Lorena Ochoa enjoys life at the top, and she intends to stay there for a while.
Ochoa clinched her second straight LPGA Tour player of the year award with a runaway victory Sunday at the Samsung World Championship in Palm Desert, Calif.
Successfully defending her title in the elite event, Ochoa crafted a closing 6-under-par 66 in what began as a pressure-packed final round. The title was her seventh of the year and 16th overall.
She finished at 18-under 270 – four shots ahead of Mi Hyun Kim – and earned $250,000 to push her record total to $3,318,421.
“After what happened in 2006, I thought it would be hard to improve, but here I am,” said the smiling Ochoa, who won six times last year.
Asked how she plans to remain No. 1, she said, “I always try to be one step ahead; not let any distractions get in the way, get in my practice and my rest. And there are a lot of things to improve. I’m going to work hard.”
Kim closed with a 69. Angela Park, this year’s rookie of the year, and Jeong Jang shot 70s to tie for third at 13 under.
Kim, Jang and Park all began the final round at Big Horn Golf Club just one shot behind co-leaders Ochoa and Suzann Pettersen.
Ochoa’s game was solid from tee to cup, and she was particularly deadly with her irons. She also snaked in a 15-foot birdie putt to take clear command on No. 15, and sank a couple of 10-footers for birdies during her round.
PGA. George McNeill won his first career PGA Tour title in commanding fashion, shooting a 5-under 67 for a 23-under 264 total and a four-stroke victory over D.J. Trahan at the Open in Las Vegas.
Champions Tour. Bernhard Langer matched the Champions Tour scoring records for a 54-hole event, closing with an 8-under 64 for a total of 25-under 191 and an eight-stroke victory at the Administaff Small Business Classic in Spring, Texas.
World Match Play Championship. Ernie Els won his record seventh World Match Play Championship title, beating Angel Cabrera 6 and 4 at Wentworth in Virginia Water, England.
European PGA. Denmark’s Mads Vibe-Hastrup won the Madrid Open, his first European tour title, closing with a 5-under 67 for a three-stroke victory over Spain’s Alejandro Can- izares, who finished with a 68.
