Lorena Ochoa is a Mexican golfer who is currently ranked world female number one. In 2007 she won the Women’s British Open.
She grew up next to a golf course and started playing at the age of five. At six she won her first state title and at seven her first national title. As a junior she won a total of 22 state titles and 44 national titles. In 2000 she took up her studies at the University of Arizona and won the NCAA Collegiate Golf Player of the Year Awards in 2001 and 2002. As a sophomore she set an NCAA record by wining seven consecutive victories in her first seven events. She also set the single-season NCAA scoring average record twice in a row.
In 2001 she won the Mexican National Sports Award, and became the youngest recipient and first golfer ever to receive the prestigious award.
After her sophomore year she left the University to turn pro and in her rookie year she won three of the ten events she participated in on the Futures Tour. She topped the money list and was awarded the Futures Tour Player of the Year. The following season she went on to play the LPGA Tour where she finished top-10 eight times and won the Rolex Rookie of the Year award and finished in ninth place on the money list. In 2007 she topped the money list and won the LPGA Tour Player of the Year award.
In April 2007 Ochoa passed Annika Sorenstam as world number one and became the first woman ever to earn more than $4 million in a season.
