golfrewind.com

Paula Creamer is ready to challenge for Majors.

You may wonder why this statement is made. Was she not ready before?

Well the answer is no, at least not consistantly, in no small part due to the advantage of long driving off the tee. Of course there will be exceptions to this rule in the odd major, but in most cases those who consistantly perform will be the longer hitters.

Last season Paula averaged 248.6 yards off the tee, and this put her 64th in driving distance.
So far this season, at two events Paula has been 14th, and 11th in driving distance. This shows just how much she has increased off the tee.

For those of you unaware, Paula worked on her strength and her distance alot over the off season. That was her main area that she tried to improve on, and it is paying off.
After a couple of bad starts, she contended at the Mastercard, and in the Safeway after 2 rounds, she is just 2 shots off the lead with Annika 6 shots further back.


For those of you who don't believe long hitting matters at majors, her is some interesting statistics:

Annika Sorrenstam in majors in 2005:
Kraft Nabisco, Annika won and was 1st in driving distance.
Lpga Championship, Annika won and was 2nd in driving distance.
US Open, Annika came 23rd and was 24th in drving distance.
British Open, no stats available.