String of Late Birdies Helps Ochoa Take Title

PITTSFORD, N.Y. —  Five strokes back with seven holes to go, Lorena Ochoa looked to have lost yet another chance to win an LPGA tournament this year.

Then the birdies started to drop, one after another.

The 23-year-old Mexican birdied six of the last seven holes Sunday to rally past teenager Paula Creamer and win the Rochester LPGA by four strokes.

Ochoa shot a seven-under 65 in the final round to finish at 15-under 273. Creamer, an 18-year-old rookie seeking her second victory in a month, faded with three bogeys on the back nine to end at 11 under.

“It’s hard to realize right now what I did,” Ochoa said. “You have to just really believe and make it real.”

Rosie Jones (68) took third place at 10 under, two shots ahead of South Korea’s Jeong Jang (66). Laurie Rinker, 43, who won twice in the 1980s, also shot a 66 to tie South Korea’s Gloria Park at seven under. Becky Morgan (74) tied for seventh.

Ochoa earned $225,000 and stayed in third place on the money list with $762,268.

Ochoa, a runner-up three times this year, struggled early off the tee, twice saving par after clipping trees on Nos. 1 and 3. She made a 35-foot birdie putt on No. 5 and just missed an eagle chance at No. 8 but couldn’t make par from 10 feet on No. 10.

She roared back with five consecutive birdies from Nos. 12-16 to move one shot ahead of Creamer. Ochoa chipped within three feet on No. 12, then knocked in birdie putts of eight, nine, five and four feet. She capped her day with a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole.

“Everything happens so fast when you’re out there,” Ochoa said, recalling her playoff loss to Annika Sorenstam in Arizona in March, when she lost a four-stroke lead over the last three holes. “I was just really focused.”

Said Creamer: “She just went birdie-birdie-birdie-birdie. It was a train and it just kept going through, making no stops. If I was going to get beat, that’s the way I wanted to get beat.”