Cristie Kerr turns in a performance for the ages
Last November I was given the chance to caddie for an LPGA golfer at the Tour Championship. An opportunity any journalist would jump at, I flew quickly to Houston so I could be as ready as possible for the event.
While many memories stick with me from that week, one of the most memorable was sitting at a restaurant across from the host hotel and having a drink next to a lady I'd never met. Recognizable, no doubt, but it was harmful and exciting and before I knew it, I realized that I was having an exciting, BS-filled diction-battle with Cristie Kerr, the champion of this week's LPGA Championship.
To say she was simply the champion this weekend would be to say that the iPhone has been an elementary upgrade in cellular phones, or that Red Bull is just another mediocre energy drink. Kerr played a major championship against an entire field of professional golfers, none actually testing her from her first hole on Thursday (a birdie, on the par-4 10th, followed by another birdie on the 11th) to her last hole on Sunday (another birdie, this time on the 18th).
It was interesting that this kind of performance came a week after we were reminded that they happen. At the U.S. Open, Tiger Woods had blitzed the field in a similar way 10 years ago, at the same venue it was hosted in 2010. How did Kerr fair? She just won by 12 shots and became the first American woman to be No. 1 in the world since the rankings began four years ago.
You read her quotes after the final round, and you see a lot of the lady I was lucky to sit next to in November.
Kerr knows she's a damn good golfer, and on Sunday at the LPGA Championship, she showed that.
