LORENA OCHOA
Red-hot Mexican making her mark

She’s known as one of the nicest people in golf. But Mexico’s Lorena Ochoa is also fast developing a reputation as the player that everyone has to beat and, if everything goes according to plan, this could be the year when she topples Annika Sorenstam from the world No.1 spot.

Since the turn of the century, Sorenstam has totally rewritten the record books in an unprecedented reign of dominance. But there have been signs that Ochoa really is ready to shake up the world order in the women’s game.

The Mexican won six times on the LPGA Tour last year and prevented Sorenstam (she won a ‘miserly’ three titles) from making it six-in-a-row for both the ‘Player of the Year’ award and the money list title. Lorena was easily the top earner with a handsome $2,592,872.

Perhaps the clearest sign of a changing of the guard came at the Samsung Women’s World Championship in October. Chasing a third successive title at Bighorn in Palm Desert in California, Sorenstam entered the final round with a presumably unassailable three-shot lead. But playing partner Ochoa proved she wasn’t so much intimidated as inspired and she confidently  snatched the title with a magnificent closing 65.

The LPGA ‘Rookie of the Year’ in season 2003, Ochoa claimed her breakthrough professional victory at a tournament in Nashville in 2004 and the 25-year-old from Guadalajara has now won nine titles and is showing the signs of someone who is ready to spend a long, long time at the top of the rankings.

Hugely popular with everyone – Mexicans are often among the green staff at US courses and she goes out of her way to meet and greet them – she is great news for the women’s game. But her ‘niceness’ is complemented by a steely determination and a burning desire to be the very best. All that Ochoa really needs to finally get her on the fast track to success is a first ‘Major’. She has come close,  most notably when she eagled the last hole at the Kraft Nabisco Championship last year before being pipped by Karrie Webb in a play-off. The odds must be short that she makes the breakthrough in one of the big four this year.

“I have very high...