroke ahead of South Korean trio Jin Young Ko, Inbee Park, Mi Hyang Lee and fellow American Brittany Altomare. England’s Mel Reid is also in the mix in a tie for sixth with the Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion, Jennifer Kupcho, two shots back on five-under-par.
Creamer, who played in black in temperatures of 35C, said: “I played well. When I got into trouble I managed to get the ball back in and get up and down with my wedge or get up and down, but gave myself a lot of looks for birdie and just was pretty consistent overall.
“I’ve been kind of changing my putting a lot the last several months. I got that putter in Kingsmill and literally walked over to the bag and picked it out of it. Then I would say Arkansas was really when I went to more of a split stance, my left foot behind. I’ve started AimPoint as well.”
After a long stretch of injury and personal struggles, it looks like Creamer’s year is finally turning around. Coming in fresh off three consecutive top-20 finishes, the first time she notched that streak since early 2014, she feels more confident and is looking to qualify for her eighth Solheim Cup appearance in September, under third-time captain Juli Inkster.
“I feel really just in control. I’m going to hit some shots that aren’t going to be perfect, but most the time I know where they come from. I haven’t honestly filmed my golf swing image in probably three months. We’re just really working. We have three or four key things that I work on every day. I think we’ve got a really good system going on now with my team. I’m confident and playing good golf. When you’re in control, you kind of feel better about going into tournaments with tighter pins, things like that. I mean, coming here obviously puts a big smile on my face thinking I was 19 years old when I won here, which was kind of unheard of at the time.
“It’s an awesome place and I’m so glad we’re here this time of year; it just really shows off the golf course better. It’s just so pretty, and hopefully the weather does not rain on us, but we’ll see what Mother Nature has for us.”
Dark and threatening clouds moved in later in the day, bringing wind for the later finishers – such as Lee – and a spot of rain at around 8pm.
With thunderstorms and potentially heavy rain forecasted for Saturday afternoon and evening, tee times have been moved up for the second round by 30 minutes. The first tee time of the day will be 7 a.m. Tournament officials want to take every precaution possible to finish the second round before the end of the day.
