LPGA Cristie Kerr makes clutch putt on 18 to break 3-way tie at ShopRite Classic

It was Kerr's second title this season and third overall.
GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) -- Cristie Kerr was on the 18th green with the kind of golden opportunity players dream about.
She took full advantage of it, making an 8-foot birdie putt to break a three-way tie and win the ShopRite LPGA Classic, eclipsing a gritty performance by 17-year-old amateur Paula Creamer.
"The putt was just an amazing, amazing under-pressure stroke that I made," Kerr said. "I got a good read on it and it was perfect."
Kerr won her third LPGA Tour title in the thrilling finish Sunday on the breezy Seaview Marriott Resort course, shooting her second straight 3-under 68 for an 11-under 202 total.
Creamer (69) and Giulia Sergas (71) finished a stroke back, and Juli Inkster (67) and Mi Hyun Kim (69) followed at 9 under.
Denise Killeen, who held a two-shot lead going into the final round and was hoping to win her first LPGA event since joining the tour 12 years ago, shot an 8-over 79 to finish seven shots back.
Kerr fought off a sluggish start and walked up the 18th fairway tied with playing partner Creamer and Sergas.
Kerr chipped onto the green, watched Creamer miss a 10-footer for birdie and then stepped up and made her putt.
One to watch
The winner had good words for Creamer, the high school senior from Pleasanton, Calif., who nearly beat her.
"She's going to be a star," Kerr said. "She's fearless, absolutely fearless. She hit some bad chips and got mad at herself, in a good way, like an intense, 'I'm going to make this putt.' Her putts looked like they were never going to miss."
Creamer, trying to become the first amateur to win an LPGA title since Joanne Carner in 1969, shot a 64 on Saturday. She started Sunday four shots back and wowed her gallery with a shot on No. 5 that had spectators talking all afternoon.
She hit her tee shot behind a tree that seemed to block her access to the green 25 yards away. Using a pitching wedge, she somehow hit the ball so that it landed on the right side of the green, 5 feet from a sand trap.
A par would have remarkable. But when she holed a 10-foot putt for birdie, it was something special.
She couldn't muster the same magic at No. 18, though.
"I was so nervous on that putt," Creamer said. "I knew I had to make it. I think I pushed it out harder than I should have."
The 26-year-old Kerr, who turned pro right out of high school, also won the LPGA Takefuji Classic in April.