By Jeff Lund
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Monday Apr. 8, 2002
UA women's golf coach, Greg Allen, said prior to last weekend's PING/ASU Invitational that sophomore Lorena Ochoa could win tournaments even on her bad days.
It would have taken much more than just a bad day for her to relinquish the lead yesterday, as the sophomore cruised to a four-stroke victory in Tempe Sunday - her seventh consecutive individual title and 11th in her short but illustrious UA golf career.
"I'm really happy and excited," Ochoa said. "It was a really good week for me. It is very special to win this seventh tournament in a row."
Ochoa's 11 individual titles already rank her fourth on the all-time individual title list, though she has yet to complete her sophomore year.
As a freshman last year, Ochoa had a stroke average of 71.33. This season Ochoa has an average of 69.65 per round, well below her record-setting mark last year.
The weekend did not just belong to Ochoa, however. As a team, the Wildcats posted a season-best score for a 54-hole tournament, which was good for a third place finish behind Tulsa and host Arizona State.
Allen said although the team did not win the tournament, the strong team play and another individual win for Ochoa helped his team build a head of steam heading into the postseason.
"We, as a team, always concentrate on peaking at the right time," Allen said. "Our performance this weekend helps our confidence and gives us some momentum to build upon. With the three postseason tournaments coming up, we need to continue to get better every day and play our best golf of the season."
Junior Laura Myerscough notched her second top-10 finish of the season and fourth of her career as she tied for 10th place.
Arizona's next competition is at the Pacific 10 Conference Championships in Walla Walla, Wash., on April 22.