KAHUKU — Paula Creamer's relatively short golf life passed before her eyes yesterday — the good, the bad and the huge expanse in between. She refused to blink, capturing the SBS Open at Turtle Bay by one spectacular putt over Julieta Granada.

Creamer had not won in 19 months, since her second victory of 2005, a year when she fulfilled so much of her brilliant amateur potential and earned LPGA rookie of the year honors. She had been stuck in a lucrative form of neutral since, grabbing more than $1 million with 14 Top 10s last year, but never truly being fulfilled.

"It seems like a long time," said Creamer, who collected $165,000. "I was out there, nine holes to go, thinking I haven't been in this situation in awhile. Kinda rusty. I think that's why things were going all over the place. I haven't been there in awhile, but I remember every moment of all my wins and I know you've just got to finish the round. And that's what I did."

Her drought ended in the first official LPGA event of 2007, with Turtle Bay's big breeze at its blustery best and Granada giving her all she could handle in what suddenly transformed into a torrid match-up of 20-year-olds.

Four strokes separated them after Turtle Bay's never-boring seventh hole. It was there that Creamer sank her fourth straight birdie putt — she started the streak on the Palmer's most difficult hole — to get to 11 under. That came two groups after Granada improbably launched in an eagle from 150 yards out to climb to 7 under.

"I hit a 9-iron," Granada said, starting to giggle. "Read the break perfectly."

Everything changed at the 11th, where the confident-looking Creamer sliced her drive into the water hazard and hacked her way to double bogey.

"I've hit it right everyday with that tee shot," Creamer said. "I don't know why. It just keeps going further right. Next year I'm going to sit on that tee and hit 100 drivers just to get comfortable."

Suddenly her four-shot advantage was two over Morgan Pressel — who went into the final round sharing first with Creamer and Sherri Steinhauer — and three over Granada.

An imposing group of golfers who had all but lost hope after seven holes were given golf's version of CPR. LPGA Hall of Famer Karrie Webb, who started 2007 by winning twice in Australia, pulled into Creamer's rear-view mirror. Lorena Ochoa, the 2006 player of the year, picked up speed. Janice Moodie tenaciously closed.

But ultimately it would come down to Granada, who birdied two of her final four holes, and Creamer. She called it her biggest win "emotionally," but never doubted another would come.

"I go out everytime trying to win," Creamer said. "Either someone plays better or I don't meet my expectations, but I don't play a tournament that I don't feel like I can't win."

Creamer three-putted the 13th to drop to 8-under and leave Granada just one back, not that either one knew until they saw the next scoreboard at No. 15.

"After the eagle at seven, I turned around and she (Creamer) was already at 11 (under). I was like, 'Wow, we're playing for second here ... ,' " Granada said. "I didn't see another scoreboard until 15.

"I missed like a 10-footer on 14 and I'm walking up and see she's at nine and I'm at six. I'm like, 'Oh, that was going to be big.' Then I made the (birdie) putt (at 15) and think I'm still in it. Then, before I made the (six-foot par) putt at 16, I saw she bogeyed again. I went, 'OK, this is getting interesting.' "

Pressel was easing Creamer's self-inflicted pain by taking herself out of contention with her second straight bogey at the 13th. One of the game's most precocious 18-year-olds would close with a 2-over-par 74 and a share of fourth with Moodie and Ochoa, but without the LPGA victory that has stubbornly eluded her in 33 starts.

Pressel could have broken Creamer's record as the youngest to win an LPGA multi-round event. Instead, she now has a dozen Top-10 finishes, including two Top-5s here.

Up ahead, Webb and Ochoa could only flirt with greatness on this windy week, never truly threatening to go low and give Creamer something to think about other than herself. Steinhauer, who shared the lead after the first two rounds, seized it alone when she birdied the third hole yesterday. But Creamer's birdie onslaught and a splashdown double bogey at No. 7 helped drop the 44-year-old into an eighth-place tie with Stacy Prammanasudh, a shot behind Hee-Won Han.

That left Creamer and Granada, who looks 12 but convinced the golf world of her sophistication in the last event of 2006, when she won the first $1 million check in women's golf at the ADT Championship, becoming the first female champion from Paraguay in the process. One of her seven Top 10s last year came at the Fields Open in Hawai'i, where the LPGA opens its second week Thursday.

Grenada was at her childlike/world beater best again yesterday. She bogeyed two of her next three holes after the eagle to fall six back. Creamer sliced that in half with her double and a three-putt bogey at the 13th. Granada pulled even with birdie putts from 12 feet on the 12th, 25 on the 15th and 20 on the last.

While she chased that in with a huge grin, Creamer was at the tournament's third-toughest hole (17), staring down a monster 40-foot birdie putt that broke left off the hill and right near the hole.

"All I told myself was get it to the hole," Creamer recalled. "I was kind of leaving my putts short the last seven, eight holes. I saw the line and it went in. It wasn't one of those putts you expect to go in. You just want to get it close. It was the right speed and fell in. ... Honestly, I don't know how far that was."

Creamer, decked out in her trademark solid pink from the bottom of her pants to the top of her cap, hit the putt dead solid perfect.

She called the 15th her pivotal hole. After missing very make-able birdie putts at Nos. 10 and 12, and three-putting 13, she left her first putt 10 feet short at the 15th, then dropped the par putt into the heart of the hole. She tapped her putter lovingly, and bit it when she finally had her elusive win.

"He's my friend, my putter," said Creamer, who focused on her putting tempo in the offseason. "You have to put him in his place once in awhile. He is very important. I have to give him a little love and affection."

NOTES

Julieta Granada's good fortune paid off for a little girl yesterday at the SBS Open at Turtle Bay. After dropping in a 150-yard eagle on the par-4 seventh hole yesterday, the Paraguayan golfer walked over to the rope line and gave the ball to 4-year old Michelle Nevada of Honolulu.

Nevada, who had been clutching a doll while watching with her father, Victor, was a little overwhelmed by the sudden attention but was soon holding the ball. "I'm glad she enjoyed it," said Granada who makes a practice of giving away balls following big shots. "I usually try to find a little girl or boy to give it to," Granada said. "I like to share."

But Granada said, "maybe, I should have kept the ball. It was my lucky ball because after I gave it away it was like bogey (on 8) and bogey (on 10)."

Turtle Bay director of golf Matt Hall will caddie for Hilo 15-year-old Kimberly Kim at this week's Fields Open. Hall helped coach Kim early in her career, when he worked at Hapuna. He caddied for her at last summer's U.S. Women's Open, where she was the youngest to make the cut.

There were only two rounds in the 60s yesterday — Granada and Se Ri Pak at 69 — and just nine sub-par rounds. Turtle Bay's Palmer Course played to an average of more than 75 — about 1 1/2 shots higher than the first two days, when a full-field of 138 played.

Dorothy Delasin, who represents Turtle Bay on tour, finished in a tie for 40th.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.