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LORENA OCHOA

HEIGHT: 5'6"
BIRTH PLACE: Mexico
TOUR STATUS: Exempt
EDUCATION: University of Arizona
ROOKIE YEAR: 2003

FUN FACTS:
- Started playing golf at the age of 5.
- Hobbies include reading and water skiing

Learn more about Lorena Ochoa.>>


Ochoa becomes fastest to $12 million with three-peat at Sybase Classic Presented by ShopRite.

It may have been the smallest of Lorena Ochoa's three margins of victory at the Sybase Classic Presented by ShopRite, but the Rolex Rankings' number one pulled off her third-straight victory at the event with a one-stroke margin on Sunday, becoming the first player since Annika Sorenstam in 2005 to win the same event in as many years. Ochoa (68-67-71=206, -10) also supplanted Sorenstam as the fastest player in LPGA Tour history to reach the $12 million mark, as her $300,000 share of the $2 million purse boosted her across the mark in 5 years, 2 months, 12 days, compared to Sorenstam's previous record of 9 years, 4 months, 4 days. The win marks Ochoa's sixth of the season and the 23rd of her career.

“I feel I've been blessed and I'm very fortunate, and I don't take it for granted,” Ochoa said. “We work really hard, and it's very special. You can say that very easily, but it took a lot of years of hard work, and I also try to help as much as I can and give back to the community, to my community, to my people in Mexico. The more I can win, the more I can help, so that's a great motivation to me.”

Entering Sunday's final round with a lead for the 24th time in her career and converting it into a win for the seventh-straight time since winning the 2007 Samsung World Championship, Ochoa increased her lead to three strokes after carding birdies on the second and fifth holes of the Upper Montclair Country Club. She found the rough on her second shot on the ninth hole and made bogey, but she quickly recovered with a 25-foot birdie putt on the 11th hole. She opened the door for the five runners-up with a second bogey on the 17th hole – where she missed a six-foot par putt – but she rolled the ball in from eight feet on the 18th to secure her one-stroke victory and her first three-peat.

“It was a tough day, but I did it. I think that was what was important. It doesn't matter how you do it sometimes; you play really good, other players struggle, sometimes you just keep yourself in a good position. Today it was different; it was a different win, but I enjoyed it a lot. I felt a lot of adrenaline, a lot of pressure in the last two holes, and I liked that feeling,” Ochoa added.

Watch a video of the third round Rock Solid Performer.>>
Watch a video of the final round Rock Solid Performer.>>



Lorena Ochoa Rocks the Headlines


STAT OF THE WEEK: Ochoa first since 1963 to win six of first 12 official 2008 Tour events.
Lorena Ochoa's feat of winning six of the first 12 official events on the 2008 LPGA Tour schedule is the closest any other member of the Tour has come to matching Mickey Wright's feat of winning seven of the first 12 events in 1963. After winning the Sybase Classic Presented by ShopRite, Ochoa has now won 66.67 percent of the events she's entered this season (six of nine), with her worst finish being a tie for 12th at the Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill. She also matched Wright with a string of four wins in as many events starting from March 30, 2008 (Safeway International Presented by Coca-Cola) through the Ginn OPEN, April 20th. Wright's stretch was mostly in the month of May from the Alpine Civitan Open, May 12, 1963 through the Babe Zaharias Open, June 2.

Prior to Ochoa, Annika Sorenstam had won five of the first 12 official Tour events in the 2005 and 2001 seasons. In 2001 she, too, won four in a row from the Welch's/Circle K Championship, March 11th through The Office Depot Hosted by Amy Alcott, April 14th.

Ochoa USSA's April Female Athlete of the Month. Rolex Rankings' number one Lorena Ochoa—a six-time winner on the LPGA Tour this season—was selected as the United States Sports Academy (USSA) Female Athlete of the Month for April. Ochoa won all three events she played during the month, including her second major championship at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, Corona Championship in Mexico, and the Ginn OPEN. Her victory at the Corona Championship also sealed the points requisite for induction to the LPGA Tour and World Golf Halls of Fame, which she will enter upon fulfilling her 10-year Tour membership requirement.

The USSA Male Athlete of the Month was Los Angeles Lakers starting guard Kobe Bryant. Each Academy Athlete of the Month is selected by a national voting committee comprising former athletes and members of media organizations and sport organizations and governing bodies. At the end of each year, the Athlete of the Month contest culminates in the Athlete of the Year worldwide fan vote, hosted by USATODAY.com and MSNBC.com. Winners from each month are automatically added to the Athlete of the Year ballot.


SEASON OVERVIEW (5/13/08)
STARTS: 9 VICTORIES: 6
TOP 10 FINISHES: 8 2007 EARNINGS: $1,838,616
SEASON STATCENTER (5/13/08)
ROUNDS UNDER PAR: 29/34 (1) DRIVING ACCURACY: 0.708 (T52)
BIRDIES: 160 (1) SAND SAVES: 0.680 (3)
EAGLES: 6 (2) PUTTS PER GREEN: 1.76 (T5)
GIR: 0.773 (1) DRIVING AVERAGE: 271.0 (2)

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