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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | December 2007 
Ochoa Repeats as AP Athlete of the Year
 CyberGolf
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| | Lorena Ochoa, of Mexico, celebrates after winning the LPGA Safeway Classic golf tournament in this Aug. 26, 2007, file photo in Portland, Ore. (AP/Rick Bowmer) |
LPGA star Lorena Ochoa is in rarified company. The top-rated golfer in the world was the overwhelming choice as the AP Female Athlete of the Year. The award was the Mexican national's second straight, and it was the fifth straight year a golfer has captured the award, the longest streak of any sport.
Ochoa received 71 votes from members of The Associated Press, equal to the combined total of the athletes in the six spots behind her. She joins Annika Sorenstam, Kathy Whitworth, Mickey Wright and Babe Zaharias as the only golfers to win the award in consecutive years.
"Being compared with such exceptional players makes me feel honored," Ochoa told the Associated Press from Mexico while on vacation. "My main goal is to maintain myself as the No. 1. Therefore, I can promise to keep improving."
Tennis player Justine Henin, who won her third straight French Open title this year, was second with 18 votes. Also in the top five were New York Marathon winner Paula Radcliffe, Tennessee basketball player Candace Parker and Allyson Felix, the second woman in history to win three gold medals at the World Track and Field Championships.
Tom Brady, who has led the New England Patriots to 14 consecutive wins, was voted the AP Male Athlete of the Year. Brady received 51 votes, 18 more than runner-up Roger Federer, the Swiss tennis star who won his fifth straight Wimbledon and fourth consecutive U.S. Open, his 11th and 12th Grand Slam titles overall.
The 26-year-old Ochoa ascended to the top spot in women's golf in April. In her first tournament after rising to No. 1, before an excited crowd at a tournament in Mexico, she finished a disappointing two shots behind Silvia Cavalleri.
Ochoa's biggest challenge in 2007 came in ridding a reputation as a player who couldn't win a major. That status held true through the year's first two majors, the Kraft Nabisco and the U.S. Women's Open - where she led with five holes to play but lost after two bad tee shots. But in the Women's British Open, the biggest gap in an otherwise sparkling portfolio was filled when she forged a four-stroke win at St. Andrews.
"There were a lot of people saying that I wasn't good enough or that I couldn't win a major, or when am I going to win a major," Ochoa said. "And I always have taken all of the comments and understood very well because I didn't win. I just think now it's a big step forward. I did it, and there's no more to say."
She won her next two LPGA starts and ended the season with eight victories, finishing out of the top 10 only four times. "I don't like to look back," she said. "I was always very motivated to become No. 1 because of what it meant and because of all the effort and passion I have put in during my life to golf. Now that I am No. 1, I'm even more motivated to keep giving my best."
Erstwhile No. 1 Sorenstam suffered injuries this year that prevented her from a victory until the Dubai Ladies Masters in December. But even if she had been healthy, the Swede wonders if she could have stopped Ochoa, who finished the year with over $4.3 million and was named the LPGA's Rolex Player of the Year.
"I have a lot of respect for Lorena," Sorenstam said. "I think she's a fantastic player. She deserves to be No. 1. She's playing consistent every week. She's playing as good as anybody can play."
Another former No. 1-ranked player, Karrie Webb, added: "I think she's been the best player. I don't think any of the players question that."
Ochoa also has a heart. After winning $1 million in the ADT Championship in mid-November, Ochoa pledged $100,000 for flood victims in Mexico and set aside a large amount to help build schools for the needy children in her hometown of Guadalajara. |
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