Golfweek - Golf News Magazine

By TRACI CARL
Associated Press

MORELIA, Mexico — Lorena Ochoa wasn’t distracted when the fans chanted her name on only the second hole. She stayed focused on her game, even as the crowd grew to thousands by the end of the day.

But by her last stroke on the 18th hole Sunday, the emotions were too much. The Mexican star had just won her third consecutive tournament and qualified for the LPGA Hall of Fame, all at home, surrounded by family, friends and fans. She was overcome.

“I did fine, but once I was on 18, and had a short putt, everything came into my head,” she said. “I’m glad I had a short putt.”

That’s when the crowd went crazy. Shouts, whistles, songs, they all echoed in the mountain valley. Ochoa held up the Mexican flag, and was sprayed with champagne. A sign hung from a clifftop home read: “Super Lorena,” with the insignia of Superman.

This was no ordinary tournament win. This was Mexico celebrating one of its finest.

Ochoa didn’t just win the Corona Championship. She claimed the victory by 11 strokes for her fourth win in five starts this year.

The Mexican star became the second-youngest player to qualify for the Hall of Fame, though she still must be a tour member for 10 years — in her case, until 2012 — to be eligible for induction.

“It was very special to do it here in my home country,” Ochoa said after earning the 27th and final point needed to qualify for the Hall of Fame.

The LPGA had previously said incorrectly that Ochoa would be the youngest to qualify at 26 years, 4 months, 29 days. But the youngest was actually Karrie Webb, who was 25 years, 7 months, 2 days when she qualified at the 2000 U.S. Women’s Open.

The tour awards a point for every victory and major award and two points for a major victory.

Ochoa said she was honored to be among players she has always admired.

“They are my motivation, and when I played college, I always looked up to them and I wanted to be like them, so just to be part of that group is a very special feeling,” she said.

After opening with three consecutive 7-under 66s, Ochoa closed with a 69 for a 25-under 267 total. She earned $195,000 for her 21st victory on the LPGA.

It also was her second win in three years on the rugged Tres Marias course, a par-73 layout carved into a mountain valley in western Mexico.

After winning eight times last year, Ochoa opened the season with an 11-stroke victory in the HSBC Champions in Singapore, tied for eighth in the MasterCard Classic at Bosque Real in the tour’s first Mexican event of the year, then successfully defended her Safeway International title with a seven-stroke romp. Last week, she won the Kraft Nabisco Championship by five strokes for her second straight major victory.

Ochoa had a seven-stroke lead entering play Sunday. She birdied the first, sixth and eighth holes, but dropped three strokes with a triple bogey on the 11th hole. She came back with birdies on the 13th, 14th, 16th and 18th holes.

She had described her play at the tournament as among her best.

“It was an amazing week,” she said.

South Korea’s Song-Hee Kim (72) was second at 14 under.

Ochoa has brought thousands of players to the game in Mexico, where it was traditionally played mostly by super rich Mexican men and vacationing foreigners.

Those who followed her play this weekend showed that her success translates across age, gender and even economic lines. She was trailed by small children carrying plastic golf clubs and women in three-inch high heels and matching designer handbags. Even course employees collecting trash would pause and watch in awe as she passed.

Monica Garcia, 30, and her husband, Luis Ortiz, were among the crowd and described themselves as “Lorena fanatics.” They bring their two children to watch her play each year at Tres Marias.

“She’s a role model for all Mexicans,” Ortiz said.

“And even more so for women,” added Garcia, her family’s only golf player. “She makes you believe you can do anything you want and be the best at it.”

Ochoa was always thankful for the support, spending time signing autographs and stopping in the middle of press conferences to acknowledge a group of fans. She savored her homecoming Sunday, kissing her trophy as she was serenaded by a mariachi band. Several times, she put her hand on her chest and looked around in wonder. She seemed to fight back tears.

“This is a best I have ever felt, and it gives me goose bumps,” she said. “It feels very nice.”

But, before long, she was focused again on the game. Asked how she would celebrate, she said: “I’m going to go home, right now. I need to unpack and pack because tomorrow I leave to Orlando at 9 a.m. (for the Ginn Open).”

---

Final scores with relation to par and earnings from the Corona Championship, played April 10-13 at the par-73, 6,539-yard Tres Marias Residential Golf Club in Morelia, Mexico (Note: a-amateur):

1. Lorena Ochoa	$195,000		66-66-66-69--267			-25
2. Song-Hee Kim	120,196		66-69-71-72--278			-14
3. Karine Icher	77,323		75-66-66-72--279			-13
3. Inbee Park	77,323		69-64-72-74--279			-13
5. Carin Koch	49,356		69-73-72-66--280			-12
5. Na Yeon Choi	49,356		69-68-71-72--280			-12
7. Kristy McPherson	37,181		75-71-71-66--283			-9
8. Sun Young Yoo	32,574		73-65-76-72--286			-6
9. Nina Reis	27,968		78-70-71-68--287			-5
9. Carolina Llano	27,968		76-68-70-73--287			-5
11. Sophie Gustafson	23,855		70-73-71-74--288			-4
11. Sophie Giquel	23,855		71-69-72-76--288			-4
13. Johanna Head	20,927		73-71-75-70--289			-3
13. Kris Tamulis	20,927		75-69-73-72--289			-3
15. Brittany Lincicome	17,241		72-72-76-70--290			-2
15. Audra Burks	17,241		69-76-74-71--290			-2
15. Amie Cochran	17,241		76-69-74-71--290			-2
15. Nicole Perrot	17,241		75-76-68-71--290			-2
15. Alena Sharp	17,241		70-74-73-73--290			-2
20. Candy Hannemann	14,609		71-72-76-72--291			-1
20. Hee-Won Han	14,609		74-71-74-72--291			-1
20. Soo-Yun Kang	14,609		72-72-74-73--291			-1
23. Paige Mackenzie	12,350		79-71-73-69--292			E
23. Giulia Sergas	12,350		71-75-76-70--292			E
23. Dina Ammaccapane	12,350		74-69-78-71--292			E
23. Sophia Sheridan	12,350		73-74-73-72--292			E
23. Allison Fouch	12,350		72-73-75-72--292			E
23. Hee Young Park	12,350		69-70-80-73--292			E
29. Silvia Cavalleri	10,332		75-73-76-69--293		+	1
29. Eunjung Yi	10,332		76-73-74-70--293		+	1
29. Jill McGill	10,332		72-73-71-77--293		+	1
32. Irene Cho	9,147		75-72-75-72--294		+	2
32. Moira Dunn	9,147		72-76-74-72--294		+	2
32. Kim Williams	9,147		69-73-74-78--294		+	2
35. Amy Yang	8,094		81-72-72-70--295		+	3
35. Janice Moodie	8,094		71-76-76-72--295		+	3
35. Ashleigh Simon	8,094		73-76-75-71--295		+	3
38. Danielle Downey	7,272		75-78-74-69--296		+	4
38. Anja Monke	7,272		72-71-81-72--296		+	4
40. Sarah Lynn Sargent	6,844		76-77-72-72--297		+	5
41. Hannah Jun	6,449		76-74-75-73--298		+	6
41. Erica Blasberg	6,449		78-75-72-73--298		+	6
43. Minea Blomqvist	5,813		74-78-77-70--299		+	7
43. Allison Hanna-Williams	5,813		74-77-77-71--299		+	7
43. Jamie Hullett	5,813		70-73-78-78--299		+	7
46. Siew-Ai Lim	5,199		78-73-75-74--300		+	8
46. Leah Wigger	5,199		71-77-77-75--300		+	8
46. Ji Young Oh	5,199		71-77-77-75--300		+	8
49. Hana Kim	4,804		76-75-77-73--301		+	9
50. Kristen Samp	4,409		80-73-75-74--302		+	10
50. Cindy Pasechnik	4,409		72-75-80-75--302		+	10
50. Jean Bartholomew	4,409		73-76-77-76--302		+	10
50. Onnarin Sattayabanphot	4,409		75-73-77-77--302		+	10
54. Jimin Jeong	3,883		81-72-76-74--303		+	11
54. Beth Allen	3,883		79-73-76-75--303		+	11
54. Anna Grzebien	3,883		75-71-79-78--303		+	11
54. Patricia Baxter-Johnson	3,883		76-77-72-78--303		+	11
58. Nicole Hage	3,488		72-81-77-74--304		+	12
58. a-Margarita Ramos	0		75-76-77-76--304		+	12
58. Louise Stahle	3,488		78-75-73-78--304		+	12
61. Jacqueline Yang	3,290		73-78-78-76--305		+	13
62. Sarah Kemp	3,126		81-72-77-76--306		+	14
62. Kathryn Imrie	3,126		80-73-77-76--306		+	14
62. Kate Golden	3,126		72-78-78-78--306		+	14
62. Taylor Leon	3,126		77-75-76-78--306		+	14
66. Michelle Ellis	2,961		75-74-82-76--307		+	15
67. Liz Janangelo	2,863		75-75-80-78--308		+	16
67. Lee Ann Walker-Cooper	2,863		73-76-78-81--308		+	16
69. A. Martin Del Campo	2,764		78-72-82-78--310		+	18
70. A.J. Eathorne	2,665		77-73-83-78--311		+	19
70. Brandi Jackson	2,665		75-78-73-85--311		+	19
• • •
Missed the cut
72. Jeanne Cho-Hunicke			76-78--154		+	8
72. Shanshan Feng			77-77--154		+	8
72. Angela Jerman			73-81--154		+	8
72. Sarah Jane Kenyon			77-77--154		+	8
72. Seo-Jae Lee			77-77--154		+	8
72. a-Ana Alicia Malagon			81-73--154		+	8
72. Michelle McGann			79-75--154		+	8
79. Ashli Bunch			75-80--155		+	9
79. Emma Cabrera-Bello			78-77--155		+	9
79. Nicole Jeray			73-82--155		+	9
79. Susie Redman			77-78--155		+	9
79. Lisa Strom			77-78--155		+	9
84. Chris Brady			74-82--156		+	10
84. Simi Mehra			75-81--156		+	10
84. Virada Nirapathpongporn			77-79--156		+	10
84. Amy Read			83-73--156		+	10
88. Devan Andersen			81-76--157		+	11
88. Hwanhee Lee			79-78--157		+	11
90. Jennifer Gleason			76-83--159		+	13
91. Anna Rawson			86-74--160		+	14
92. Sarah Oh			79-82--161		+	15
93. Violeta Retamoza			82-80--162		+	16
93. a-Stephanie Serur			85-77--162		+	16
95. Lorie Kane			79-84--163		+	17
96. a-Daniela Ortiz			81-85--166		+	20
WD. Yu Ping Lin			83-WD
WD. Jennifer Greggain			86-WD
WD. a-Regina Rosas			94-WD
WD. Emily Bastel

Posted: 4/13/2008

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