MARATHON CLASSIC

Creamer discusses recovery after Thailand crash

Paula Creamer tees off on Hole 2 during a practice round at Highland Meadows in Sylvania Tuesday.

Nearly five months after she was involved in a car accident in southeast Asia, Paula Creamer reflected on the progress she's made both athletically and psychologically.

Speaking today during a media availability session at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Creamer discussed her recovery from the accident, which occurred at the end of February in Thailand.

“Getting in a car was one of the scariest things I had to do after that,” said Creamer, who is 14th in the Rolex World Rankings, entering Thursday’s opening round of the Marathon Classic. “Unfortunately, it happened. We all learned a lesson in a sense and we’re lucky, honestly, to be alive and walking around. You’re a little more carefree on a golf course after that.”

RELATED CONTENT: 2013 Marathon Classic, Fan Guide

Creamer was one of three pro golfers in the car, along with Suzann Pettersen and Ai Miyazato.

In a post on her web site www.suzanngolf.com after the accident, Pettersen recalled the accident.

“Don't know how it all went down, but in a split second the entourage of our 5 cars was all crushed together!” Pettersen wrote. “Paula said she felt like a pingpong ball being hit from both ends pretty hard! I was in the last car and managed somehow to just miss the rest! Out of all the cars, the car I was in was the only car suited to take us to the airport! We are just happy no one got more seriously injured from the impact!”

Creamer said in the week following the car accident, she experienced some neck pain and could not play through the course of a pro-am event in Singapore. However, Creamer finished third in the LPGA’s HSBC Women’s Champions in Singapore.

“At 90 miles an hour and you’re smashed in between two cars, a lot of things could happen,” Creamer said. “To play the week after, I don’t know how I did it.”