GolfPlayerMania

We often watch in amazement as our favorite stars perform on the big stage but we never truly see all the hard work and time that went into getting them to that moment.  A great example of this is the world’s current #1 female golfer, Lorena Ochoa. Ochoa, at the young age of 27, has already qualified for the World Golf Hall of Fame in a short 6 years of professional golf.  Although she cannot be inducted until after 10 years on the tour (2012), there is no doubt she will be there.  Ochoa began playing golf at the age of 5 while living next to a golf course, and had already won her first national tournament by age 7.

Ochoa won 44 different national events in Mexico before heading off to college at the University of Arizona on a golf scholarship.  Ochoa won many tournaments and awards before turning professional in 2002, from player of the year honors while in college to the National Sports Award in Mexico for 2001.  When she turned professional, she was named rookie of the year and finished 9^th on the money list with just under 10 top-ten finishes. The success kept on rolling for Ochoa as she had her best year as a professional in 2007, winning her first major (LPGA British Open), taking over the #1 ranking in the world and becoming the first female golfer to cross the $4 million earnings threshold in one single season. In 2008, Ochoa continued her dominant ways with another major championship win at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, qualification for the Hall of Fame and roughly $2.7 million in earnings, raising her career total to $13 million.  Ochoa finished first in 7 out of 11 major statistical categories in 2008, namely the Player of the Year, Scoring Average (68.44), Rounds Under Par, Top-10 Finishes, Birdies and Greens in Regulation.

Finally, in addition to her dominance on the golf course it is worth noting that Ochoa uses her fame and fortune to help those less fortunate. Earlier in her professional career she opened a school in her hometown of La Barranca and in 2008 a high school was opened next to it by her self-named foundation (Lorena Ochoa Foundation). Nancy Lopez, one of the world’s finest female athletes, says that when you meet Ochoa “for the first time, you experience a remarkable warmth and modesty.”

Even though we cannot see all of the behind-the-scenes practicing that goes into Ochoa’s success, her resume speaks for itself and she will enjoy dominance for years to come.