What Is Paula Creamer's Net Worth?
Paula Creamer is an American professional golfer who has a net worth of $12 million. Paula Creamer began playing golf when she was 10 years old. By age 13, she was the top-ranked female junior golfer in California. Paula won multiple national tournaments throughout her junior career and chose to turn professional at the age of 18 after winning the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament. To date, she has won 10 LPGA Tour tournaments and two LPGA of Japan Tour tournaments. Creamer tied for 3rd at the 2005 LPGA Championship and at the 2009 and 2012 Women's British Open. She was voted LPGA Rookie of the Year in 2005 and won the U.S. Women's open in 2010. At the end of the 2023 season, Paula was ranked #19 on the all-time LPGA career money list after earning more than $12 million. She has had endorsement deals with companies such as Bridgestone Golf, Citizen Watch Co., and TaylorMade-Adidas, and her likeness was used in the "Tiger Woods PGA Tour" video game series.
Early Life
Paula Creamer was born Paula Caroline Creamer on August 5, 1986, in Mountain View, California. She grew up in Pleasanton, where her family's home overlooked the golf course at the Castlewood Country Club. Paula's mother was a homemaker, and her father worked as an airline pilot. As a child, Creamer took part in gymnastics and acrobatic dancing, and she began playing golf at the age of 10. When she was 12 years old, Creamer won more than a dozen regional junior events in a row in northern California. She became California's top-ranked female junior golfer the following year, and in 2000, she moved to Bradenton, Florida, and began attending IMG Pendleton School (also known as IMG Academy), a prep school for student athletes. She graduated in 2005, shortly after her first LPGA victory. During her amateur career, Paula won 11 American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) events, and the organization named her Player of the Year in 2003. She played on the U.S. team in the 2002 and 2003 Junior Solheim Cups, and in 2002, she was a semi-finalist in both the U.S. Girls' Junior championship and the U.S. Women's Amateur championship. In 2004, Creamer was the runner-up in the ShopRite LPGA Classic and represented the U.S. in the Curtis Cup, and she tied for 13th place while competing in the U.S. Women's Open. Later that year, she won the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament and subsequently decided to go pro at the age of 18.
Career
After she joined the LPGA Tour in 2005, Paula soon became one of the organization's top players as well as the youngest LPGA player to win a multiple-round tournament. She won the Evian Masters tournament in July, the NEC Open (Japan LPGA tour) in August, and the Masters GC Ladies tournament in October, and she was the youngest player to compete on the U.S. Solheim Cup Team. Creamer was named the LPGA Rookie of the Year and earned more than $1.5 million during her first season as a pro. When the Women's World Golf Rankings were released in February 2006, she was listed second behind Annika Sörenstam. Despite being plagued by foot and wrist injuries, Paula won more than $1 million that season and achieved over a dozen top-10 finishes. She won two LPGA Tour titles in 2007 and four LPGA events in 2008, and she was hospitalized during the 2008 season's last event with a stomach ailment, which kept affecting her throughout the first few months of the 2009 season. In March 2010, Creamer underwent surgery for a thumb injury, and after doctors discovered more severe damage, she had to take an extended break from golf. She had one win that season, at the U.S. Women's Open, and four top-10 finishes.
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During the 2011 season, Paula had seven top-five finishes and was chosen for the U.S. Solheim Cup team. She finished third at the 2012 Women's British Open and had six top-10 finishes during the 2013 season, and in 2014, she won the HSBC Women's Champions tournament. Creamer fell out of the top 40 by September 2015, and after changing swing instructors, she finished in the top five at the 2016 Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic and JTBC Founders Cup. In 2017, she injured her left wrist and had to withdraw from the Evian Championship; she later underwent surgery. In 2018, Creamer's highest finish was at the Buick LPGA Shanghai, where she finished in 12th place. She had two top-10 finishes in 2019, and she skipped the 2020 season due to thumb and wrist injuries. Paula competed in a few events in 2021, then she took more than a year off for maternity leave. In 2023, she played in 13 tournaments, and the following year, she was an assistant captain on the U.S. Solheim Cup team.
Personal Life
Paula married U.S. Air Force veteran and United Airlines pilot Derek Heath on December 13, 2014. The couple divorced in 2018. As of 2021, Creamer was engaged to Shane Kennedy, a former baseball player. She welcomed her first child in January 2022. In 2005, Paula began doing charity work with The First Tee, which is dedicated to "empowering kids and teens through the game of golf." She hosts the annual fundraiser Paula 4 Kids Celebrity Event to raise money for The First Tee of Sarasota/Manatee. Creamer has also donated scholarships to her alma mater, IMG Academy, and she launched a foundation that helps military families and junior golfers.
Awards
In 2003, Creamer was named American Junior Golf Association Player of the Year, "Golfweek" Junior of the Year, and "Golf Digest" Junior of the Year. In 2004, she was named Amateur of the Year by "Golfweek" and "Golf Digest," and in 2005, she won the American Junior Golf Association Nancy Lopez Award and the LPGA Rookie of the Year award.
Real Estate
In 2022, Paula paid $2.2 million for an 8,000-square-foot mansion in Windermere, Florida. She listed this home for sale in July 2024 for $6.9 million. Here is a video tour:
