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By DOUG FERGUSON
Associated Press

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — Lorena Ochoa set the silver trophy on a table, clasped hands with her parents and sprinted to the edge of the lake surrounding the 18th green at Mission Hills, raising both arms as she plunged into the water.

Whether she is playing or celebrating, the Mexican star is unstoppable.

Ochoa buried her competition Sunday at the Kraft Nabisco Championship with back-to-back birdies at the turn to build a five-shot lead, then closed with eight pars for a 5-under 67 and another romp in a major that once gave her fits.

Even more inspiring were the festivities that followed.

She joined hands with her parents and sister-in-law and raced into the water. Her brother, Alejandro, swing coach Rafael Alarcon and caddie Dave Brooker leapt from the bridge. Before long, two dozen friends and family members were bobbing in the water to the rhythm of a mariachi band, a celebration unlike any other at this major.

“I thought for a moment, ‘Maybe I should try to do something funny, like a flip or something,’” Ochoa said. “No, no, no. Too dangerous. So I did the regular jump. You always worry about the jump, but once you win, I don’t care.”

The ripple effect is frightening.

Ochoa became the first player since Annika Sorenstam in 2005 to win two consecutive majors, having captured her first major in the Women’s British Open at St. Andrews last summer by four shots.

In four starts this year, she has won three tournaments by a combined 23 shots.

“Nothing can stop her,” said Se Ri Pak, who became the youngest player inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame last year, a record that certainly will be broken by the 26-year-old Ochoa.

Sorenstam and Suzann Pettersen each closed with a 68 and tied for second, although they were never close.

Ochoa, who finished at 11-under 277, never trailed under the blazing desert sun, and was threatened only briefly. She answered with two consecutive birdies to make the turn in 32, and the rout was on.

“It was commanding golf in both,” Brooker said of the last two majors, starting with her four-shot win at St. Andrews. “She’s very polished. Every win that goes along, she gains even more momentum. If she had been putting better the first three days, this might have been a runaway even earlier.”

This has always been somewhat of a home game for Ochoa, who has been coming to the Nabisco since she was an amateur and bringing what seems like half of Mexico with her. She spent Wednesday morning meeting with the maintenance staff at Mission Hills, helping them cook breakfast and thanking them for their hard work in preparing the course.

Lorena is pronounced similar to “la reina,” which is Spanish for the queen, and there’s no doubt who rules women’s golf.

With as much dominance as Tiger Woods enjoys on the PGA Tour, she also has raised possibilities of winning all four majors.

“Even when I was on a roll, I don’t think I ever dominated like this,” said Karrie Webb, who won five out of eight majors from 1999 through 2001. “People don’t understand how hard it is to stay on top of your game like that. I did it for a few years. Annika did it for five. Tiger has done it for 12.”

Sorenstam, who battled a stomach virus on the weekend, tried to give Ochoa a run but could never get closer than three shots. She closed with a 68 and tied for second with Pettersen, who also had a 68.

Even healthy, it’s doubtful she could have had enough to stop Ochoa.

Sorenstam was impressed that Ochoa would handle the pressure of playing before what amounts to a home crowd in the California desert, with Mexican flags at every turn, and with the memories of blowing good chances at Mission Hills the last two years.

“She has come out as the leader and is staying as the leader,” Sorenstam said. “That takes a lot of courage, takes a lot of guts and it takes a good athlete. I could be wrong, but I think the goal for her is just to take one tournament at a time and try to win each one of them. And it turns out to be the last two majors. I’m sure it won’t be the last, either.”

Ochoa earned $300,000 for her 20th victory, and is one point away from the performance criteria of the World Golf Hall of Fame. She could get that next week with a victory in Mexico, although Ochoa would have to wait until she completes 10 years on the LPGA Tour, which would be 2012.

Ochoa had some nervous moments, feeling the most pressure from Hee-Won Han until a quick turnaround on the front nine.

Despite a birdie-birdie start for a three-shot lead, Ochoa went five consecutive holes without hitting the ball closer than 30 feet, and Han pulled within one shot with birdies on the fourth and sixth holes.

But it all turned in a three-hole stretch.

Ochoa saved par with a 40-foot downhill chip to 4 feet, while Han three-putted for bogey. On the tough par-3 eighth, Ochoa hit a high draw with a 6-iron that held against a left-to-right wind and settled 15 feet away from the back-left pin for a birdie. Han hit into the trees and took bogey, and there was another two-shot swing on the ninth when Ochoa birdied it for the first time this week.

Then came the walk to the 10th tee, which passes the 18th green.

Ochoa kept her head down, eyes focused only on her next step, resisting any temptation to gaze at the lake around the 18th. This was the 20-year anniversary of the winner jumping into the lake, and Ochoa badly wanted to be part of it.

“I couldn’t stop thinking of that jump in the lake,” she said. “It was something that I’ve been waiting for a long time.”

The mariachi band struck up the famous Mexican tune, “Canta y no llores,” which translates to “Sing and don’t cry.”

There was a little of both.

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Final scores with relation to par and earnings from the Kraft Nabisco Championship, played April 3-6 at the par-72, 6,673-yard Mission Hills Country Club (Dinah Shore Tournament) in Rancho Mirage, Calif. (Note: a-amateur):

1. Lorena Ochoa	$300,000		68-71-71-67--277			-11
2. Annika Sorenstam	160,369		71-70-73-68--282			-6
2. Suzann Pettersen	160,369		74-75-65-68--282			-6
4. Maria Hjorth	104,317		70-70-72-71--283			-5
5. Seon Hwa Lee	83,963		73-71-68-72--284			-4
6. Mi Hyun Kim	58,859		70-70-76-69--285			-3
6. Na Yeon Choi	58,859		74-72-69-70--285			-3
6. Hee-Won Han	58,859		72-69-70-74--285			-3
9. Inbee Park	45,289		73-70-70-73--286			-2
10. Se Ri Pak	39,692		72-70-73-72--287			-1
10. Heather Young	39,692		69-70-74-74--287			-1
12. Karen Stupples	35,621		67-75-74-72--288			E
13. Natalie Gulbis	32,364		69-74-73-73--289		+	1
13. Karrie Webb	32,364		76-70-69-74--289		+	1
15. Angela Stanford	27,275		75-73-71-71--290		+	2
15. Meg Mallon	27,275		73-73-72-72--290		+	2
15. Diana D'Alessio	27,275		74-69-72-75--290		+	2
15. Liselotte Neumann	27,275		70-72-71-77--290		+	2
19. Janice Moodie	23,815		73-73-74-71--291		+	3
19. Sakura Yokomine	23,815		76-73-72-70--291		+	3
21. Helen Alfredsson	19,506		75-72-73-72--292		+	4
21. Jee Young Lee	19,506		73-71-75-73--292		+	4
21. Michele Redman	19,506		71-72-76-73--292		+	4
21. Angela Park	19,506		77-71-73-71--292		+	4
21. Paula Creamer	19,506		71-74-73-74--292		+	4
21. Yani Tseng	19,506		72-71-75-74--292		+	4
21. Brittany Lang	19,506		75-70-72-75--292		+	4
21. Candie Kung	19,506		73-74-75-70--292		+	4
21. Cristie Kerr	19,506		74-72-66-80--292		+	4
30. a-Amanda Blumenherst	0		73-73-73-74--293		+	5
31. Jeong Jang	14,190		73-73-74-74--294		+	6
31. Ji-Young Oh	14,190		77-72-71-74--294		+	6
31. Ji-Yai Shin	14,190		73-71-76-74--294		+	6
31. Shiho Oyama	14,190		72-72-76-74--294		+	6
31. Ai Miyazato	14,190		68-74-77-75--294		+	6
31. Heather Daly-Donofrio	14,190		75-71-73-75--294		+	6
31. Rachel Hetherington	14,190		76-69-74-75--294		+	6
38. Katherine Hull	11,271		76-70-74-75--295		+	7
38. Morgan Pressel	11,271		71-74-75-75--295		+	7
38. Hee Young Park	11,271		75-72-74-74--295		+	7
38. Giulia Sergas	11,271		74-75-77-69--295		+	7
42. Shi Hyun Ahn	9,383		74-72-74-76--296		+	8
42. H.J. Choi	9,383		72-74-74-76--296		+	8
42. Mhairi McKay	9,383		78-71-72-75--296		+	8
42. Sophie Gustafson	9,383		74-71-76-75--296		+	8
42. Lindsey Wright	9,383		73-73-76-74--296		+	8
47. Marisa Baena	7,887		73-72-76-76--297		+	9
47. Beth Bader	7,887		76-71-75-75--297		+	9
47. Momoko Ueda	7,887		71-75-76-75--297		+	9
47. Minea Blomqvist	7,887		75-74-76-72--297		+	9
51. Becky Morgan	6,819		72-77-72-77--298		+	10
51. Silvia Cavalleri	6,819		76-72-71-79--298		+	10
51. Russy Gulyanamitta	6,819		78-70-74-76--298		+	10
51. Soo-Yun Kang	6,819		72-76-74-76--298		+	10
55. Reilley Rankin	6,106		72-77-70-80--299		+	11
55. Laura Davies	6,106		76-71-75-77--299		+	11
55. Pat Hurst	6,106		73-72-77-77--299		+	11
58. a-Maria Jose Uribe	0		70-74-78-78--300		+	12
58. Teresa Lu	5,394		72-76-75-77--300		+	12
58. Il Mi Chung	5,394		71-77-75-77--300		+	12
58. Wendy Ward	5,394		75-71-78-76--300		+	12
58. Juli Inkster	5,394		74-75-76-75--300		+	12
63. Sarah Lee	4,783		74-74-72-81--301		+	13
63. Julieta Granada	4,783		74-73-74-80--301		+	13
63. Meena Lee	4,783		71-75-75-80--301		+	13
63. Moira Dunn	4,783		76-68-78-79--301		+	13
63. Carin Koch	4,783		72-76-75-78--301		+	13
68. a-Mallory Blackwelder	0		71-76-76-79--302		+	14
68. Alena Sharp	4,478		75-72-78-77--302		+	14
70. Meaghan Francella	4,376		75-73-79-76--303		+	15
71. Sung Ah Yim	4,274		76-73-80-83--312		+	24
• • •
Missed the cut
72. Karin Sjodin			76-74--150		+	6
72. Eun-Hee Ji			78-72--150		+	6
72. Nicole Castrale			75-75--150		+	6
72. Young Kim			73-77--150		+	6
72. Kyeong Bae			74-76--150		+	6
72. Becky Brewerton			74-76--150		+	6
72. Linda Wessberg			76-74--150		+	6
79. Charlotte Mayorkas			77-74--151		+	7
79. a-Alison Walshe			78-73--151		+	7
79. Catriona Matthew			77-74--151		+	7
79. Louise Friberg			76-75--151		+	7
79. Jin Joo Hong			76-75--151		+	7
79. Sun-Ju Ahn			74-77--151		+	7
79. Jane Park			73-78--151		+	7
86. Hilary Lunke			77-75--152		+	8
86. Karine Icher			76-76--152		+	8
86. Jennifer Rosales			76-76--152		+	8
89. Carri Wood			78-75--153		+	9
89. Grace Park			76-77--153		+	9
89. Sherri Steinhauer			78-75--153		+	9
92. Na On Min			79-75--154		+	10
92. Laura Diaz			79-75--154		+	10
92. Christina Kim			77-77--154		+	10
92. Jimin Kang			76-78--154		+	10
96. Jill McGill			78-77--155		+	11
96. Brittany Lincicome			75-80--155		+	11
96. Stacy Prammanasudh			77-78--155		+	11
96. Birdie Kim			80-75--155		+	11
96. Amy Hung			72-83--155		+	11
96. In-Kyung Kim			77-78--155		+	11
96. Gloria Park			77-78--155		+	11
103. Gwladys Nocera			77-79--156		+	12
103. Amy Alcott			79-77--156		+	12
105. a-Mina Harigae			82-76--158		+	14
105. Bettina Hauert			77-81--158		+	14
107. Kim Saiki-Maloney			82-78--160		+	16
WD. Patricia Meunier-Lebouc			83-WD
WD. Nicole Perrot			WD
DQ. Dorothy Delasin			DQ

Posted: 4/6/2008

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