Ochoa wins Women's British for first major

Golf Betting Lines

08/05/2007 - St. Andrews, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - This time there would be no meltdown, no miraculous shot from another player, no doubt about it.

Lorena Ochoa has her first major championship.

The Mexican star closed with a one-over 74 in the final round Sunday to win the Women's British Open by four shots, ending her 0-fer in major championships with a weekend of steady golf on the Scottish coast while all the pressure of dubious past performances in the majors rested on her slight frame.

She seemed to handle it with ease, protecting her first-round 67 with three scores of 74 or better to finally gain that last bit of validation for her now-unassailable No. 1 ranking.

No one -- not Annika Sorenstam, not previous foil Karrie Webb -- could stop Ochoa this time. Her stunning 16-month run to the top of the women's game has its climax.

"It was a great day," she said.

Ochoa finished at five-under 287. She led after each of the four rounds, a fine achievement in the first professional women's tournament ever hosted by storied St. Andrews.

Tiger Woods also went wire-to-wire for his second win at St. Andrews in 2005.

"It's really hard to describe and I think it's not going to be easy to realize what just happened," Ochoa said, responding to her status as the first woman to win on the course.

Several players took stabs at Ochoa's lead early on, but there were only three other survivors to par when all was said and done. Jee Young Lee and Maria Hjorth had matching 71s in the final round to finish at one-under 291.

Reilley Rankin also shot a 71 and was alone in fourth place at even-par.

Sorenstam, who was within five shots of Ochoa after six holes, went five-over par on her last 12 holes and tumbled all the way into a tie for 16th place at four-over 296.

Looking for a jolt to her middling play, Sorenstam didn't come close to getting it. She closed with rounds of 77 and 76 on the weekend.

"I'm swinging as good as I can. I'm putting as well as I can, but it is just not coming together," Sorenstam said. "It was just one of those weeks."

The 25-year-old Ochoa had never won a major before Sunday, but she didn't lack opportunities.

She squandered a seven-shot lead in the final round of last year's Kraft Nabisco Championship and was beaten in a playoff by Webb. It was a record- tying meltdown at the modern women's majors, one that almost felled her in regulation.

Many remember Webb's miraculous hole-out eagle from the fairway at the 18th hole that Sunday, and for good reason. But lost in the mix was Ochoa's own eagle moments later, set up by a gutsy five-wood into the 18th green at Mission Hills.

Ochoa was in the mix until the last hole of the 2005 U.S. Women's Open, then suffered a case of the shanks. She closed with a quadruple-bogey when a par could have gotten her into a playoff with Birdie Kim.

The '06 Kraft Nabisco was the only other time Ochoa held the 54-hole lead at a major. Sunday, she improved to 7-6 all-time with the third-round lead, and 3-3 this season.

It was her 13th career win, her 10th in the last 16 months, her fourth this season.

And it was never in doubt.

The high winds that hounded players and sent scores soaring on Saturday had died down by Sunday morning -- it did rain, however -- and Mhairi McKay and Miki Saiki posted early 67s to prove there were good numbers to be had on the Old Course.

As it turned out, Ochoa didn't need one of them.

Several players made early runs at her lead while Ochoa opened with four consecutive pars, including Sorenstam, who made birdies at the third and sixth holes to pull within five shots.

Ochoa responded with back-to-back birdies from the fifth, shaking off any early jitters she may have had. The birdies put Ochoa at eight-under, giving her a seven-shot lead.

She gave a stroke back with a bogey at the eighth, and her lead was trimmed to five shots after Lee made a birdie ahead at the ninth.

But Ochoa made the turn with the same six-shot lead she held overnight after rolling in an 18-foot birdie putt at the ninth. When she lipped out a 10-foot par putt at the 11th, her advantage was five again.

Further bogeys at the 15th and 17th only served to trim her final margin of victory.

"I believed that I would win the tournament Monday when I first started practicing," Ochoa said, laughing. "But the 18th tee shot (Sunday) is when we did it.

"After we hit that tee shot and put it in the middle of the fairway ... I was walking with my caddie just saying that, you know, we did it and it was a great feeling."

And a long time coming.

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Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch

Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.

Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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