Huge kudos go out to Paul Creamer for her great win at Oakmont Country Club at the 65th U.S. Women’s Open this past Sunday. Battling pain from recent surgery on her thumb, her sheer will and determination to succeed got her to the top of the leader board with a final score of 2 under par! (The only player to finish under par—and beyond the expectations of all the pundits who were sure a plus par score would be the final.) Paula took home $585,000 in first place prize money!

As the first American to win the tournament since Cristie Kerr took the trophy in 2007 she won over her critics who thought the one time teenage star athlete would never win a major tournament. Due to rain delays she had to play 23 holes on her last day, all the while dealing with the pain of her recent injury. As she watched her final putt sink in the hole she couldn’t help the tears of relief and exhaustion.

Later (as quoted on the U.S.G.A. website) she spoke to reporters: “You don’t have surgery on your thumb and win a championship. I don’t think the odds are very good after that. I had my surgery, and yes, there was a time before my surgery where I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh, I may never play golf again’ or, you know, if the surgery goes wrong… But it was what I had to do, and here we are with a U.S. Open championship next to me. So it’s been pretty cool.”

Congratulations to Paula Creamer. A real inspiration.