Creamer 'motivated' in return to LPGA Tour

SYLVANIA -- Paula Creamer didn't have to come back to the LPGA Tour. But after more than a year away, during which she gave birth to her first child, one of the most popular players the tour has seen is back at age 36 to try to recapture the magic of yesteryear."It would be very easy to step away from the game right now and be content with my career," she said Wednesday at Highland Meadows Golf Club, where the Dana Open begins today. "But I really want to do a lot more."Long known as the "Pink Panther" for wearing her favorite color on the course, Creamer has won 10 tour events since debuting on tour in 2005, including the Toledo-area event in 2008 and the U.S. Women's Open in 2010. Her successes on the course have brought her more than $12 million to go with countless amounts in endorsements.If not at home in Florida with fiancé Shane Kennedy and daughter Hilton Rose Kennedy, who was born Jan. 7 of this year, she could well do a last-hurrah tour and ride off into the sunset with a smile on her face.That's not her purpose, though."I feel very in control of my golf game and very motivated," she said. "I think it's a different mindset than what I've had in the past. I do believe that's because of Hilton. I feel stronger, I think, as a mom and I definitely want to play well for her, not only for myself. ... I could be at home, too. I'm not trying to do that. I'm trying to come out and play the best that I can play."The Dana Open wasn't necessarily the target event for her comeback, but it synchronized well with being ready to play again and take her daughter on tour. Hilton, her fiance and her parents, Paul and Karen Creamer, have joined her in northwest Ohio.It certainly, didn't hurt, too, that Creamer has enjoyed her time spent at this event, which generally receives compliments from players for the way the community embraces the event."I've had such great memories here," she said I've been all over the place with my scores and how I've finished, but I love coming to Toledo. I knew that was just going to be a comfortable place to start. I know the golf course so well. Physically and mentally, I'm ready now."Creamer, who has long been plagued by injuries and the effects of returning too quickly from them, missed the cut at Highland Meadows and then in two events overseas before going on maternity leave in 2021.The comeback process wasn't easy. She went from December 2021 to March without touching a club."It was a lot of work, I would say," she said. "Motherhood is amazing. It's great. Getting back into golf, I had a C-section, so it took me a little bit longer to pick up a club than what I thought and what I planned, but I think I've done well. Just watching what my body has been able to do, through pregnancy and after pregnancy and now as well, it's just remarkable. I feel real good. I feel strong. I've been able to put in a lot of good work in the last four or five months to regain my strength. And being able to balance the mom side of it and the golf was a challenge at first, but now I'm definitely able to go out there and just focus on golf and not really worry about Hilton at that moment until I come back. And then it's momhood."IN OTHER NEWS: Toledo native and former world No. 1-ranked Stacy Lewis, who was named the U.S. Solheim Cup captain for 2023 in Spain, and assistant captain Morgan Pressel joined Dunning Sportswear's Mike Elliott Wednesday to announce the company's agreement to prepare the American team's next two Solheim Cup competitions against a European team.Pressel in particular has a particular interest in fashion."On the whole, I think it's an athletic but classic look," she said of the scheme to come.Elliott noted that Dunning's use of cool-max yarn will make for top-flight comfort for the players."I think they're going to love it," Lewis said. "That's the No. 1 goal, that the players love it. When you feel great, you're going to play better golf."