Lorena Ochoa, the No. 1 rated female golfer in the country, proved she was worthy of that title with a record-breaking performance in UA's first golf tournament of the semester.

file photo/Arizona Daily Wildcat Sophomore golfer Lorena Ochoa - the No. 1-ranked women's golfer in the nation - sizes up a putt earlier this season. Ochoa won her fifth consecutive tournament this weekend at the TRW Regional Challenge in California.

The sophomore phenom, who was expected to have a standout year, is the main reason Arizona finds itself ranked No. 6 in the country.

Out of the gate on Monday, Ochoa blew away the competition at the TRW Regional Challenge, capturing her fifth straight individual tournament championship.

When all was said and done, Ochoa left the tournament in Palos Verdes, Calif., with two records to add to her already filled resume. Her final score of 206 eclipsed the previous course record by six strokes, the same margin of victory over Ochoa's closest competitor. Her second-round score of 5-under-par 66 also broke a course record.

This season, Ochoa has an average score of 69.93 per round. No Wildcat has ever finished a season with an average under 70, and she is on pace to break her own record she set last season with a 71.56 average.

The win gave Ochoa her unprecedented ninth career win in only 15 tournaments.

Ochoa's coach, Greg Allen, said he is impressed and thrilled with the way his superstar player is shooting.

"She is just amazing," Allen told Arizona Media Relations. "To do what she has done - win nine tournaments in such a short time - is one of the most incredible accomplishments I've ever seen. And she's just going to keep playing as well as she is right now."

Since her first tournament as a collegiate player, Ochoa has not finished worse than third place.

Unfortunately for Arizona, however, Ochoa's individual performance was not enough to boost the Wildcats' team score.

UA finished in 6th place in the tournament they had won the previous two seasons. Arizona's three-day score of 907 was 37 stroked behind the 370 mark that gave No. 2 Tulsa the championship.

The second-best Wildcat golfer was junior Laura Myerscough, who completed play yesterday tied for 36th place.

The next outing for the Wildcats will come on Feb. 25 - 26 when they host the Wildcat Invitational.