CLIFTON, N.J. (AP) _ Lorena Ochoa only set her sights higher
after validating her status as the No. 1 player in women's golf by
winning for the first time since supplanting Annika Sorenstam.
The 25-year-old Mexican superstar now wants to win a major or
two, and soon.
Ochoa got back to the winner's circle and defended a title
Sunday, shooting a bogey-free 4-under 68 for a three-shot win over
front-running Sarah Lee in the $1.4 million Sybase Classic, an event
that turned into match play after the top two distanced themselves
from the field the day before.
Ochoa, who took over as the No. 1 player last month, plans to
skip this week's Corning Classic and then play in the Ginn Tribute
Hosted by Annika in preparation for the McDonald's LPGA
Championship, the tour's second major this year.
``I am not going to put any extra pressure,'' Ochoa said of a
major. ``I am going to try to enjoy and win as I always try to do. I
think I am ready for a major. I think it's something we all want to
get and I think I am ready. Hopefully, it will happen this year, and
not one time, a few times.''
If Ochoa plays the way she did at the Sybase Classic, winning any
tournament is a possibility.
Her 18-under 270 total on the Upper Montclair Country Club course
tied the best 72-hole score on a par-72 layout this year, matching
the total she had in winning at the Safeway International in
Arizona.
Lee, who was trying to become the fifth first-time winner on
tour, was the only player who had a chance to beat Ochoa on Sunday.
She had a two-shot lead at the start, but she missed six greens on
the front nine and failed to convert six straight birdie chances on
the back side en route to a 73.
``I just kept hanging in there and trying to strike to ball well,
but I didn't make any putts,'' said Lee, who finished third at the
Michelob Ultra Classic last week.
Se Ri Pak, who is now three events from making the Hall of Fame,
finished third after a final-round 66. She was 10 shots behind Ochoa
and a stroke ahead of Juli Inkster (69) and Brittany Lang (67).
``I really liked my round today because I didn't make any bogeys
and I gave myself a lot of birdie opportunities,'' Ochoa said. ``I
played smart golf and those are the rounds you want to have on a
Sunday.''
Lorie Kane of Charlottetown fired a final-round 69 to wind up in
a tie for 31st at 3 over.
The victory was the 11th of Ochoa's career. The US$210,000
winner's share pushed her earnings this year to $965,714 and to more
than $7 million in four-plus years on tour.
It also was her first successful LPGA title defence. She won last
year's event at the Wykagyl Country Club in New Rochelle, N.Y.,
another traditional, treed-line course with small greens.
``It was a great day,'' Ochoa said. ``It feels good to get that
first time since being named No. 1 and I am going home on Tuesday to
celebrate with my family.''
This was one Ochoa wanted. Since becoming the No. 1 player, she
failed to win in the three events, finishing second, fifth and 20th.
``You never know how it's going to be and what is going to
happen,'' said Ochoa, who made four five-footers for par on Sunday.
``This week was a week I was just ready to do it.''
Lee, who led for the first three rounds and outplayed Ochoa in a
head-to-head matchup on Saturday, had one birdie and two bogeys in
squandering the lead.
Ochoa made up the two-shot deficit in the first five holes. Lee
was unlucky to give one back at the second hole when her approach
hit the pin and bounced into the fringe about 25 feet away. She
missed a seven-foot par saving putt.
A short birdie putt on the par-5 fifth gave Ochoa a piece of the
lead and then she put the pressure on the 28-year-old Lee with
birdies on Nos. 8, 9 and 11. Ochoa made an 18-footer on the par-3
eighth, babied a 10-footer into the cup on No. 9 and two-putted for
another on the par-5 11th.
Lee, whose chances of winning ended when she put her third shot
into the water on No. 18, had makable birdie attempts on the 12th
through the 17th, but her putts seemed to die and fall off just
short of the holes, or she misread them.
