Lorena Ochoa Continues LPGA Dominance

The 26-year-old Rolex Rankings' number one has claimed five total victories this season, including 11 stroke romps at both the HSBC Women's Champions and the Corona Championship.

Mexico's Lorena Ochoa etched her name into yet another category of the LPGA's record book with a $390,000, three-stroke victory at the Ginn OPEN on Sunday.

REUNION, Fla. - Mexico's Lorena Ochoa etched her name into yet another category of the LPGA's record book with a $390,000, three-stroke victory at the Ginn OPEN on Sunday.

With the win, Ochoa (68-67-65-69=269, -19) tied the LPGA Tour record for most consecutive wins in scheduled events with four. The 26-year-old Rolex Rankings' number one has claimed five total victories this season, including 11 stroke romps at both the HSBC Women's Champions and the Corona Championship.

“I'm just glad I hung in there and I was able to finish strong.,” Ochoa said after accepting the Kelly Jo Dowd Championship Trophy, named after Kelly Jo Dowd, mother of 2006 Ginn OPEN sponsor exemption Dakota Dowd, the then 13-year-old who played in the 2006 Ginn OPEN to fulfill her mother's dying wish. “I'm just trying to enjoy my moment. And I would like to enjoy it for a long time.”

Ochoa remained steady in the final round, carding four birdies and one bogey – only her third of the week - to hold off runner-up Yani Tseng (68-64-69-71=272, -16) and finish the week at 19-under-par 269. She also shattered the Ginn OPEN 72-hole scoring record previously set by Mi Hyun Kim (-12, 276). On the week, she was 12-under on the par-5's, including 8-under on holes 9 and 10 alone. She leads the Tour in driving distance average at 277.5, Rolex Player of the Year points (183), greens in regulation (.810), birdies (124) rounds under par (22 of 23), top-10 finishes (6 of 6), scoring average (67.8696), and is the only person to qualify for the season-ending ADT Championship, having won all three First-Half Winner Events.

“I feel that it's been a blessing,” said Ochoa, who will take a week off before competing at the SemGroup Championship Presented by John Q. Hammons, May 1-4. “For sure, I'm ready to take a break.”

Taiwan's Tseng recorded her second runner-up finish of the year at the Ginn OPEN. Three bogies on her final nine holes knocked her out of contention, but her $233,732 payday bumped her over $428,000 for the season, enough to lead all rookies on Tour.

Norway's Suzann Pettersen (68-66-72-71=277) and Tseng's Tawainese countrymate Teresa Lu (67-69-69-72=277) finished in a tie for third at 11-under-par.

Story courtesy: LPGA.com

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