Nike Golf adds Lorena Ochoa to tour staff

BY iseekgolf.com | 30 Jan 2003

Nike Golf today announced the signing of 21-year-old Lorena Ochoa, adding the LPGA rookie to its Tour Staff to begin the 2003 season and establishing a foundation for invaluable on-course feedback from one of golf’s most promising young stars.

Ochoa, a native of Guadalajara, Mexico, is one of the most-anticipated young women to enter the professional ranks in years. She will begin her first year on the LPGA Tour wearing performance footwear from Nike Golf and playing either the Tour Accuracy DD or the new TA2 golf ball. Ochoa has only recently started testing the TA2 SPN and the TA2 LNG and will determine which ball she plays before the start of the season.

In addition to the footwear, ball and presence on Ochoa’s hat, Nike Golf and Ochoa will connect on the virtual plane with links to and from Nike Golf and www.lorenaochoa.com. The rookie’s new site will allow her fans to learn more about the young phenom, both on and off the course, and track her throughout her career. Golfers frequenting NikeGolf.com for all of their apparel, footwear and equipment needs will find an easy link to the company’s newest Tour Staff player.

Ochoa, who turned professional in May 2002, finished in the Top 10 in each of her 10 Futures Tour starts, which included three victories. Ochoa earned her LPGA card by finishing No. 1 on the Tour money list while also grabbing the 2002 Futures Tour Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year awards.

Before joining the Futures Tour in 2002, Ochoa had just wrapped up a record-setting amateur career that included 12 collegiate victories at the University of Arizona, eight of which came in 10 events in her sophomore year, 2001-2002.

“The performance of Nike footwear has always been far superior to anything else I’ve ever worn, either on the golf course or running or for anything athletic I do,” said Ochoa, a multi-sport athlete who excels in rock-climbing, half-marathons, tennis and basketball – she received All-State honors playing basketball in Jalisco, Mexico . “On the golf course, I’m looking forward to the mix of performance, style and comfort that only Nike Golf has mastered. It’s a great way to step out for my rookie season.”

Nike Golf’s shared learnings from Nike’s 30 years of footwear dominance, proprietary technology including Nike Air, and a veteran design team perfecting the art of combining style with performance make up the foundation of the golf company’s footwear.

Ochoa cannot go wrong, no matter what ball she chooses. The new TA2 SPN and TA2 LNG golf balls from Nike Golf feature a faster core and longer distance than any ball Nike Golf has previously introduced. The Tour Accuracy DD and the new TA2 LNG share similar lower spin and higher trajectory characteristics. All three feature Nike Golf’s most durable cover, introduced with the debut of the TA2 LNG and SPN. The TA2 SPN maintains a lower, wind-boring trajectory and distance equal to that of the TA2 LNG.

“Lorena is going to be a fun player to watch as she gets her footing on the professional tour. I have a feeling she will settle in pretty quickly and will have a successful rookie year,” said Kel Devlin, Global Sports Marketing Director for Nike Golf. “We look to gain considerable feedback from Lorena just as we do from our staff on the PGA Tour; feedback that will help us as we look to broaden our reach to people who love the game.”

Ochoa’s lifelong dream of playing on the LPGA Tour came true in 2002 when she finished tied for fifth at the Welch’s/Circle K Championship and eighth at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, one of the LPGA’s four majors, but the journey through her first complete season kicks off March 13, with the Welch’s/Fry’s Championship near her collegiate home in Tuscon, Arizona.