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spt_Ochoa[i-1].body = "Move over, Annika Sorenstam. There's a new No. 1 in women's golf.Lorena Ochoa, 25, won her first major at the Women's British Open. Her steady rise to the top spot has been legit.
“It’s incredible. I’m very emotional,” Ochoa said. “Getting the telephone call that I’m No. 1 was just amazing.”
Follow along as MSNBC.com contributor Jim McCabe takes a special look at the LPGA's new queen. ";
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She is saturated in it, for reasons that are hard to explain, but impossible to miss. The smile. The little wave. The small frame with the explosive swing. The gentle look that can seemingly put you at ease, just as she’s tossing down a fourth straight birdie to bury your chances.
You hardly noticed her -– and then she was past you. She has come a long way in a short while with her English and that has only endeared her to American golf fans who perhaps see a little bit of Nancy Lopez in this young Mexican woman.
Whereas Karrie Webb seemed reluctant to be the game’s best player and Annika Sorenstam appeared too focused to have fun, Ochoa comes off as a player who has struck a perfect balance -– she’s fiercely competitive, but genuinely thrilled to be where she is, and that resonates with the public.
When she walked onto the LPGA Tour as a diminutive 21-year-old in 2003, Ochoa blended into the landscape; now, she stands apart, not thanks to her size, but in testament to her talent, her charm, her steady demeanor, and a smile that radiates.";
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The record will show that Annika Sorenstam relinquished the No. 1 spot to Lorena Ochoa after a 63-week run, but that’s based on the fact that the Rolex Rankings have only been with us since Feb. 20, 2006. You’d have to be foolhardy not to concede that Sorenstam’s run dates back to March of 2002 when she won the Kraft Nabisco Championship to ignite an 11-win campaign.
So, it’s more like a 264-week run, which is the sort of dominance Tiger Woods enjoyed from August of 1999 to August of 2004 when Vijay Singh briefly supplanted him. For Singh, it was a 26-week run and while I think Ochoa could enjoy a longer reign than that, it’s hard to imagine her holding the top spot for dynamic stretches like a Woods or a Sorenstam.
Karrie Webb is No. 3, not far behind, Cristie Kerr and Paula Creamer are a win away from pushing into serious contention, and Brittany Lincicome has plenty of power and momentum.
More likely, Ochoa will hold the top spot for the bulk of the summer, but unless she strings together a flock of wins, she’s got plenty of challengers ready to knock her off.";
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Others who can’t match Ochoa’s resume have created more headlines.
Michelle Wie with her outrageous comments about playing in the Masters and U.S. Open. Paula Creamer with her flamboyant top-to-bottom pink. Morgan Pressel with her sassy precociousness. Natalie Gulbis with her swimsuit calendars. Christina Kim with her headwear and tight shirts.
We surely live in the “look at me” world, one where fashion and style mean more than substance and scores, but Ochoa is a breath of fresh air. She wants you to notice her, but figures the best way to accomplish that is to post low numbers that win tournaments.
Quietly, Ochoa won three times in her first 62 LPGA Tour events (for comparison, Creamer has one win in 58 starts) and yet you rarely heard about her.
Ochoa has won more than seven times and you’ve probably heard more noise from Pressel and her one victory. Which is OK. Ochoa has a mission in life and it’s not promoting herself.";
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When word came down that Ochoa had officially moved to No. 1, she was where she should have been –- in her native land, preparing for the LPGA Tour’s Corona Championship. There is something genuine about Ochoa’s passion for her homeland that makes you hope she succeeds in drawing other young Mexican women into the LPGA Tour, as much to give them an avenue of hope as anything else.
Truly, Ochoa carries a nation’s hopes on her shoulders every time she tees it up and the stories of her stopping to talk with golf course maintenance workers during competitive rounds have become part of her legend. Whereas so many of her colleagues from ports throughout the world have settled in Florida (Orlando is a suburb of Stockholm, is it not?), Ochoa still lives in Mexico and when she got the news about the updated rankings, she said: “I am at home and I able to celebrate the news with the people of my country.”
It was heartfelt, as are all her emotions toward Mexico, a country she vows to improve through her golf.";
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Ten wins in her first 105 LPGA Tour events as a member is a pretty good winning percentage. But it’s hard to overlook the fact that she’s also finished second 12 times, third 10 times, and in four majors (before her British Open victory) she’s been either second, third, or fourth.
So, are we suggesting that a player who has cashed 10 winning checks doesn’t know how to finish the deal? No, not at all.
However, Ochoa has conceded that she doesn’t always handle the pressure with the same cool demeanor that defines her. “When I get under pressure, I get too quick my hands,” she said at the close of the 2005 U.S. Women’s Open, minutes after a pull-hook into the water at the 72nd hole led to a quadruple-bogey as she squandered yet another major chance. Earlier that year, she lost a four-shot lead late in Round 4 of the Safeway International and bowed to Annika Sorenstam in a playoff.
Those demons were buried, said supporters, when Ochoa birdied four of the final five holes to win this year’s Safeway, but just a few weeks later, the 25-year-old played the final six holes in 6-over to cough up what appeared to be a sure win at the Ginn Open.
Her playoff record is a curious 0-3.";
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Ben Hogan had Sam Snead. Jack Nicklaus had Arnold Palmer. The Yankees have the Red Sox. The Cowboys have the Redskins. Every true champion has a rival who pushes, who challenges, who provides incentive.
In women’s golf, there was for a few bright summers Annika Sorenstam vs. Karrie Webb, Nos. 1 and 1a (and you decide the order). In 2000-01 they combined for 23 wins and five major championships. There was a real buzz to the LPGA Tour, but just as Webb began to fade in 2002, so, too, did the excitement. Sorenstam as a dominating champion with little competition wasn’t fun.
What will make Ochoa’s time at the top enjoyable is the battle she gets from those chasing her stardom and what the sport truly needs is a rivalry between contrasting personalities.
It would be most flavorful if the battle came from Morgan Pressel, who is precocious enough to light fires, but the guess is, Paula Creamer has a more rounded game and should provide the most consistent challenge to Ochoa –- both as a talent and as a cocky, confident talent. Ochoa vs. Creamer resonates."; spt_Ochoa[i++] = new Array("spt_0425_OchoaNo1","Vote: How long No. 1?","","","","", "lv", "", "", "", "right", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""); // END editorial data