Lorena Ochoa is getting to be as predictable as the world’s number one men’s player, who shall remain nameless so as not to hog the limelight.
Ochoa stormed to a five-stroke victory at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, a major tournament on the LPGA Tour, to confirm her status as the world’s leading women’s player.
After her victory at the Rancho Mirage, she made the traditional leap into Poppie’s Pond, first started by Amy Alcott in 1988. However, she was not alone as she was joined by her caddie, parents, brother, sister-in-law and about 15 others.
Maybe each jumper represented a major championship victory. With the way she is playing, that doesn’t sound beyond her reach.
Her Rancho Mirage victory over the weekend was her second major triumph following her British Open success at St Andrews last year.
It was also her third victory in four attempts this season, a percentage that, if she can maintain it, means many more major titles to come.
Ochoa hit a final round of five-under-par 67 on the Dinah Shore Course for a total of 277. Encouragingly for the women’s game, the player she dethroned as the Queen of Golf, Sweden’s Annika Sorenstam finished in a tie for second with Suzann Pettersen. Both runners up shot 68.
Sorenstam, who has won this year, wants a return to the top after a 2007 that was ruined by injury. She was not well over the weekend but managed to seal her fifth straight top-10 finish.
For Ochoa, her best memory will be her jump in the lake, as she said in her post-round interview on the LPGA website:
“I woke up this morning and I was feeling great and I had a good feeling and just trying to not get too uptight and be calm and do my routine. For some reason I couldn’t stop thinking of that jump in the lake. It was something that I’ve been waiting for for a long time and I talked to Dave in the morning and he was feeling great, too.â€
Sorenstam, with 10 major titles to her name, was disappointed that illness prevented her from giving 100 per cent, but she was delighted for rival Ochoa. She said:
“You know, Lorena is obviously doing a great job. She has come out as the leader and is staying as the leader; that takes a lot of courage, takes a lot of guts, and it takes a good athlete. I’m just happy to see that because she’s a nice person, and I think she’s really doing well that way.â€
In Humble, Texas, Johnson Wagner broke through for his first victory on the US PGA Tour when he lifted the Houston Open over the weekend. The triumph gave him an instant spot in the field for this week’s US Masters at Augusta.
Wagner closed with a one-under-par 71 to finish at 16-under for the tournament, two ahead of Chad Campbell and Geoff Ogilvy. Campbell finished with 72 while Ogilvy managed 68.
Before his victory, Wagner has missed six cuts in nine tournaments and was ranked 193 in the world. He was unrecognisable, in terms of past performances, during the first round by shooting 63 and equaling the course record of 2007 champion, Australia’s Adam Scott.
On the European Tour, Frenchman Gregory Bourdy staged a magnificent fightback to beat Alastair Forsyth and David Howell in a play-off and win the Estoril Open de Portugal.
Bourdy started the last day four strokes ahead but was fading at the turn after dropping three shots. But he recovered his composure, steadily picked up birdies and was able to force Forsyth and Howell into a play-off.
Forsyth was eliminated after the second extra hole, on the 18th, after a bogey. Bourdy and Howell were again equal after another go at the 18th and then moved on to the 17th, where the English failed to par while Bourdy tapped in for victory.
