1. Ochoa earns 26th career win, successfully defends Corona Championship title
2. Race for the Cup
3. Pipeline to the LPGA Tour, April 26, 2009
4. Rolex Rankings move of the week
5. Next week: Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill, Kingsmill Resort & Spa, River Course, Williamsburg, Va., $2,200,000, May 7-10, 2009; TV Times; GCSAA Information
6. Upcoming event: Sybase Classic Presented by ShopRite, Upper Montclair Country Club, Clifton, N.J., $2,000,000, May 14-17, 2009; TV Times; GCSAA Information
7. LPGA news and notes

1. Ochoa earns 26th career win, successfully defends Corona Championship title
Matches 25-under-par score from 2008, holds on for one-stroke win in 2009 for $195,000 winner's check

MORELIA, Michoacan, Mexico, April 26, 2009 - Rolex Rankings' number one Lorena Ochoa successfully defended her title at the 2009 Corona Championship. Contrary to her 11-stroke margin of victory in 2008, the Guadalajara native (65-65-69-68) did not secure this year's win until the final hole; by one stroke over five-time LPGA Tour winner Suzann Pettersen. Ochoa, who has now won 26 events on the LPGA Tour, outlasted Pettersen (69-64-67-68=268, -24) on Sunday to finish at 25-under-par 267, as the duo never could gain more than a two-stroke lead over each other all day.

"This was a very important victory for me. Suzann has been a great contender here all week," said Ochoa, after regaining the top position on the LPGA Official Money List with $625,205 in 2009. "I want to thank everybody for the victory, which was very hard to obtain, in a very tight match."

With the score tied at 23-under-par and only four holes to play, the defending champion recorded birdies on holes 15 and 16, while Pettersen had to settle for par. As they walked to the 17th tee, Ochoa held a two-stroke lead, forcing Pettersen to either birdie the final two holes or record an eagle to insure a playoff. With both players making par on 17, a Pettersen birdie on hole 18 - her 21st of the event - left her at 24-under-par 268, one stroke shy of Ochoa.

"I know my game is right there," Pettersen said. "This week, I played to my strengths, so what can I say? I am 24-under-par with just one bogey. Not bad, but it's not good enough."

As Ochoa's final putt dropped in the 72nd hole at Tres Marias Residential Golf Club, the thousands of fans in the 18th-green grandstands began chanting her name.

"I love Morelia and Tres Marias. They welcome me every time I come here," said Ochoa, who has won the event three of the last four years (2006, 2008-09). "I did my part here, which was winning the tournament."

Ochoa started the final round with her coach Rafael Alarcon carrying her bag. The night before, her full-time caddie, David Brooker, suffered a broken left foot while playing in the annual tournament soccer match.

Last week's victory is Ochoa's second of 2009, as she won the Honda LPGA Thailand in February.

2. Race for the Cup

Daniel, Mallon finish seventh in Spain. U.S. Solheim Cup captain Beth Daniel and assistant captain Meg Mallon finished seventh at the Comunitat Valenciana European Nations Cup, a team event on the Ladies European Tour, at La Sella Resort in Alicante, Spain. The four-day team event featured 20 nations with two days of fourball play and two days of Valencian Cup, which is a version of the Greensome format.

Strong showing by potential U.S. Solheim Cup Team members. Ten Americans finished in the top 20 at the Corona Championship, but there were no changes in the top 15 of the 2009 U.S. Solheim Cup points standings. With her fourth place finish, three-time U.S. Solheim Cup Team member Wendy Ward made the week's biggest jump from 20th to 16th place in the standings.

The Solheim Cup is a biennial, trans-Atlantic team match-play competition featuring the best U.S.-born players from the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour and the best European members from the Ladies European Tour (LET). The U.S. Team leads the competition, 7-3, and has never lost The Solheim Cup on home soil.

Tickets are on-sale for the biennial event with options including the Weekly Grounds ticket, the PING Pavilion ticket and the Solheim After Sundown ticket. For tickets and more information about the 2009 Solheim Cup as well as lodging options in the Sugar Grove, Illinois area, log on to www.SolheimCup.com.

2009 Solheim Cup countdown:

48 days until double points are awarded at the McDonald's LPGA Championship Presented by Coca-Cola

97 days until U.S. and European teams are announced following the RICOH Women's British Open.

116 days until matches begin at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill.

3. Pipeline to the LPGA Tour, April 26, 2009

Buzminski wins Historic Brownsville Open. Canadian Angela Buzminski battled wind gusts near 40 mph to win the inaugural Historic Brownsville Open on the Duramed FUTURES Tour. The 15-year professional carded a 6-over-par 77 in the final round to win by one stroke at 3-over-par 216 (71-68-77). The victory is Buzminski's fifth on the Durmaed FUTURES Tour and first since winning three times in 2001.

The players finishing in the top 10 on the final 2009 Duramed FUTURES Tour money list will receive membership onto the 2010 LPGA Tour. Please see current standing below.

	Player	Events played	Earnings
1.	Angela Buzminski	4	$19,682
2.	Jean Reynolds	4	18,301
3.	Misun Cho	4	16,250
4.	Samantha Richdale	4	16,218
5.	Christine Song	4	13,011
6.	Mina Harigae	4	12,335
7.	Nontaya Srisawang	2	11,571
8.	Song Yi Choi	3	11,449
9.	Danah Ford	4	8,709
10.	Dewi Claire Schreefel	4	8,529

Next tournament: $125,000, Texas Hill Country Classic, The Dominion Country Club, San Antonio, Texas, May 1-3, 2009

Charity: Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

For more information, log on to www.duramedfuturestour.com.

4. Rolex Rankings move of the week

South Korean Na Yeon Choi made the Rolex Rankings' move of the week with an eight-place jump into 12th in the world. Choi, who was runner up to Yani Tseng in the 2008 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year race, recorded a third-place finish at the Corona Championship last week at 18-under-par 274 (66-69-69-70). It was her third top-10 finish of the season and second third-place finish after a tie for third at the season-opening SBS Open at Turtle Bay.

The Rolex Rankings are sanctioned by the five major women's professional golf tours: the LPGA; Ladies European Tour (LET); Ladies Professional Golfers' Association of Japan (LPGA of Japan); Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA); Australian Ladies Professional Golf (ALPG); as well as the Ladies Golf Union (LGU), which administers the RICOH Women's British Open. The Rolex Rankings are the only women's world rankings that incorporate player performances from the five major tours and the Duramed FUTURES Tour, the official developmental tour of the LPGA.

5. Next week: Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill, Kingsmill Resort & Spa, River Course, Williamsburg, Va., $2,200,000, May 7-10, 2009; TV Times; GCSAA Information

Par: 36-35, 71
Yardage: 6,315
Format: 72-hole stroke play
            Winner: $330,000
            Runner-up: $202,195
Field: 144 players
2008 champion: Annika Sorenstam
Victory margin: Defeated Allison Fouch, Karen Stupples, Christina Kim and Jeong Jang by seven strokes
Tournament information: 757-253-3987

●   TV Times

ESPN2
May 8-9 2-4 p.m.
May 10 3-5 p.m.

All times Eastern

●   GCSAA Information

Golf Course Superintendents Association of America
Kingsmill Resort & Spa, River Course
Williamsburg, Va.

GCSAA Class A Director of Golf and Landscape: D. Brad Pegram, 757-253-3906
Course architect, date: Pete Dye, 1975
Most recent redesign/renovation: Pete Dye, 2004

Course grasses
Tees - Bermudagrass; perennial ryegrass
Fairways - Bermudagrass; perennial ryegrass
Greens - Bentgrass
Rough - Bermudagrass; perennial ryegrass; fine fescue

For more information, access GCSAA Fact Sheets at http://www.gcsaa.org/news/TournamentFactSheets.aspx

6. Upcoming event: Sybase Classic Presented by ShopRite, Upper Montclair Country Club, Clifton, N.J., $2,000,000, May 14-17, 2009; TV Times; GCSAA Information

Par: 36-36, 72
Yardage: 6,413
Format: 72-hole stroke play
            Winner: $300,000
            Runner-up: $183,814
Field: 144 players
Defending champion: Lorena Ochoa
Victory margin: Defeated Morgan Pressel, Catriona Matthew, Brittany Lang, Na Yeon Choi, Sophie Gustafson by one stroke
Tournament information: 212-546-7303

●   TV Times

ESPN2
May 15 1:30-3:30 p.m.
May 16-17 2-4 p.m.

All times Eastern

●   GCSAA Information

Golf Course Superintendents Association of America
Upper Montclair Country Club
Clifton, N.J.

GCSAA Golf Course Superintendent: Michael Brunelle, 973-417-8199
Course architect, date: Robert Trent Jones, Sr., 1956
Most recent redesign/renovation: John Harvey, 2009

Course grasses
Tees - Bentgrass; poa annua
Fairways - Bentgrass; poa annua
Greens - Bentgrass; poa annua
Rough - Bentgrass; Kentucky bluegrass; perennial ryegrass; fescue

For more information, access GCSAA Fact Sheets at http://www.gcsaa.org/news/TournamentFactSheets.aspx

7. LPGA news and notes

Gulbis on the "Price is Right." LPGA Tour winner Natalie Gulbis is scheduled to make an appearance on the April 28 episode of "The Price is Right" as part of a Showcase Showdown featuring numerous prizes by her sponsors. The package includes adidas apparel, equipment from Canon, MasterCard debit cards, TaylorMade club sets for "him and her," as well as a trip from TaylorMade to the RICOH Women's British Open the end of July. If won by the contestant, Gulbis would also join them for a round of golf in Las Vegas.

Lincicome throws out first pitch. Brittany Lincicome, the 2009 Kraft Nabisco Championship winner, will be throwing out the first pitch April 30 at the Tampa Bay Rays baseball game. The Devil Rays will take on the Boston Red Sox at Tropicana Field in Tampa Bay. Game is scheduled to start at 7:08 p.m. Eastern.

Pettersen earns runner-up honors. Seven-year LPGA Tour member Suzann Pettersen came as close as she could have gotten to claiming the trophy, but finished just one stroke short of Corona Championship winner Lorena Ochoa. Pettersen and Ochoa matched final-round scores of 5-under-par 68, which wasn't enough for Pettersen as she carded a 24-under-par 268 (69-64-67-68), including a season-best 9-under-par 64 during Friday's second round. Throughout her 72 holes last weekend, the Norwegian carded only one bogey, 21 birdies and a pair of eagles, both on hole eight in the first and third rounds.

Pettersen's runner-up finish at the 2009 Corona Championship is her best finish since claiming the second-place position at the 2008 Kapalua LPGA Classic event in Hawaii. It is also her fourth consecutive top-10 finish of the 2009 season, as she has tied for ninth, tied for fourth and tied for fifth, respectively, already this year. Pettersen has won five times in the LPGA Tour. All five of those victories came during the 2007 season.

Six Americans finish in top-10 on leaderboard. As the final round of the Corona Championship came to a close, Americans claimed six of the top-10 positions. Wendy Ward, of Texas, had the best finish of the bunch with a solo fourth place. Ward tallied a 17-under-par 275 (71-68-66-70), eight strokes behind winner Lorena Ochoa, in her best finish since a tie for third at the 2007 Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Presented by Kroger.

In a tie for fifth, Florida native Cristie Kerr finished one stroke behind Ward. During the four-day event, Kerr registered 20 birdies, three bogeys and one double-bogey for a 70-70-66-70=276 (-16) performance. This week's Corona Championship was her fourth top-10 finish in as many tournaments, and fifth overall of the 2009 season. The 13-year LPGA Tour member owns 11 Tour victories, with her last coming at the 2008 Safeway Classic Presented by Pepsi in August.

Tied for seventh at 15-under-par 277 were McKinney, Texas native Brittany Lang and Morgan Pressel, of Boca Raton, Fla. Lang (69-68-70-70) recorded a 3-under-par 70 on Sunday, while Pressel (71-67-67-72) settled for par on holes one through 17, before birdying her 72nd hole to finish the day 1-under-par 72.

Rounding out the top-10 in the LPGA Tour's seventh official event of 2009 were an American pair of rookies, Vicky Hurst (70-71-69-68) and Michelle Wie (66-71-72-69). Hurst, who hails from Melbourne, Fla., finished the week 14-under-par 278. The Duramed FUTURES Tour graduate used a bogey-free, five-birdie performance on Sunday for a 5-under-par 68 score, her lowest of the week. Her tie for 10th place is her best of the year, and as an LPGA Tour member. Hurst's fellow rookie on Tour, Wie, finished the four rounds of action with one eagle, 18 birds and six bogeys for her own 14-under-par 278 outing.

News and notes for the week of April 27, 2009

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