Ochoa reaches Hall mark
MORELIA, Mexico – Lorena Ochoa qualified for the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame on Sunday, winning the Corona Championship by 11 strokes for her third straight victory and fourth 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,” she said.
The LPGA Tour 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 with a win at the 2000 U.S. Women’s Open.
The LPGA Tour awards one 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 straight 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 Tour.
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 and 16th holes. Her birdie on the 18th hole prompted deafening shouts and whistles from the thousands who crowded around the green.
South Korea’s Song-Hee Kim (72) was second at 14 under.
Ochoa drew huge crowds that lined each hole she played Sunday. By the time she reached her second green, fans were already chanting her name in unison, filling the sunscorched valley with shouts of “Lorena! Lorena! Lorena!”
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.