Kerr's personality softened as her game gained steel

EDINA, Minn. -- From Arby's to Nobu New York.

From mass transit to private jets.

From 200 pounds to 130.

From unapproachable, brash and abrupt to savvy, chic and courteous.

For Cristie Kerr, her 30-year tour of life is marked by reflection, redemption and reinvention, a journey from humble means in a tough Miami-Dade neighborhood to self-earned riches affording her a millionaire's lifestyle.

Between the ropes, she's gone from a little girl who shot 123 the first time she played a round to an overweight teen who dominated junior golf with big glasses and bigger hair to a well-toned woman comfortable in her own skin and the victor of the biggest prize in her sport -- the 2007 U.S. Women's Open, which she defends this week at Interlachen Country Club.

"Sometimes you look in the mirror and don't like what you see," says ...