A historic and challenging venue in Oakmont Country Club, a popular winner in Paula Creamer, and a star-studded leaderboard throughout the tournament all combined to generate significant buzz around this year’s U.S. Women’s Open Conducted by the United States Golf Association (USGA).

Creamer, who was sidelined with a thumb injury most of 2010, shot a final-round 69 to claim her first major championship by four shots over South Korea’s Na Yeon Choi and Norway’s Suzann Pettersen.  It was the second consecutive major championship won by a U.S. player.  Rolex Rankings No. 1 Cristie Kerr, who was also in contention, captured the LPGA Championship presented by Wegmans three weeks ago. 

While Creamer dominated the headlines (see http://www.lpga.com/content_1.aspx?pid=24872&mid=2), compelling storylines abounded throughout the week, including a top-10 finish by 15-year old Alexis Thompson, a first-round 70 by an amateur from South Africa, Kelli Shean, the fight for the Rolex Rankings No. 1 position still held by Kerr, and Choi’s attempt to win for the second consecutive week with an impressive championship Sunday 66, reminiscent of Johnny Miller’s charge to win the 1973 U.S. Open at Oakmont.

For more player features and U.S. Women’s Open coverage check out http://www he usga.org/ChampEventSite.aspx?id=2147487117.

While fans came out in droves to watch the players in person, others followed the action on the web.  LPGA.com broke all-time records for both overall page views and unique visitors last week.  Overall page views improved 17 percent over last year’s tournament.  Even more impressive, the tally for unique visitors improved 55 percent over 2009.  New fans joining the LPGA Facebook page was up 72 percent over the prior week, while fan engagement on the page was up 18 percent.