Ain't No Mountain High Enough for Little Lorena of Guadalajara
 David Davies - The Observer
go to original
| | Lorena Ochoa tees off at the 15th hole during the Evian Masters women's golf tournament in Evian, eastern France Sunday, July 29, 2007. Gulbis won the Evian Masters 2007 during the plays off against Jeong Jang. (AP/Claude Paris) |
Lorena Ochoa, the diminutive Mexican, is the best woman golfer in the world - allegedly. She is ranked number one and, by common consent of her peers, is number one. But there remains a still, small voice of nagging doubt, for Ochoa has reached the top without having won a major championship.
In the Women's British Open, which starts on Thursday at St Andrews, the 25-year-old has a chance, her last of the year, to put this right. It will be her twenty-fourth attempt on one of the big four championships and no one could be more determined. Asked if she was worried about her failure, she said: 'No. I think my family and the media worry more than me. I really believed that 2007 was going to be my year to win a major, and I have one more chance.'
Those words should ring in the ears of her main rivals: Annika Sorenstam, whose reign as number one Ochoa ended; Karrie Webb, another former world best; and Morgan Pressel, Suzann Pettersen and Christie Kerr, the winners of the majors this year. For when Ochoa determines to do something, it generally happens.
Ochoa, who comes from Guadalajara, first demonstrated this some years ago. She is part of a sporting family whose love of the outdoors includes climbing mountains. So nothing could have been more natural than Lorena's joining them when they decided to scale Mount Iztaccihuati. That the mountain is more than 17,000 feet and she was only 12 at the time made no difference whatsoever.
'Well,' she said, dismissively, after they made it to the summit, 'Guadalajara is quite high to begin with.' And so it is - but at 5,200 feet, that still leaves quite a way to go. Her brother, Alejandro, has climbed Everest, but Lorena has no plans to follow him, except in a golfing sense. 'I would love to go to the Himalayas,' she says, 'but only to trek around the foothills, for I believe it is very beautiful there. But one member of the family at the top of Everest is enough.'
Ochoa is a sporting all-rounder. She has played tennis and basketball at state standard, is quick over 400 and 800 metres, loves to water-ski, takes part in triathlons and half-marathons and really, really loves making a fool of the men in the annual football match at the Evian Masters featuring golfers, caddies, sponsors, organisers and once, memorably, Zinedine Zidane. When she nutmegged Franck Riboud, the boss of Danone and chief sponsor of the Evian, people briefly wondered whether the tournament would survive.
Ochoa is something of a phenomenon in the occasionally backbiting world of women's golf. It seems everyone admires her talent and respects her achievements as well as loving the way she conducts herself. Webb, for example, can sometimes be the dour Australian, but when it comes to Ochoa, she is enthusiastic. 'Lorena is a great player but she is also a wonderful girl and she's playing the best golf out of anybody.'
She proved that in 2006, her stellar season so far. Not only did she win six times, she was runner-up six times and, in 25 tournaments, was in the top 10 no fewer than 20 times. This year has featured three more wins, four more second places and, with $1,805,426 (£890,000) in winnings, she is comfortably leading the money list.
Ochoa also dominates this year's tour statistics. Number of rounds in the 60s? Ochoa number one with 24 from 52. Rounds under par? Ochoa number one with 38 from 52. Top-10 tournament finishes? Ochoa number one with 12 from 15 events.
But those are just performances and what you get for that is just money. Neither the placings nor the dollars even partially explain the popularity of the 5ft 6in, 8st Mexican. Sorenstam, for instance, when at her peak, won more tournaments and more money but was regarded as something of an automaton. You would never expect a giggle from the Swede. Ochoa seems genuinely to love people and as a consequence finds that affection being returned.
When, for instance, she arrived for a press interview at the Evian event last week, she saw her partner from last year's British Open pro-am at Royal Lytham St Annes. She immediately recognised her and the two women spent five minutes in animated conversation before the interview could begin. Most professionals, male or female, would not recognise a pro-am partner five minutes after signing the card, let alone a year later.
In late June this year, Ochoa finished second in the US Women's Open to a slimmed-down Christie Kerr, once memorably described by Helen Alfredsson, this year's Solheim Cup captain, as someone who 'used to be a fat bitch and is now a skinny bitch'. That Kerr was relieved at getting past the Mexican was reflected in her comments afterwards. 'Going head-to-head with Lorena, and beating her, was special memories. You can't make this stuff up. These are things you take to the grave, things you think about and just smile.'
Golf in Mexico is, according to the national federation, 'an afterthought'. When the populace want to celebrate another Ochoa milestone, they have to fall back on a football chant: 'Chiquiti bum a la bim, bom, ba; Chiquiti bum, a la bim, bom, ba - Lorena, Lorena, ra, ra, ra.'
Mexicans in golf are mostly greenkeepers and maintenance men on US courses and, typically, Ochoa will seek them out at tournaments to buy them a meal, talk to their kids and spouses. It is that sort of thing that resonates in the United States and back home.
Rafael Alarcon, a Mexican golfer who used to be on the US Tour, says: 'In Mexico the masses don't even know what golf is, but if you ask any taxi driver in Mexico City, he'll know who Lorena Ochoa is.'
And so, if next weekend Lorena Ochoa becomes the first Mexican, male or female, to win a major championship, perhaps Europe will have a better idea, too. |
Vallarta Weddings
News from Around the Americas | July 2007 
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us