Lang Triumphs In Battle Of Past Champions

By Stuart Hall

Sunriver, Ore. – Diane Lang’s nerves were frayed to the point of finding a new vice, while Carolyn Creekmore’s frustration ran nearly as high as nearby Mt. Bachelor.

In an epic USGA Senior Women’s Amateur Championship third-round match on Tuesday, Lang outlasted Creekmore, 1-up, just as the scenic sun dropped from sight at Sunriver Resort’s Meadows Course.

Two-time champion Diane Lang moved closer to her goal of three consecutive championships with a hard-fought win over Carolyn Creekmore in the third round. (Robert Walker/USGA)

"I need a drink, but I don’t drink,” said Lang, the two-time reigning champion who improved to 15-0 in match play in her just third appearance. “I guess I’ll have to settle for strong coffee.”

Meanwhile, Creekmore, the last champion before Lang’s repeat and who lost to Lang in the 2005 quarterfinals at The Apawamis Club in Rye, N.Y., pulled at her short dirty blonde hair afterward.

"My putter was as cold as the Oregon air,” said Creekmore, 55, of Dallas, Texas, who let opportunities to win holes 9-11 flitter away when she uncharacteristically missed putts from 10, 6 and 12 feet, respectively.

Jamaican-born Lang, 52, of Weston, Fla., jumped out to a quick 2-up lead, and appeared well in command after seven holes. Had it not been for short lipped-out putts to halve the fourth and seventh holes, Lang could have easily been 4 up. Even that wouldn’t have made her feel any more comfortable.

"I’ve known Carolyn for many years and she is one of the toughest ladies in this field. She gives you nothing,” Lang said. “I don’t know who I’m playing next, but no one is as tough as Carolyn. She’s just a great hitter of the ball and a great putter. She just missed some today.”

After not slicing into Lang’s 2-up lead after the 12th, Creekmore won the 165-yard, par-3 13th with a two-putt par and squared the match with a textbook par – fairway hit, green in regulation and two putts – at the 350-yard, par-4 14th.

"I just keep repeating my mantra, which is ‘I am the 2007 Senior Women’s Amateur champion,’” Lang said. “I kept saying that I can do this.”

Lang promptly won the 15th with a deft greenside bunker shot to within 3 inches for par. Creekmore stumbled by stubbing a chip from the back of the green on her third shot and missing a 12-footer to halve the hole.

Creekmore won the 156-yard, par-3 16th with an up-and-down par from just left of the green to again square the match.

At the 449-yard, par-5 17th, Lang was at her best, while Creekmore endured continued frustration.

Lang decided after Monday’s opening round that she would leave an erratic driver in the bag, opting instead to split the yardage so that she would have 100 yards into the hole.

"Hit my 3-iron hybrid and 4-iron and had 76 yards into the green – perfect,” said Lang, who would be conceded her par.

Creekmore played the hole with more aggression. She had 200 yards into the green for her second shot, but topped it about 100 yards. Then her third-shot approach found fringe in front of the green. A misplayed fourth chip shot slid left and long of the hole, and she two-putted for bogey 6.

"It was just a bad wedge shot,” Creekmore said. “It seemed like the reasonable shot … I don’t know. I just can’t tell you why.”

On the 18th, Creekmore had one last opportunity to square the match, but watched as her 14-footer for birdie just missed the hole’s right edge.

"You know, you get that late in the match and everybody’s insides are just churning,” Lang said. “You’re not shocked by much of anything at that point.”

Not even the outcome.

Stuart Hall is a writer for the Golf Press Association whose work has appeared previously on USGA Championship Web sites.