Golf

Ochoa respectful of her Mexican roots

By BOB HARIG
Published October 12, 2006

Lorena Ochoa is like most golfers in that she has a routine she follows when she gets to the course each day.

But she is likely the only player who visits the maintenance building, too.

Ochoa, the leading money winner on the LPGA Tour this year, does this to pay homage to her homeland.

Since many of the workers at golf courses are often of Mexican descent, Ochoa believes it is important to say hello.

"I like to pay them back a little bit and go talk to them," Ochoa said. "I like to thank them for all their hard work."

For this, Ochoa is revered, although golf is still a work in progress in Mexico.

"Golf is all the way to the bottom, yes," she said. "It's a country where soccer is everything, but we are changing, a little bit of progress, and (in) the future hopefully it will get more time on TV and in the media and have more respect. I think we will have more players in the future; that will help, too, and we are trying to grow all the time.

"Every time I play a tournament in the States, there are always some Mexicans who come and cheer for me with a Mexican flag, and there are a lot of Hispanic people out here. I always represent them, and I always want to say thank you to them for the support and hopefully we'll work together and just make it a bigger sport."

Ochoa, 24, is doing her part, coming off a victory Sunday at the Corona Morelia Championship in Mexico, her fourth win of the year. She collected $150,000, raising her tour-leading total to more than $2.12-million heading into this week's Samsung World Championship.

Ochoa, who is from Guadalajara and still makes that her home, moved to the United States so she could play college golf, winning 12 of her 20 starts while at Arizona. She turned pro after two seasons, and was rookie of the year and the No. 1 money winner on the Futures Tour in 2002.

She has been on tour ever since, but this season has stood out, increasing her victory total to seven.

"I think this has been for me a great year because I've played consistent golf," she said. "For me, that was the goal at the beginning of the year, just to be consistent. It really helped me, just my mind-set, to be motivated every week."

All about winning: It appears that the most important thing to Tiger Woods is simply winning tournaments. If the other spoils come with it, fine. Two years ago he had a chance to possibly overtake Vijay Singh for the money title but decided not to add any tournaments to his schedule.

This year he has a chance to win the Vardon Trophy, given for the lowest scoring average on the tour. Woods has won a record six of the past seven.

Woods is all but a lock, with a stroke average a half-stroke better than Jim Furyk. Problem is, he is five rounds short of the required 60. He will get four of those rounds at the season-ending Tour Championship.

All Woods has to do is commit to next week's Funai Classic at Disney World, which is about five minutes from his home. But he has yet to do so. And might not.

Asked at the American Express Championship what the Vardon Trophy meant to him, Woods replied: "Not much. Overall consistency, yes. I've had a good year, but if you don't play enough rounds, you don't play enough rounds."

Chrysler Championship: The PGA Tour event in Palm Harbor is just two weeks away, but the tournament is still looking for volunteers to help with various aspects, including gallery marshals and standard bearers. For information, call (727) 942-5557. ... Tickets can be purchased at area Sweetbay stores by calling (727) 942-5566 or by visiting chryslerchampionship.com.

Around golf: Former British Open champion Ian Baker-Finch, who has worked for several years as an analyst for ABC/ESPN, will join CBS in 2007. ... The Champions Tour schedule for 2007 includes five events in Florida, up from three in 2006: Boca Raton, the week before the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am at the TPC of Tampa Bay, and in Palm Coast the week before the Masters.

[Last modified October 12, 2006, 01:38:25]