Cherry Hills Village – For most of the day, Lorena Ochoa staged a charge in the final round of the U.S. Women’s Open.
As she approached the 18th tee Sunday, the 23-year-old from Guadalajara, Mexico, was within one shot of the lead.
With so many others struggling or outright collapsing, it seemed a par 4 on the final hole and a score of 3-over for the tournament might at worst get her into a playoff.
Then Ochoa took out a 3-wood, swung, scuffed the grass a couple of inches behind the ball and watched in horror as the ball sailed into the water.
Splash. Her championship hopes were gone.
Now hitting three from the tee, a flustered Ochoa drove into the rough and ended up taking a quadruple-bogey 8 on the hole, dropping to 7-over for the tournament and leaving her four shots behind the eventual winner, Birdie Kim. A par on the final hole, it turns out, would have given her a tee time in a playoff today.
It might have won her the tournament considering the pressure it would have put on the remaining groups to match her score. Maybe Kim would have hit a miracle bunker shot, maybe not.
This much is certain: Ochoa’s 3-wood into the water eliminated her.
“I was hitting my 3-wood really good,” Ochoa said. “I hit 16, 17 just straight (with the) 3-wood. Now that I think about it, of course, I should have hit 5-wood just to put the ball in play and give myself a chance to make a par.
“I learn from myself, when I hit under pressure, I get too quick with my hands. I knew 3-wood, it could be a little too much. I just tried to make an easy swing and my hands got me on that one.”
Ochoa said she struck “a little bit behind” the ball, and labeled it a “drop-kick.”
Even with that final-hole disaster, Ochoa’s 1-over 72 was one of the best efforts on a day when the USGA seemed determined to have the winner well over par, which made the whole scenario even more bizarre. She was coming off an LPGA win in the Wegman’s Rochester event the previous week when she rallied on the final day.
After she struggled through the 18th on Sunday, she fought off tears in television interviews – with NBC, ESPN Deportes and TV Azteca – and in a session in the interview area, then broke down when greeting friends and family.
“This is the way golf is,” she said. “I tried really hard and did my best. I was playing my best for 71 holes and on the last one, I gave everything away.
“Golf is a humbling game and you have to learn from it.”
Terry Frei can be reached at 303-820-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com.
