Ochoa's game, kindness attracts fans

By JIM ALEXANDER
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
They are the people you don't see at a major golf tournament, but without them it wouldn't be quite the same show. They maintain the golf course, tend to the flowers along the fairways, pick up the trash and fix the meals. And they are largely Latino.

Lorena Ochoa is one millionaire who's on their side.

She is the hottest player on the LPGA Tour this year, a 24-year-old from the University of Arizona who has won four tournaments, finished second five times and leads both the money list and points standings.

She is also a native of Guadalajara, and thus very cognizant of the intense immigration debate in this country. It particularly hit home when she came to the desert at the end of March, for the Tournament Formerly Known as the Dinah Shore, and saw newspaper photos of huge immigration rallies that took place the previous weekend in downtown Los Angeles.

That's one reason why, when she arrives at a tour stop, she seeks out the course workers to let them know she cares about what they do. She did so this week at Bighorn Golf Club, where the Samsung World Championship opened Thursday.

"They come and say hi to me," she said. "I just said hi and thank you for your hard work, because the course is in great shape. I signed some autographs for a lot of them. Hopefully, I get a chance to spend even more time with them. But I know they're pretty busy right now."

Think about that for a second.

In the self-absorbed world of professional sports, the athletes are expected to focus and minimize distractions, since their jobs are the important ones, the ones we pay to witness. When did you last see a pro athlete even care about the groundskeepers, much less want to avoid distracting them? Yet Ochoa stopped during the middle of a round in Las Vegas to greet construction workers who were building condos alongside the fairway and had cheered for her, according to a story in Sports Illustrated in May. Two weeks later, at Orlando, Fla., she took a break during a practice round to talk to the gardeners.

And no, this is not damaging her focus in any way, shape or form. In fact, her year _ four tournament titles, five seconds, 17 top-10 finishes in 22 starts _ suggests that in her fourth year on the tour, she's just about ready to take serious aim at Annika Sorenstam's status as queen of the course.

"She's having an incredible year," Sorenstam said. "Look at the money list. Look at her consistency. She's improved in every aspect. I've had a chance to play with her head-to-head, and she's hitting fairways, hitting greens, making putts. She's become very solid."

Maturity is a factor, said Karrie Webb, another strong contender for the end-of-year tour championship. But there's also this:

"I think, of all the young players, she's probably got the best balance in her life," Webb said. "She's able to come to the golf course and be a fierce competitor but also very respectful of everyone else she plays with. And when she has her weeks off, it's not 24/7 golf. I think the only way to play consistently good golf is to mentally get away from the game when you're not at tournaments."

Sometimes, golf and life dovetail. Last week, for instance, Ochoa won in her native country for the first time, a 5-shot victory in the Corona Morelia Championship in the Mexican state of Michoacan.

"Last week was a very special week, like a major for me," Ochoa said. "It's a great moment that I will remember for the rest of my life, being able to play for my people, in my country."

She knows those people are on her side, whether they've bought tickets, are watching on TV ... or are cheering her from their workstations along the course.

"I love it," she said. "I know that when I come and play _ it doesn't matter whether it's in California or the East _ there are always the Mexicans that come and watch me play.

"Just to see them with the Mexican flag and cheering for me, that's something that feels great. It's very special. It gives me extra motivation to play good, not only for me but for them."

Her success on the course? Here's a possible explanation, and it's the same in Spanish as it is in English:

Karma.