Ochoa Needs One More Good Round

Now that’s what I’m talking about. Finally, a day when some of the LPGA’s top golfers were in or near contention most of the day. And yet Lorena Ochoa left them in her dust on Saturday at the Mitchell Company LPGA Tournament of Champions in Mobile, Alabama. Ochoa played some fantastic golf today as she shot a 9-under 63 and now holds a 5-shot lead heading into Sunday’s final round.

She’s going to need all of that and maybe more as Paula Creamer, Julie Inkster, and Karen Stupples are still within striking distance. Cristie Kerr was right there with them until her meltdown on the par-3 seventeenth hole, where she took an 8 after hitting the green in regulation. It was painful watch, so I can’t imagine what Kerr was feeling. I take that back actually. Being the hack that I am, I feel that pain more often than I should. But I digress.

The big news though is that Lorena Ochoa can wrap up the Player of the Year if she wins tomorrow, finally unseating the queen of the LPGA, Annika Sorenstam. And I hope Ochoa comes out firing tomorrow and makes it no doubt that she wants the Player of the Year.