Guadalajara, Mexico
2022
27
2
2003 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year, Four-time Rolex Player of the Year (2006, 2007, 2008 2009), Four-time Vare Trophy recipient (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009)
2017
Lorena Ochoa picked up the game of golf at age five. She captured 22 state events in Guadalajara and 44 national events in Mexico. She won five straight titles at the Junior World Golf Championships. She was also an eight-time national champion in Mexico. In 2000, she enrolled at the University of Arizona, where she would go on to win NCAA Player of the Year honors in 2001 and 2002. She recorded 12 collegiate victories, including seven consecutive in her sophomore year, and earned the 2003 Nancy Lopez Award.
Ochoa began her professional career on the Epson Tour, winning three of her 10 events played in her rookie year. She won Rookie of the Year honors in 2002 and was also the Epson Tour Player of the Year. Joining the LPGA Tour in 2003, she would earn Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year honors thanks to eight top-10 finishes. In 2004, she won her first two LPGA Tour titles, the Franklin American Mortgage Championship and Wachovia LPGA Classic. She would win 10 more LPGA Tour titles before picking up her first major championship, the 2007 AIG Women’s Open. Ochoa would end her career with 27 wins, including another major at the 2009 Chevron Championship. Her last victory came at the 2009 Navistar LPGA Classic, and officially retired from the Tour in 2010. Ochoa was World No. 1 in the Rolex Rankings first starting in April 2007 until May 2010 for 158 consecutive weeks, which is the record for most weeks in a row in the top position.
Ochoa was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2017 and the LPGA Hall of Fame in 2022 when the 10-year entry requirement was officially dropped. Her other honors include the Heather Farr Perseverance Award in 2007 and the USGA’s Bob Jones Award in 2011.
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