Dan O'Neill
Dan O’Neill is a columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. O’Neill also writes a weekly column for http://GolfBrief.com, and is a regular contributor to http://MSNBC.com and Golfweek. He is the author of “Busch Stadium Moments” and “Sportsman’s Park.”
A reason for Ochoa’s success
http://www.golfbrief.com/articles/1069/1/A-reason-for-Ochoaas-success/Page1.html
By Dan O'Neill
Published on 04/25/2008
http://www.golfbrief.com/articles/1069/1/A-reason-for-Ochoaas-success/Page1.html
A reason for Ochoa’s success
The unprecedented single-season sweep of the major championships is still alive in the world of professional golf. The hottest player in the game still chases that carrot …
With one slight quid pro quo. The player of which we speak is Lorena Ochoa, not Tiger Woods.
“That’s more the fans and the media point of view,” Ochoa said, after her victory at the Ginn Open on Sunday. “But to be able to put my name next to (Woods) is always an honor, and I'm happy with that.”
Ochoa isn’t just next Woods, in some ways she’s passing him by. She has 19 wins in little more than two years. She has four wins in a row — the first time a LPGA player has accomplished that quadrilateral in 45 years.
Ochoa had five victories in her last six tournaments, winning by margins of five, seven, 11, 11 and three strokes. There’s not a nail-biter among them.
She also has won first major championship of the season, and the last two LPGA majors in succession. Two more majors on the string and the native of Guadalajara Jalisco, Mexico has a “Mexi-Slam” to match the “Tiger Slam” Woods captured between 2001-2002.
Add one more major to finish the year and Ochoa would have a single-season sweep of the majors. It’s highly unlikely, but where the 26-year old Ochoa is concerned, nothing seems impossible.
“I don’t need to have any extra pressure,” Ochoa said. “I know I can do it. I believe in myself. It will be something amazing. I'm just, it's too early to start talking about it … So I'm just going to do it one at a time, and I think I can do it.”
Ochoa seems to do anything she sets her mind to do. She started playing golf at age 5, won her first national tournament at the age of 7, went on to win 44 national tournaments in Mexico. At one point, she won five consecutive Junior World Golf Championships events.
When she arrived at the University of Arizona, her English was embryonic. Determined to improve, she watched movies and read magazines to accelerate the learning process. Meanwhile, she was the NCAA Player of the Year in her freshman and sophomore seasons. During her sophomore year (2002), she set a NCAA record with seven consecutive victories in her first seven events.
So success in streaks is nothing new, although Ochoa downplays any connection.
“I’m just trying to enjoy my moment,” Ochoa said. “This has been something that took me a long time to achieve. It’s not something that happened in a couple days or in a couple months. You know, so I’m going to continue that, just motivating myself, practicing hard, and hopefully I stay at the top for a long time.”
Ochoa is 5 feet 6 and generously listed at 130 pounds, yet she is a formidable package of power and precision. She is ranked first in LPGA statistics for driving distance (277.5) and greens in regulation (.810), and is tied for eighth in putts per GIR (1.74).
Her scoring average of 67.87 is nearly two strokes better than her closest competitor, Annika Sorenstam (69.77), and nearly a stroke lower than Sorenstam’s average scoring record of 68.67.
But the numbers alone don’t tell Ochoa’s story. The LPGA benefits from her personality. Sorenstam, the No. 1 player for several years previous, has 70 wins, 10 majors and Hall of Fame status. She might be the best player in the history of the game. But she is not the most dynamic personality.
In recent years, the LPGA has been flooded with Asian players. Many are outstanding players but many hardly speak any English. For an American tour playing to largely American audiences and sponsors, there is a disconnect.
Ochoa is smart, modest, cooperative and refreshingly energetic. She is popular with galleries, reporters and her fellow players.
“Everything that she’s done this year has been phenomenal,” said Brittany Lincicome, another young LPGA star. “Just being her as a person, she would give you the shirt off of her back if you needed it, just being so nice and be able to play so well and not being cocky about it.
“(It’s) how she presents herself. She’s definitely a role model to every kid, every adult, everybody out there that likes golf.”
Ochoa is great for the women’s game now. And if she continues to do Tiger Woods-like things, if she chases a Slam, her impact will be even more significant. As mentioned, since 2006 she has 19 wins, Woods has 18. She has 46 top-10s in 56 starts, Woods has 28 in 35 starts. She has two majors, Woods has two majors — but Ochoa’s represent the last two majors.
“I guess right now I’m a little bit ahead (of Woods) because I won the last two,” Ochoa said. “So I like that idea; I’m ready for that.”
With one slight quid pro quo. The player of which we speak is Lorena Ochoa, not Tiger Woods.
“That’s more the fans and the media point of view,” Ochoa said, after her victory at the Ginn Open on Sunday. “But to be able to put my name next to (Woods) is always an honor, and I'm happy with that.”
Ochoa isn’t just next Woods, in some ways she’s passing him by. She has 19 wins in little more than two years. She has four wins in a row — the first time a LPGA player has accomplished that quadrilateral in 45 years.
Ochoa had five victories in her last six tournaments, winning by margins of five, seven, 11, 11 and three strokes. There’s not a nail-biter among them.
She also has won first major championship of the season, and the last two LPGA majors in succession. Two more majors on the string and the native of Guadalajara Jalisco, Mexico has a “Mexi-Slam” to match the “Tiger Slam” Woods captured between 2001-2002.
Add one more major to finish the year and Ochoa would have a single-season sweep of the majors. It’s highly unlikely, but where the 26-year old Ochoa is concerned, nothing seems impossible.
“I don’t need to have any extra pressure,” Ochoa said. “I know I can do it. I believe in myself. It will be something amazing. I'm just, it's too early to start talking about it … So I'm just going to do it one at a time, and I think I can do it.”
Ochoa seems to do anything she sets her mind to do. She started playing golf at age 5, won her first national tournament at the age of 7, went on to win 44 national tournaments in Mexico. At one point, she won five consecutive Junior World Golf Championships events.
When she arrived at the University of Arizona, her English was embryonic. Determined to improve, she watched movies and read magazines to accelerate the learning process. Meanwhile, she was the NCAA Player of the Year in her freshman and sophomore seasons. During her sophomore year (2002), she set a NCAA record with seven consecutive victories in her first seven events.
So success in streaks is nothing new, although Ochoa downplays any connection.
“I’m just trying to enjoy my moment,” Ochoa said. “This has been something that took me a long time to achieve. It’s not something that happened in a couple days or in a couple months. You know, so I’m going to continue that, just motivating myself, practicing hard, and hopefully I stay at the top for a long time.”
Ochoa is 5 feet 6 and generously listed at 130 pounds, yet she is a formidable package of power and precision. She is ranked first in LPGA statistics for driving distance (277.5) and greens in regulation (.810), and is tied for eighth in putts per GIR (1.74).
Her scoring average of 67.87 is nearly two strokes better than her closest competitor, Annika Sorenstam (69.77), and nearly a stroke lower than Sorenstam’s average scoring record of 68.67.
But the numbers alone don’t tell Ochoa’s story. The LPGA benefits from her personality. Sorenstam, the No. 1 player for several years previous, has 70 wins, 10 majors and Hall of Fame status. She might be the best player in the history of the game. But she is not the most dynamic personality.
In recent years, the LPGA has been flooded with Asian players. Many are outstanding players but many hardly speak any English. For an American tour playing to largely American audiences and sponsors, there is a disconnect.
Ochoa is smart, modest, cooperative and refreshingly energetic. She is popular with galleries, reporters and her fellow players.
“Everything that she’s done this year has been phenomenal,” said Brittany Lincicome, another young LPGA star. “Just being her as a person, she would give you the shirt off of her back if you needed it, just being so nice and be able to play so well and not being cocky about it.
“(It’s) how she presents herself. She’s definitely a role model to every kid, every adult, everybody out there that likes golf.”
Ochoa is great for the women’s game now. And if she continues to do Tiger Woods-like things, if she chases a Slam, her impact will be even more significant. As mentioned, since 2006 she has 19 wins, Woods has 18. She has 46 top-10s in 56 starts, Woods has 28 in 35 starts. She has two majors, Woods has two majors — but Ochoa’s represent the last two majors.
“I guess right now I’m a little bit ahead (of Woods) because I won the last two,” Ochoa said. “So I like that idea; I’m ready for that.”