Paula Creamer details harrowing car accident that put her career on hold

Paula Creamer details harrowing car accident that put her career on holdStory byBeth Ann Nichols, GolfweekTue, November 25, 2025 at 3:00 PM UTC·8 min read

January 7, 2025. Hilton Rose’s third birthday.

Paula Creamer picked up Hilton from daycare and headed to the Orlando International Airport with the family’s two dogs, Riley and Penny, to welcome her parents, who’d flown in to take their granddaughter to Disney World for the first time.

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Not long after Creamer had collected her parents, a car traveling westbound on State Road 528 struck the left rear tire of her Range Rover, flipping it over three times into the median, which spared them from rolling into four lanes of traffic on the other side of the road.

The fact that her SUV landed upright on all four tires was the first of a series of miracles.

"Oh my God, I thought I was gonna look over and see, like, heads gone," Creamer said of the horror that flashed through her mind.

Creamer's father saw 'mama bear' in action

Concussed and bleeding from her head and hands, 39-year-old Creamer checked on her father, Paul, who was in the passenger seat, and then clawed her way back through the middle of the car, scared out of her mind by what she might find.

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“She went through that center console like a knife through hot butter,” said Paul. “That was the first time I’ve ever witnessed a mama bear truly going after her cub.”

Miraculously, Hilton didn’t have a scratch on her.

Paula Creamer replaced her beloved Range Rover with the heaviest SUV Mercedes makes.

Paul, who’d held onto Penny the Bernedoodle like a receiver protects the football, stayed in the car with back and neck pain until medical help arrived. Creamer’s mother, Karen, who was sitting in the back behind the driver's seat, suffered a torn rotator cuff.

It helped that it was chilly out, and their long pants and long sleeves provided an extra layer of protection against a shower of glass.

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As Paul talked to the one stranger who'd stopped to help, he noticed the legs of a dog walking down the expressway. It was Riley, Creamer’s 13-year-old Golden Retriever, who'd been sitting in the backseat. No one knows what happened to him during the crash, but the Good Samaritan fetched Riley and put him at Paul’s feet until the ambulance arrived.

Paramedics advised Creamer against taking Hilton to the hospital. She was fine and the chaos of the place would only add more trauma, they said.

Creamer went to the hospital the next day

It wasn’t until the next day that Creamer and her mother went to the hospital for the first time. The 2010 U.S. Women’s Open champion had third-degree burns on the last three fingers of her right hand, which may have scraped the pavement as the vehicle rolled and the window blew out. Emergency room attendants began to pick the glass out of her hand with tweezers but stopped, fearing it might cause more damage.

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That’s when she had emergency hand surgery.

Paula Creamer's Range Rover flipped three times before crashing into the median.

The accident happened two days after Creamer had resumed practice after being on a medical leave from the tour for an injured left wrist.

Eleven months after the crash, she can’t bend the ring finger of her right hand. Can’t make a fist. She goes to therapy five days a week, where therapists work on bending the tips of her fingers for an hour.

“After that happened, a lot of things were kind of just put into perspective,” said Creamer, “and I'm like, right now, I'm meant to be a mom. That's just what it is, and it took me a while to figure that out.”

Paula Creamer poses for a family photo with daughter Hilton and her parents, Paul and Karen.

Creamer joined Stanford on tour of Solheim venue

In September, Creamer flew to Amsterdam to get a preview of the 2026 Solheim Cup venue with U.S. captain Angela Stanford. Because thousands of Solheim Cup spectators will arrive at Bernardus Golf by bike – a unique, first-of-its-kind experience in golf – organizers asked the captains and their assistants to travel to the course on tandem bicycles as part of a year-to-go celebration.

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Creamer has skydived and flown in combat-ready jets with the Thunderbirds, but after motherhood and the car accident, her brain processes risk a bit differently these days. She insisted on wearing a helmet while riding on the back of the bike.

“About halfway through this ride, she said something about one of her hands and I was like, oh, my gosh, I'd completely forgot,” said Stanford, who chose Creamer as one of her assistant captains, along with Brittany Lang and Kristy McPherson.

Stanford and Creamer made it to the “finish line” without incident, even giving it a last-minute push to edge Swedes Anna Nordqvist and Caroline Hedwall.

“We kept saying, if we can get through this, like, we can do anything right now, you know?” said Creamer with a laugh. “And I was on the back, so I have no control. I'm like, alright, I'm trusting you with my life back here.”

U.S. Solheim Cup captain Angela Stanford and assistant Paula Creamer take a tandem bike ride for a year-out celebration in the Netherlands.

The next day, Stanford played the course with Creamer scouting alongside her, taking notes without her clubs. Stanford puts great value on Creamer’s ability to strategize. Among the four American leaders, Stanford notes that Creamer has the best credentials. She has won the most (10 LPGA titles) and ranks second only to Cristie Kerr in total points won by an American Solheim Cup player.

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“When Paula says, this is why I think this player would be really good at alternate shot or this is how I would have attacked it, well, she has the credentials to back that up,” said Stanford. “So we needed – I needed – somebody like that who has been extremely successful as a player on tour. I mean, we all were, but Paula was at a different level.”

Creamer's first Solheim Cup was 20 years ago

Creamer qualified for her first Solheim Cup as a rookie in 2005. After Dottie Pepper moved on to a role in television, Juli Inkster picked up Creamer as a partner.

“I had a 1-year-old and a 5-year-old, and I’m playing with a 19-year-old,” said Inkster, “but I really enjoyed it. She’s super competitive, No. 1. She didn’t like to lose, No. 2. She played aggressive, played passionate, and she didn’t care if I put her in the woods or left her a 5-footer. We were going to find a way to win.”

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Creamer went 3-1-1 that first year, trouncing Laura Davies, 7 and 5, in singles.

“She had several captains tell her this team will go as far as you’ll take us,” recalled Paul Creamer.

Paula relished the role.

Paula Creamer of the USA leads Meg Mallon, Beth Daniel and Laura Diaz in singing the National Anthem during the opening ceremony of the 2005 Solheim Cup on September 8, 2005 in Carmel, Indiana.

Success on tour doesn’t always translate to success in team play. But Creamer, a 10-time LPGA winner and U.S. Women’s Open champion, might be best known for the way she represented the red, white and blue.

“When I picked Paula, I asked everybody on the team – I wanted what the team wanted – every one of them wanted Paula,” recalled Inkster. “That just goes to show you what kind of team player Paula is, how she can build her game up … even when she isn’t coming in that hot.”

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Creamer back for second tour as assistant captain

Now in her second stint as assistant captain, Creamer is certain to one day lead Team USA. But the question of whether she’ll be able to return to competition remains unknown.

Creamer has clawed back from injury before, famously winning her first major at Oakmont the same year she had surgery on her left thumb. In 2017, she had surgery on her left wrist.

But now, it’s difficult to even grip a club.

“I want to play so bad,” she said. “I mean, I still want to. That was my plan, you know? And now, I just don't really know what's going to happen.”

Paula Creamer of the Unitedt States Team shows the trophy after the closing ceremony at the 2015 Solheim Cup at St Leon-Rot Golf Club on September 20, 2015 in Sankt Leon-Rot, Germany.

Hilton still hasn’t been to Disney, but grandma and grandpa – who now live in Nevada – have a trip on the calendar.

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Creamer went to therapy for survivor’s guilt, struggling with big questions like, “Why are we the ones that got lucky?”

Incredibly, Hilton never had any issues with getting back into a car, though Creamer did speak to a therapist about her daughter's new fear of loud noises.

Creamer, who has retained Dan Newlin injury attorneys for counsel, has replaced her beloved Range Rover with the heaviest SUV Mercedes makes. It was important to find one without captain's chairs that would allow her to continue putting Hilton's car seat in the middle of the backseat.

"I never thought I'd be looking into how many tons does a car weigh," said Creamer, "but here we are."

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One of the most popular players of the modern era, Creamer would, understandably, like to leave the game on her own terms.

But that's a decision that might ultimately be out of her hands.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: LPGA legend Paula Creamer details harrowing car accident

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