Ochoa further displays her amazing talent

BY Bruce Young | LPGA Tour | 2004 Wachovia LPGA Classic | Wrap | 30 Aug 2004

Lorena Ochoa’s win on Sunday at the Wachovia LPGA Classic in Pennsylvania, has once again highlighted just what an amazing talent she is. The fascinating thing about her career to date is the great consistency she has developed to complement the brilliance she possesses. The two do not always go hand in hand, especially with one so young, but in Ochoa’s case she may well turn out to be the exception to most rules.

Her win was her second LPGA Tour victory, but now in her second year on the LPGA Tour she has been steadily building a series of top tens. There were eight in twenty four starts in her rookie year in 2003, missing only one cut, but this year there have already been fourteen from her eighteen starts without missing a cut. These are almost Sorenstam or Webb (in her better days) like statistics and that she is just twenty months into her LPGA career, indicates that the future could eventually provide results even better than those two greats of the game.

Ochoa set all sorts of records while playing collegiate golf at the University of Arizona and she immediately took to professional golf winning three times on the Futures Tour in 2002 to gain access to the LPGA in 2003. That was after finishing in 8th place as an amateur at the Kraft Nabisco in 2002.

The first LPGA win, that so many expected would come quickly, took a little longer than anticipated in fact it was not until this year’s Michelob Ultra Open where she got across the line for the first time. Since then, apart from a brief hiccup around the time of the US Open this year, the record has been simply amazing for one so young and still relatively inexperienced.

Today she produced a flashy last round 65 that caught and passed Grace Park who had started the day five ahead of the Mexican, three years her junior. Hee Won Han and Jill McGill shared third with McGill doing her best to keep the American flag flying while being attacked from all angles by foreigners.

While Ochoa could not be considered a long hitter she is more than adequate as her eagle ranking (14 this season) would suggest. She has fine long game and is a brilliant putter. Importantly however is her great flair and imagination. She has the capacity to produce simply the remarkable at times. Her Latino background serves her well in that regard.

In a country of 101 million, where just 18,000 play the game of golf she has become a national figure and heroine.

Ochoa is humble, engaging, polite and very much aware of the importance of making herself available to the media. Whether that remains the case as her status in the game grows remains to be seen but somehow I think she will always be someone that has her priorities in the right place.

Others performances of note included the second consecutive top ten for Nancy Scranton who at the age of forty one and just three and a half months from producing twins, is playing some of her best golf in recent years.

The Australians were headed by Nadina Taylor, who is doing well in her rookie year and JoAnne Mills who shared 16th, Katherine Hull who was 19th, Karrie Webb 30th and Rachel Teske 48th.

The LPGA Tour now heads to Springfield Illinois for the State Farm Classic.