Locust Hill Country Club’s greens were an easy read for Mexican Lorena Ochoa today. With five consecutive birdies on the back nine, Ochoa charged past rookie Paula Creamer to finally win her first title of 2005 by four strokes with a 7-under 65.
Creamer started the day with a two-stroke lead over Ochoa but a rimmed one-foot putt for an opening bogey placed her easily within Ochoa’s grasp.
Lorena has been close to a victory three times this season and today walks away with the trophy and a $225,000 share of the $1.5 million purse. As with most great rounds Ochoa’s putting helped her to win the final round of the Wegmans. “I made that birdie on twelve and that was the beginning of all my birdies,” a happy Ochoa said. “That gave me good momentum and you know it is all about having confidence out there.”
After a two-week siesta Lorena tied for fifth place at the LPGA Championship, the second major of 2005. This week’s win will surely help the 24-year old’s confidence and mental game heading into the U.S. Women’s Open next week. A third place position on the Official Money List with total earnings of $762,000 is also quite impressive.
Paula Creamer’s (71) final round started strong but withered in comparison to her challenger. The incomprehensible one-foot miss on the first hole did not sideline Creamer as she continued bogey-free with four birdies on the balance of the front-nine. Her final birdie occured on the 11th and then the bogeys came including her weak finish at 17 and 18 which capped off her demise. Although Creamer complained of a weak wrist during the tournament the pain didn’t seem to affect her performance during Saturday’s round where she claimed the lead.
“She just played absolutely fantastic. There is nothing else she could do except make birdie and she did it,” Creamer said about Ochoa. “It’s best to be beat like that. She’s a true champion. I knew it was going to be tough coming down the finish, but I tried my hardest and that’s all I could have done.”
Solo third place honors went to veteran Rosie Jones (68) who sported a bogey-free final round. The 45-year old Jones has never won a major and would really love to finalize her career with a win next week.
Jeong Jang (66) balanced her front and back nines with 33’s with only one bogey on each of the halves.
Laurie Rinker (66) had a terrific round today carding seven birdies. In eight starts this season Rinker has not been in the the top-ten once and has never been a threat on tour. Gloria Park (67) tied with Rinker and tallied up a bogey-free round.
Becky Morgan (74) had twice as many bogeys as birdies and fell into a tie for seventh with Laura Diaz (68).
Kim Saiki had the opportunity to defend her first tour win but came up short with a 3-over par 73.
Annika Sorenstam took the week off to prepare for next week’s possible third win at Cherry Hills, Colorado in her quest for the Grand Slam. She also sat around and watched the U.S. Open hoping that she could email Tiger Woods with a “10” after his round. The two buddies trade barbs after each major joking about their equal number of victories at the majors.
Pos Player Today Tot R1 R2 R3 R4 1 Lorena Ochoa +1 -11 68 67 69 73 2 Paula Creamer -3 -8 69 71 71 69 3 Rosie Jones -5 -6 68 73 74 67 4 Jeong Jang -1 -6 67 70 74 71 T5 Laurie Rinker E -4 72 72 68 72 T5 Gloria Park +1 -4 67 71 73 73 T7 Laura Diaz -5 -3 69 75 74 67 T7 Dorothy Delasin -3 -3 72 73 71 69 T7 Becky Morgan -1 -3 71 71 72 71 T10 Patricia Baxter-Johnson E -3 74 70 69 72 T10 Tina Barrett +2 -3 71 68 72 74 T10 Candie Kung +4 -3 73 68 68 76 T10 Mi Hyun Kim E -4 73 70 70 71 T10 Catriona Matthew +1 -4 74 70 67 73 T10 Maria Hjorth +1 -4 68 70 73 73
Creamer choked on 17. She fanned that putt and handed it to Ochoa. Bah.