"It's done," Ochoa said. "I tried really hard and it didn't work. Hopefully, I'll start a new streak next week."
The 21-year-old Creamer won for the first time without her parents at the tournament, another small step in proving she can do it all by herself. She immediately called Nancy Lopez, her former Solheim Cup captain and mentor who was in Florida last week consoling Creamer.
This time, Creamer was beaming. She only smiled when asked if Lopez was crying.
Creamer was fuming after some of her mistakes, slamming the end of her putter into her bag after a three-putt on the 13th, then leaving the tee box during a delay to use the concrete crease in a cart path to check her alignment.
But this win was all about resiliency. Even before letting it go to a playoff, Creamer answered all three of her bogeys in regulation with a birdie, including a 25-footer down the slope on the third hole after a nervy shot from a fairway bunker.
The biggest birdie was in the playoff, and Creamer looked as relieved as she was excited.
"I'm done," she said. "I'm mentally done right now."
Ochoa's bid to join Lopez and Sorenstam with her fifth straight LPGA Tour victory never got off the ground. She broke par at Cedar Ridge for the first time all week, but starting eight shots behind, it wasn't even close. She had to settle for her eighth consecutive top 10.
"I don't know why, but this was a tough course for me, especially on the greens," Ochoa said. "It's the way it is. It's golf. But I'm happy. I look forward to the next week."
Despite a welcome respite from the whipping wind that made Cedar Ridge a little more forgiving, no one challenged the final pairing. Creamer and Inkster put on quite a show, right to the very end.
Creamer and Inkster both played the front nine in even par, but there were momentum shifts at every turn, including two-shot swings on consecutive holes that created a brief tie for the lead.
Inkster had a chance to tie for the lead on the fifth until missing a 4-foot birdie putt. One hole later, she fell two shots behind when she chipped weakly and missed a 6-foot par putt. Creamer gave it right back, however, when she three-putted the seventh after Inkster hit her approach into 3 feet.
But on the next hole, Inkster hooked her tee shot into the hazard and had to get up-and-down from 40 yards for bogey, while Creamer's 7-iron grazed the cup and settled 18 inches away.
They settled down with pars after that until Creamer showed some resiliency. After a three-putt bogey on the 13th, she hit a sand wedge to 3 feet for birdie on the 14th, restoring her lead to two shots until the 18th.
