King might need to make some room for Creamer

"If you had all the best players in the world playing on the PGA Tour, I guarantee you wouldn't have as many American winners," King said.

Maybe Creamer ought to wear her stars-and-stripes outfit from the last Solheim Cup to scare up some Sunday support. Americans can use all the love they can scare up to reverse the onslaught.

"She's had a fantastic year, so it would be great for her and great for American women's golf," fellow American Morgan Pressel said.

Pressel was at the fore of a fresh batch of American faces when she turned pro three seasons ago, a group that included Michelle Wie and Creamer. Pressel has two victories, drives a flashy Mercedes convertible and can claim more endorsement deals than many top male professionals.

In fact, the oft-hyped American trio of Pressel, Wie and Natalie Gulbis has exactly three career victories between them. Given the marketing millions that have been thrown their way by companies seeing cover-girl type exposure in the States, it begs the question whether the U.S. players are as hungry as their international counterparts.

Not just the aforementioned group, either. Every American player.

"It's hard out here," Pressel said. "It's not that easy, and people seem to think that it is. These are the best players in the world -- not just the best from the United States."

Put another way -- and this is a criticism that has been lobbed at golfing males too -- American players have become softer than the U.S. economy.

"I think things for American kids in general are a little too comfortable," said Pepper, who is working this week as a network analyst.

Creamer better grab the brass ring while she can, because the invasion isn't going to reverse itself. At next month's LPGA Qualifying School finals, 69 of the 143 players are foreign, representing 20 countries.

In 1994, when English slugger Laura Davies began the foreign LPGA cash dash, nobody had a clue that a blistering U.S. drought was looming. Pepper said the European migration had begun with Davies, a handful of Swedes, plus a few others from the U.K. or Japan.

Yet the international shift was jarring. Looking back, Pepper theorized that players such as Nancy Lopes, Pat Bradley, Beth Daniel and King were entering their 30s, which, unlike for their male counterparts, is when female players typically start to lose a step physically.

"They were starting to get on the backside of their careers," Pepper said. "So for American golf, it was sort of a perfect storm."

Drowning quickly ensued.

Since '93, the money list has been topped eight times by Sweden's Sorenstam, three times by Australian Karrie Webb, twice by Mexico's Ochoa and once by Davies. Ochoa, by the way, just turned 27, and after seven wins this year, is hardly slowing down. In fact, it took the questionable ADT payout format, with its $900,000 differential in cash between first and second, to give Creamer a glimmer of hope. Creamer began the week $950,000 down and Ochoa missed the cut.

The South Korean influence, of course, continues to become evermore pervasive. Nine of the 16 players in Saturday's third round of the ADT were of Korean heritage, as are four of the eight finalists. As it relates to work ethic and the practice range, the Koreans generally arrive earlier and leave last, another talking point as to why the Americans' four-decade stranglehold has long since slipped away. Pepper thinks burnout might also be a root cause.

"I think American kids specialize in sports way too soon, and are subject to burnout way too soon," Pepper said. "So by the time they get into their mid-20s, it's, 'Eh, I've had enough of this.'"

They aren't getting burned out from winning too often. There have been indications that the Koreans might suffer from overexposure, eventually, too. Trailblazing star Se Ri Pak, who touched off the mass migration of Seoul sisters to the States, has admittedly battled for years to keep her professional and social lives in balance. Her status had gradually slipped and she didn't even make the field this week.

"We haven't seen a Korean play very, very late into her career yet," Pepper said. "Se Ri seems to have fought it. So I don't think there's a blueprint yet. They haven't been a long-enough influence on this tour yet to come up with a stamp."

The short-term impact has been plenty already for the U.S. fan base to absorb. If the Koreans start winning money titles, it's hard to guess when an American might again top the earnings list. Experts think that China, which is just getting a grip on the game's rudiments, will be the next world power in golf.

"I think there's some good young Americans coming up right now, obviously Paula and a couple at Q-school, if Michelle makes it or Stacy Lewis," King said. "I think they are coming along."

They cannot possibly get here soon enough, right? We all like watching the best competing at the peak of their powers, but when the fight includes the girl from next door, Americans have a far greater rooting interest. It's nationally natural.

The best American shot in years rests on Creamer, who has been ill since Wednesday night and gritting her teeth through the first three days of play. Her stomach is sore from two days of dry heaves, but at least the cold sweats have stopped.

"I'm not a big complainer, but one more day, that's what I keep telling myself," she said.

By Sunday night, the 14-year American hunger strike could end, too. Just like with Creamer, it was a crash diet nobody anticipated.