Ochoa seeks eighth title

2007-11-08 08:12

Alabama - World number one Lorena Ochoa of Mexico bids for her eighth title of the year when she tries to defend her crown at the $1m LPGA Tournament of Champions which begins on Thursday.

Ochoa has clinched the season-ending top ranking and LPGA money list crowns and could boost her tour record $3.33m winnings by $150 000 by repeating as champion at the 6,253-yard Magnolia Grove course.

The Mexican star is bidding for her third title defence of the season after the Sybase Classic and last month's Samsung World Championship.

"There's a little more pressure, a lot of people are watching in a good way," Ochoa said. "It has been two times this year defending my title. Hopefully I can do it Sunday."

Ochoa set the tournament record last year with a 21-under par 267 total to defeat Americans Juli Inkster and Paula Creamer by 10 strokes.

The event is the penultimate stop on the LPGA season tour that concludes with next week's Tour Championship at West Palm Beach, Florida. The winner of that playoff-style event takes home $1m.

"I want to get a couple more wins," Ochoa said. "I want to first start with this one and give myself a good chance on Sunday and hopefully it will happen."

Even if Norway's fourth-ranked Suzann Pettersen won both events, the $1.15m in combined prize money together with her $1.75m, second best so far this season, would not be enough to catch Ochoa.

South Korea's Kim Mi Hyun is third on the money list with $1.24m, just ahead of Creamer at $1.21m.

Sweden's Annika Sorenstam, trying to hold off Australian Karrie Webb for second in the world rankings, are also in the title hunt in an event that features winners of LPGA events from 2004 through the 2007 season.

Sorenstam, playing in only her 12th event of the season due to injuries, is not certain of qualifying for next week's event. She has not played in this event since 2002.

Pettersen, who won her first LPGA title this season, seeks her sixth victory in a breakthrough year but acknowledges that Ochoa is the woman to beat.

"Lorena is number one in the world. She has had a fantastic year. She's had a fantastic couple of years," Pettersen said.

"Like when Annika was at her best, it made the people behind her work even harder. I think it's good that you have leaders like Lorena pushing the limit. She makes me working even harder.

"She has seven wins. I've got five. There are two more events. So we'll see."

After this event, the top 13 point-earners from the second half of the LPGA season plus the two top players on the money list not already qualified for the Tour Championship will be awarded berths into next week's showdown event.

- AFP