Ochoa unstoppable
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- Lorena Ochoa set the silver trophy on a table, clasped hands with her parents and sprinted to the edge of the lake surrounding the 18th green at Mission Hills, raising both arms as she plunged into the water.
Whether she is playing or celebrating, the Mexican star is unstoppable.
Ochoa buried her competition Sunday at the Kraft Nabisco Championship with back-to-back birdies at the turn to build a 5-shot lead, then closed with 8 pars for a 5-under 67 and another romp in a major that once gave her fits.
Even more inspiring were the festivities that followed.
She joined hands with her parents and sister-in-law and raced into the water. Her brother Alejandro, swing coach Rafael Alarcon and caddie Dave Brooker leapt from the bridge. Before long, two dozen friends and family members were bobbing in the water to the rhythm of a mariachi band, a celebration unlike any other at this major.
"I thought for a moment, 'Maybe I should try to do something funny, like a flip or something,' " Ochoa said. "No, no, no. Too dangerous. So I did the regular jump. You always worry about the jump, but once you win, I don't care."
The ripple effect is frightening.
Ochoa became the first player since Annika Sorenstam in 2005 to win two straight majors, having captured her first major in the Women's British Open at St. Andrews last summer by 4 shots.
In four starts this year, she has won three tournaments by a combined 23 shots.
"Nothing can stop her," said Se Ri Pak, who became the youngest player inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame last year, a record that certainly will be broken by the 26-year-old Ochoa.
Sorenstam and Suzann Pettersen each closed with a 68 and tied for second, although they were never close.
Ochoa, who finished at 11-under 277, never trailed under the blazing desert sun, and was threatened only briefly. She answered with 2 straight birdies to make the turn in 32, and the rout was on.
"It was commanding golf in both," Brooker said of the last two majors, starting with her 4-shot win at St. Andrews. "She's very polished. Every win that goes along, she gains even more momentum. If she had been putting better the first three days, this might have been a runaway even earlier."