SUPERSTITION MOUNTAIN, Arizona (AFP) — Lorena Ochoa retained her Safeway International crown in dominant fashion on Sunday, posting a seven-stroke victory in the 1.5 million-dollar LPGA event.
The world number one from Mexico, who led by one at the start of the round, fired a six-under-par 66 for a 22-under total of 266 - four strokes better than her winning total last year.
South Korean Jee Young Lee, who birdied 18 for a 72, finished second at 15-under 273 with Finland's Minea Blomqvist third at 14-under 274 after a 67.
Ochoa, 26, notched her 19th LPGA title and her second of 2008. She opened her season with a victory in the HSBC Women's Champions in Singapore earlier this month.
Former world number one Annika Sorenstam (70) finished in a tie for ninth at 11-under in a group that also included British veteran Laura Davies.
Ochoa never lost her lead on the final day.
After two birdies and two bogeys in her first six holes, Ochoa sank back-to-back birdies of 15 feet at eight and nine.
At 13 she knocked a pitching wedge to 12 feet to ignite a run of three birdies in a row, and she finished the day with a two-putt birdie from 30 feet at the par-five 18th.
"It was a great day, especially the back nine," she said. "Front nine, a little bit up and down. I think being in the last group with the pressure and the wind, it was a little tough, but then I told myself just be patient.
"I was hitting the ball really good, and I missed few putts, just try not to really pay much attention.
"And then I made a great birdie on eight and nine, and from there just everything went a little bit easier," she said.
Lee said her runner-up finish was "really exciting."
The Korean said she was probably pressing too hard when she bogeyed 11 and 12, but was able to remained focus and finish off the round well.
She said playing in the last group with Ochoa, who was followed by a big gallery of fans many with Mexican flags, was instructive.
"She's a great player," Lee said. "She never loses her pace, and that's something that I really need to learn from her, to keep it steady all the time."
For 21-year-old Blomqvist, who won the 2004 Central European Open in Hungary on the Ladies' European Tour, it was easily her best LPGA finish in her second season on the US women's tour.
She had six birdies, including one at the final hole, to better her tie for eighth in the Franklin American Mortgage Championship in Nashville last year.
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
