Corona Championship
Tres Marias Residential Golf Club
Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico
April 13, 2008

Final round interviews: Lorena Ochoa | In Bee Park | Karine Icher | Carin Koch

Final-round notes

Ochoa triumphs at 2008 Corona Championship.
MORELIA, MICHOACAN, Mexico, April 13, 2008 – Some sports call it home-field advantage, but for Mexico's Lorena Ochoa it was more like home-country advantage this week at the Corona Championship. The 26-year-old finished at 25-under-par (66-66-66-69=267) at Tres Marias Residential Golf Club to claim her 21st career title and fulfill the points requirement for the LPGA and World Golf Halls of Fame. She now must complete 10 years on Tour before she can officially enter the Hall.

“It was an amazing week,” Ochoa said. “I did enjoy myself a lot. It was really special to be here in my home country.”
Ochoa started the day with three birdies on the front nine, but a triple bogey on 11, combined with four consecutive birdies on holes eight through 11 by final group partner Inbee Park (69-64-72-74=279), created a six-shot swing against the world number one. Ochoa bounced back with back-to-back birdies on holes 13, 14, 16 and 18 to finish her day.

The Rolex Rankings number one dominated the field for the fourth time this season, winning by 11 strokes for the second time in two months (HSBC Singapore). In four victories this season, she has accumulated a 34-stroke margin of defeat – 11 more than her combined total after eight wins in 2007. With her $195,000 payday, she became the fastest player (five events) to top the $1 million mark in season earnings, bettering Annika Sorenstam's record of six events, set in 2005.

Choi, Reis land spots in Ginn OPEN. Na Yeon Choi gained entrance into next week's Ginn OPEN field with a tie for fifth at the Corona Championship. Choi finished the week at 12-under-par (69-68-71-72=280). Non-exempt LPGA members can gain entrance into the following week's field by finishing in the top-10 the week prior. Choi also extended her lead in the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year race to 146 points over Yani Tseng.

Sweden's Nina Reis fired a final-round 68 to move into a tie for ninth place, also good for a spot in next week's Ginn OPEN. Reis fired rounds of 78-70-71-68=287 to make the top-10 by one stroke and earn a trip to Orlando. Reis carded six birdies and one bogey on the day. She also matched her career-best finish of a tie for ninth (2006 State Farm Classic).

Career-best finishes. South Korean Song-Hee Kim (66-69-71-72=278) finished the week at 14-under in second place, 11 strokes behind champion Lorena Ochoa. Her previous career-best was a tie for 15th at this season's Fields Open in Hawaii. Kim was tied for the first-round lead with Ochoa at 7-under 66 and never fell lower than third place on the week. Kim turned professional in 2006 and she earned rookie of the year honors and won five events on the Duramed FUTURES Tour.
Kristy McPherson (75-71-71-66=283) recorded a career-best seventh place finish at 9-under-par this week at the Corona Championship. A second year LPGA member, McPherson tied her career-low of 66 with eight birdies and a lone bogey in the final round on Sunday. Her previous career-best was a tie for 18th at the 2007 Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Presented by Kroger.

2005 champion Koch goes low in final round. Carin Koch, the winner of the inaugural Corona Championship in 2005, fired a final-round 66 to move into a tie for fifth at the 2008 Corona Championship. Koch notched eight birdies, including four in a row from holes six through nine, to shoot her lowest round since the 2005 Weetabix Women's British Open where she recorded a 66 in the third round.

Gustafson records five eagles in four rounds. Six-time European Solheim Cup Team member Sophie Gustafson recorded five eagles in four rounds of play at the Corona Championship. She matched the single-round record of three set by Alice Ritzman (1979 Colgate European Open) and Nina Reis (2006 Safeway Classic Presented by Pepsi). The Swede finished in a tie for 11th place at 4-under-par (70-73-71-74=288).

Lorena Ochoa, 66-66-66-69=267 (-25)
Hole 1, 376 yard par-4: birdie – sand wedge to 15 feet
Hole 6, 134 yard par-3: birdie – gap wedge to 5 feet
Hole 8, 499 yard par-5: birdie – 7-iron to 50 feet, 2-putt
Hole 11, 325 yard par-4: triple bogey – gap wedge to green, rolled back to 50 yards three times, up and down from the fringe
Hole 13, 141 yard par-3: birdie – 8-iron to 6 feet
Hole 14, 170 yard par-3: birdie – 8-iron to 7 feet
Hole 16, 541 yard par-5: birdie – gap wedge to 4 feet
Hole 18, 506 yard par-5: birdie – 7-wood to 80 feet, 2-putt

MIKE SCANLAN: Lorena, congratulations on meeting the points criteria for the LPGA and World Golf Halls of Fame. If you would, talk about how you feel right now knowing you will be a part of golf history.
LORENA OCHOA: It was an amazing week. I did enjoy myself a lot. I'm glad we did it. I guess I can say I'm in the Hall of Fame now. I'll just have to wait a few more years to get in though. It was really special to be here in my home country.

Q. To do this at age 26 is pretty impressive. You're in the company of some amazing golfers.
LORENA OCHOA: It's hard to beat some of the records and history from so many good players, but I'm really happy to be with them. They are my motivation. When I played college golf, I looked up to them and I wanted to be like them, so just to be part of that group is a very special feeling.

Q. Talk about your triple bogey on hole 11.
LORENA OCHOA: I was trying to break the (LPGA 72-hole scoring) record by going more than 7-under today and after (the triple bogey) things went down, but I did want to finish like a champ and when I birdied four of the last few holes, that really made my day.

Q. How special is it to do this in Mexico, in front of your adoring fans?
LORENA OCHOA: Things happen for a reason. It's something I'll be able to say for the rest of my life. Everybody saw me do it (in Mexico). I think that's for sure the best memory.

Q. You actually missed a few birdie opportunities.
LORENA OCHOA: Sure, I wanted to be really aggressive and go low. I actually missed a few short birdie opportunities, I thought I would have a great back nine, but what happened on 11 changed things. I'm happy. I cannot be sad or disappointed. I am so happy.

Q. What happened on 11?
LORENA OCHOA: I hit it three times just short of the pin and it went back down like 60 yards three times.

Q. How about the reception you got on 18?
LORENA OCHOA: Si, si, now that I think about it, I forgot to thank so many people in the ceremony today. I think those cheers walking up 18 and all the songs, what it did to me, I love that. It's the best you ever feel. It gives me goosebumps. It feels very nice.

Q. Everything came together this week. You won by 11, you effectively reached the Hall. Are you emotional at all?
LORENA OCHOA: I try not to have too many emotions. I stay strong and not think too much, just play golf and that's what I did. It's easy to get emotional and start thinking too much with the gallery, but I just played my own game. I thought about everything once, that was on 18 and I had that short putt and I'm glad it was a short putt, I didn't worry too much.

Q. Your approach on 18, you went for it in two. Did you think, I'm just going to go for the green in front of this crowd?
LORENA OCHOA: Si, I was trying to do it for them, to get a good finish they can remember. I hit it to the right to be safe and it was in a great position and I was able to make a birdie to finish. It was great finishing with a birdie. It makes a difference finishing with a birdie rather than a bad hole.

Q. Are you able to funnel your emotion into hitting the ball further with a crowd like this?
LORENA OCHOA: Yes, that's why we are professionals and we are training to play in tough situations, especially in the last group on the last hole. This was a learning experience. I'm really to keep playing good.

Q. Are you going to celebrate?
LORENA OCHOA: No, I'm going home right now. I need to unpack and pack and leave for Orlando at 9 a.m.

QUICK QUOTES:

Inbee Park, 69-64-72-74=279 (-13)
MIKE SCANLAN: Was today tough for you?
INBEE PARK: Not really, it was a great day until the last hole again. Yesterday, 18 got me again too. I had fun overall. It was a good tournament

Q. At one point you were only four strokes back. Were you thinking, whoa I can do this?
INBEE PARK: Yeah, I was four back with seven holes left, but it was tough. I knew that after she made a triple she would come back strong. I didn't expect that much.

Q. Is it hard knowing you were playing for second place basically?
INBEE PARK: It's hard, but it was the same for everybody. That's the way it was this week.

Karine Icher, 75-66-66-72=279 (-13)
Q. You finished well here in 2005 and came back this week and played well. Talk about your week.
KARINE ICHER: It's a great week for me because I had a hard beginning to the season, so it's good to finish third and it gives me more and more confidence in my game. It's good for the future and for next week.

Q. Did you feel like you were playing for second place this week?
KARINE ICHER: On the Tour, it's like ‘who's going to be second this week?' She played great. To shoot 25-under on this course, that's unbelievable.

Q. Can you talk about the reception she gets here? Very impressive.
KARINE ICHER: Oh yeah, I've never seen that before. Even in Japan with Ai Miyazato it's not like that. The crowds are crazy for her and it's nice because golf needs that. It's more fun for the fans and for us and obviously it's better to play in front of 10,000 people.

Carin Koch, 69-73-72-66=280 (-13)
Q. You're a former champion here and you played great this week. Talk about how you feel.
CARIN KOCH: Yeah it's been great. I've not played well for a couple of years and now I'm playing some solid golf and it's good to be up there on the leaderboard again.

Q. Did you feel like you were playing for second place?
CARIN KOCH: Yeah, I just wanted to go play a solid round of golf. I know there are low scores out here. Lorena had it in her pocket though.

Q. Do you think Lorena is ushering in a new era in women's golf?
CARIN KOCH: She's the first Mexican woman to ever lead us. She's just amazing. Obviously the quality of golf is getting better on Tour all the time. Every year we get better and better.