Lorena Ochoa shows her class with 25th

career title win in LPGA Thailand

After three rounds to shake off the close-season "rust," Lorena Ochoa took only five holes of the final round to take what proved to be a winning lead in the Honda LPGA Thailand tournament today.
It was the Mexican ace's 25th career title and the second year in a row she has won on her first competitive outing ot the season.
She pulled away over the final round to win by three strokes from South Korean Hee Young Park.
Ochoa, three strokes behind playing partner Paula Creamer at the start of the round, shot a six-under 66 in overcast conditions that took the edge off the heat on the Siam Country Club's Plantation Course.
"It's been a great week," Ochoa said. "My goal was to win the tournament and here I am with the trophy. I'm pleased. I played exceptionally well."
Ochoa finished at 14-under 274 -- shooting 71-69-68 the first three days -- and earned $217,500 for her second straight season-opening victory. Last year, she opened with a victory in Singapore in the HSBC Women's Champions and went on to win five of her first six events. She will be in Singapore next week for her title defense.
"This is a good preparation for next week, as the course is pretty much the same," Ochoa said. "I will take a rest and will be ready to defend my title on Thursday."
South Korea's Hee Young Park shot a 65 to finish a career-high second. The third-ranked Creamer had a 73, leaving her four strokes back at 10 under.
"I started on the wrong foot. It wasn't my day," Creamer said. "Lorena played awesome. ... It would have been difficult for me even if I had played better."
Stacy Prammanasudh, an American who has a Thai father, shot a course-record 63 to tie for fourth with Brittany Lang (73) at 7 under.
"It was unexpected for me as it was for everybody else," Prammanasudh said. "It was just one of those days that you putt the ball and they all go in."
Ochoa wiped out Creamer's three-shot lead in three holes, picking up two strokes on the par-5 second with a birdie and Creamer's bogey, and pulling even when Creamer dropped another stroke on the par-3 third.
Ochoa took the outright lead at 10 under on No. 5, added a birdie on the par-5 sixth and pulled away with birdies on the par-3 eighth and par-5 11th and 13th. She bogeyed the par-3 16th, got the stroke back with a birdie on 17 and parred 18.
Park, winless in 22 events last year as a rookie, played the first four holes in 4 under, birdieing Nos. 2 and 3 and eagling the par-4 fifth.
She overcame an opening 79 with rounds of 64 and 69.
"I felt sick on the first day," Park said. "I had to be vaccinated at the hospital."
Mika Miyazato (70) was sixth at 6 under, and Yani Tseng (68), Helen Alfredsson (70), Angela Stanford (71) and Sophie Gustafson (70) followed at 5 under in the event that attracted a tournament-record 16,500 fans Sunday. Stanford won the season-opening SBS Open two weeks ago in Hawaii and has three victories in her last eight starts. FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4 x 72) 6477yd
1. Lorena Ochoa $217,500 71-69-68-66--274
2. Hee Young Park 139,852 79-64-69-65--277
3. Paula Creamer 101,453 68-70-67-73--278
4. Stacy Prammanasudh 70,826 75-70-73-63--281
4. Brittany Lang 70,826 68-69-71-73--281
6. Mika Miyazato 51,684 73-67-72-70--282
7. Yani Tseng 36,561 70-71-74-68--283
7. Helen Alfredsson 36,561 68-72-73-70--283
7. Angela Stanford 36,561 68-71-73-71--283
7. Sophie Gustafson 36,561 70-73-70-70--283
11. Sun Young Yoo 27,756 74-70-72-68--284
11. Teresa Lu 27,756 72-69-72-71--284
13. Jiyai Shin 24,349 75-69-71-70--285
13. Na Yeon Choi 24,349 73-72-70-70--285
15. Juli Inkster 20,521 71-75-71-69--286
15. Nicole Castrale 20,521 69-74-73-70--286
15. Eun-Hee Ji 20,521 73-67-75-71--286
15. Karen Stupples (England) $20,521 72-71-71-72--286
19. Jee Young Lee 17,611 73-72-72-70--287
19. Cristie Kerr 17,611 74-70-70-73--287
19. Karrie Webb 17,611 71-71-69-76--287
22. Shanshan Feng 15,486 76-70-75-67--288
22. Lindsey Wright 15,486 74-74-70-70--288
22. Ai Miyazato 15,486 71-70-74-73--288
22. Morgan Pressel 15,486 70-68-76-74--288
26. Natalie Gulbis 13,821 71-71-74-73--289
26. Laura Diaz 13,821 73-68-72-76--289
28. Minea Blomqvist 12,037 73-68-79-70--290
28. Melissa Reid (England) $12,037 74-75-71-70--290
28. Jane Park 12,037 72-71-76-71--290
28. Angela Park 12,037 76-73-70-71--290
28. a-Moriya Jutanugarn 73-72-72-73--290
28. Kristy McPherson 12,037 68-72-76-74--290
34. Christina Kim 10,209 72-74-76-69--291
34. Mi Hyun Kim 10,209 71-74-75-71--291
34. Candie Kung 10,209 73-69-74-75--291
37. Maria Verchenova 9,035 76-75-71-70--292
37. Young Kim 9,035 71-74-76-71--292
37. Ji Young Oh 9,035 74-74-70-74--292
40. Katherine Hull 8,116 73-77-72-71--293
40. Jin Joo Hong 8,116 66-73-76-78--293
42. Suzann Pettersen 7,198 77-73-72-72--294
42. In-Kyung Kim 7,198 71-76-74-73--294
42. Seon Hwa Lee 7,198 72-71-77-74--294
42. Meena Lee 7,198 74-72-73-75--294
46. Giulia Sergas 6,164 74-72-78-71--295
46. Song-Hee Kim 6,164 76-75-71-73--295
46. Hee-Won Han 6,164 70-73-76-76--295
46. Inbee Park 6,164 73-75-71-76--295
50. Shiho Oyama 5,475 75-72-75-74--296
50. Louise Friberg 5,475 75-71-68-82--296
52. Carin Koch 5,207 76-77-71-73--297
53. Se Ri Pak 4,977 73-77-76-74--300
53. Leta Lindley 4,977 71-75-76-78--300
55. Russy Gulyanamitta 4,747 77-72-77-76--302
56. Jimin Kang 4,518 79-71-77-76--303
56. Allison Fouch 4,518 73-75-77-78--303
58. Laura Davies (England) $4,288 76-75-81-72--304
59. T. Suwannapura (amateur) 74-79-77-75--305
60. Ashleigh Simon 4,135 73-76-79-81--309