The LPGA has found its next superstar.

She's a teenager with a Madison Avenue smile. She's a prom date dream, and the apple of any dad's eye. Her game is flawless. Her attitude, fearless. She'll talk trash, and then back it up.

And her name is not Michelle Wie.

Meet Paula Creamer, the 19-year-old phenom who will soon have everyone saying "Annika who?"

Even though it was tucked away on the Golf Channel during the NFL's opening weekend, Creamer's tour de force showing at the Solheim Cup has already made waves in golf circles.

As if simply qualifying for the event as an LPGA Tour rookie wasn't enough, Creamer was the rock of the team, winning three and half points in playing all five matches.

Then came Sunday.

Creamer didn't just draw some random Euro-scrub like Iben Tinning, or Gwladys Nocera. She got the Big Dog, Laura Davies. The female Monty.

And she gutted her like a fish.

Davies took iron off the first tee and hit it fat. Creamer took driver and smoked it down the gut. Her scorching 6-under par 30 on the front made Davies look utterly helpless. Then Creamer floored it to the finish line for a 7&5 drubbing that will be piled upon her spectacular debut season on tour.

The numbers are dizzying. Two wins, two seconds, and a third. $1.2 million in earnings. Eight top-10 finishes in 19 starts. Tied for second in birdies and putting, plus top-10 in three other stat categories.

Excuse me for asking, but where is ESPN and the rest of the "hype media" to give this girl her due? Oh yeah, that's right. She has no intention of playing the PGA Tour. All she wants to do is win and dominate on her level.

How quaint.

Creamer not only has the ability to captivate the relatively tiny audience of fans who already follow the ladies tour, but also to bring many more golf fans into the tent. And yeah, a lot of it has to do with good looks.

But before anybody brands us men as just drooling ogres whose idea of a perfect female sport is anything with hot bods in tight clothes, think again. If that were the case, beach volleyball would rival the NFL in ratings.

Creamer has both good looks, and "the look." And it's important to know the difference. That she's closer on the LPGA spectrum to Natalie Gulbis than Pat Hurst is nice for marketing sake. But it is the look in her eyes when lining up a winning putt that will keep newly minted LPGA fans tuned to the TV.

Women athletes with a killer instinct have always had an appeal to men. To see the competitive animal which alpha males identify with, wrapped in feminine skin, is nature's ultimate aphrodisiac.

Television, movies, and pop culture are rife with examples of this. There's a reason why it was "Xena: Warrior Princess" and not just "Xena: Warrior." The Princess part of it was essential. Who wants to watch a female warrior with a hunched back, bad teeth, and hair on her lip? Same thing with "La Femme Nikita." A hit-man named "Earl" can't compare to a hot blonde in heels ready to put a bullet in somebody's head.

This killer instinct was on display when Creamer made the team. Captain Nancy Lopez turned as pink as one of Creamer's headcovers when she heard the rook inform the Europeans that "they should get ready to get beat." Heady stuff for a kid yet to hit her first ever Solheim Cup shot.

Killer instinct. You heard me. Now come get some.

"I'm laying it down," Creamer said with a mega-watt smile in front of everybody at the press conference. Boy did she ever.

Maybe Creamer should take a whack at the PGA Tour a few times, if for no other reason than to soak up the cheap publicity. I doubt she'd do any better than Wie, especially since she's not nearly as long at 249.5 yards average off the tee, 64th on the LPGA. Still, that's only six yards behind Corey Pavin, and he's 93rd on the PGA Tour money list this season.

The fact that Creamer has no desire to be in also ran among the men, but a legend among the women is a huge bonus for incoming LPGA boss Carolyn Bivens. Mix in what might be a sizzling rivalry between the Pink Panther and the Big Wiesey, and the ladies tour is primed for growth.

And let's not forget the persistent 17-year-old Morgan Pressel, who is so chomping at the bit to turn pro, she even scolded outgoing Commissioner Ty Votaw in a letter for strictly upholding the LGPA's 18 and over age limit.

The three of them, plus a Natalie Gulbis (who is apparently not just in this sport to sell calendars) will draw plenty of guys like myself to the tube on Sunday afternoon.

Especially when it comes down to a choice between watching these gals, or figuring out the difference between Geoff Ogilvy and Joe Ogilvie on a random Tiger-less week in July. (Hint: stare at their last names closely until you notice the difference, or pass out from boredom.)

Most of the time, us men get browbeaten by feminists to pay more attention to women's sports. They tell us to appreciate their subtle skills, and learn their game's nuances. That approach never works. It's like being yelled at to eat your broccoli.

In the end, the product must be good, the stars must shine, and the rivalries need to be real.

As Paula Creamer is proving, the LPGA is poised to make convincing arguments on all of those fronts to millions of golf fans who never gave the women's game a second thought.

7 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review.

Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by OMCreader on Sept. 18, 2005 at 9:06 a.m. (report)

Todd D. said: Steve, superb article. You've succinctly said what I've been ranting about recently to my wife - to whom "Paula Creamer" has almost become a 4-letter word in our household, what with how much I've been talking about her lately. Paula's performance at the Solheim Cup was one of the most captivating I've witnessed in years of experience as a sports TV-watching couch potato. I couldn't get enough; I even stayed glued to the Golf Channel to watch the press conferences just to hear from the likes of Creamer, Gulbis, Kerr, and Kim share their perspectives on what was an awesome accomplishment. Sure, I flipped over to Sunday Night Football to see how my stud Fantasy runningback Jamal Lewis was making out in his debut...but the attention was focused on these wonderful new young (and yes, attractive) stars of the LPGA. I'm a hardcore golfer, so frankly there is nothing more alluring to me than a pretty girl in a cute outfit swinging a golf club - and doing it BETTER than I EVER could. Paula Creamer shot a 30 on the front nine on Sunday. And oh by the way, she was playing against an LPGA legend who routinely outdrives her by 50+ yards, while playing in the pressure of playing for her country as a 19-year-old rookie. Just spectacular stuff. Yet the only mention I heard in the "mainstream" sports media about women's athletics all weekend was "the It Girl" Maria Sharapova and the Williams sisters. What a joke. First of all, the Williams sisters are so played out at this point that to me it's not really a news story at all when either one of them does anything - good or bad. I really don't understand the fascination at this point in their careers. The novelty has worn off. And as for Sharapova, my view is frankly that she is NOT "all that." Natalie Gulbis is far more of an "It Girl" than Sharapova in my book - any day of the week and twice on Sunday (especially when Gulbis was the only one around actually WINNING on Sunday). I can't be the only one who thinks this way, and your article reaffirmed that I'm not ready for a straight jacket just yet. So when is Madison Avenue going to wake up? When is ESPN going to wake up? I don't get it. Either the LPGA and these players' agents do a lousy job of promoting their product - which has never looked better - or the marketers and media outlets can't let go of the LPGA's past including whispers of rampant lesbianism, etc. To speak in the words of the new generation, "Whatever. Get over it." This is not your father's LPGA tour, and it's about time SOMEONE notices and takes these girls - the likes of Creamer, Gulbis, Kim, and Kerr - OFF the backpage of the sports section and Friday night 10:00 tape delay on the Golf Channel.

Posted by OMCreader on Sept. 14, 2005 at 7:08 p.m. (report)

Tom C. said: Great article. Wie TV (much like Tiger TV) is out of hand. While winning young golfers with equal or better talent do not get the attention they deserve. Big Paula Creamer fan.

Posted by OMCreader on Sept. 14, 2005 at 4:15 p.m. (report)

K.L.Konley said: Hot bods are where it is at in any sport.

Posted by OMCreader on Sept. 14, 2005 at 2:21 p.m. (report)

Cozen Beguile said: Golf sucks so bad, they have to pump it up with hot chicks! LMAO!

Posted by OMCreader on Sept. 14, 2005 at 1:38 p.m. (report)

Jon D. said: There's a joke in there somewhere about Laura Davies hitting a shot fat.