Paula Creamer showed a lot of maturity in executing a clutch shot under difficult conditions. AP

While Kenny Perry was walking away with the PGA Tour's Bank of America Colonial Invitational, this week's Lesson Tee drifts over to the LPGA Tour, because my friend Paula Creamer became the youngest golfer in over 50 years, at 18 years and 9 months, to win an LPGA Tour event at the Sybase Classic.

Standing over her third shot to the par-5, 18th at Wykagyl Country Club, Creamer faced a very difficult shot. Tied for the lead at 5 under with two other players, Creamer was confronted with a short-sided 40-yard shot over a bunker to a back left pin placement.

The greater challenge rested in the lie of the ball which rested in some thick, wet rough. Creamer went on to play a beautiful stroke to leave herself a 12-foot birdie putt from below the hole where she went on to stroke her putt in for her first LPGA title.

How to Play the Shot

The Conditions - The first thing that you need to take into consideration when making a decision on what shot to play is to check the conditions the ball lies in, especially this time of year as the seasons are changing and much of the country has received a lot of rain.

The skies opened up with down pouring rains during Sunday's final round at the LPGA's Sybase Classic, and Creamer's shot had the ball resting in wet, thick grass, which required her to position the ball slightly back of center in her stance so the club would come in slightly steeper to pick the ball cleaner.

Hole Location - With the hole located in the back left section of the green, Creamer was short-sided, with very little green to work with, and had to execute a shot over a bunker and land it softly on the green, a very difficult shot considering that the wetness of the ground would influence the ball to squirt if not hit correctly.

Creamer went to a longer swing for this type of shot, a three-quarter backswing made it easier for her to control the speed of the forward swing. This was very important to have a longer and slower swing; it makes the ball come out higher and softer. This is a similar technique to that of a sand shot.

The Execution - The key to playing any shot successfully is in the rehearsal.

Once Creamer determined the shot to play, she made a few rehearsal swings to create the appropriate feel. Once that rehearsal swing is exactly the way you want it, step on in and address the ball and recreate that rehearsal swing for the ball.

Too often, golfers will psych themselves out by thinking, "I could win this!" But Creamer stayed focused on the shot at hand. It takes a lot of maturity to execute a clutch shot under these difficult conditions.

Congrats Paula on your victory!

Rob Stanger, the head teaching pro at the Golf Academy at Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage, Calif., is recognized as a Golf magazine Top Teacher in America in the West Region. To ask questions or order his newly released Empowered Golf CD, contact him at robstanger.com.