 This Week at WorldGolf.com: March 7, 2008
Lorena Ochoa, not Michelle Wie, should get PGA Tour sponsor invitations
During the PGA Tour's Mayakoba Classic in Cancun a couple weeks ago, Lorena Ochoa was destroying the field at the LPGA's HSBC Champion's in Singapore.
The Lorena Ochoa Foundation is a primary charity at Mayakoba, but that shouldn't be Mexico's highest profile golfer's only involvement. She should be offered a sponsor's exemption every year until she accepts - and so long as she's no. 1 in the world.
It's a shame that Michelle Wie's blatant abuse of competing in men's events now has both sponsors and LPGA players gun shy about competing on the PGA Tour. The women would rather not be risk humiliation with high scores and a skeptical media, while sponsors would rather not appear exploitive.
That's a shame, because it helps bring excitement to Tiger-less golf events, and also gives crucial, mainstream sports exposure to the LPGA's wealth of talent.
Ochoa is currently playing better now than when Annika Sorenstam and Wie both narrowly missed cuts in men's events. Whether it's at Mayakoba or some other second-tier PGA Tour event, the phone should be ringing off the hook from sponsors offering an invitation - and she should be accepting.
Like when Sorenstam played at Colonial in 2003, Ochoa has been nothing short of an enviable ambassador for the LPGA while blowing out fields in the process. Before you think she can't handle the longer courses on tour, consider that her 2007 average drive was 270 yards, which would put her around 170th on the PGA Tour. That's 12 yards behind the mean and two yards ahead of Jim Furyk, who is 8th in the World Rankings.
But the real reason Ochoa should, and will eventually do it is for all of the tremendous exposure and pride it would create for Mexico, for which we all know Ochoa holds closest to her heart. Imagine the headline: "Mexico's Ochoa first ever woman to make a PGA Tour cut."
How could she pass up the chance?
As always, WorldGolf.com welcomes your comments.
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It was kind of comical watching Lorena Ochoa handily defeat her closest opponents wire-to-wire by 11 strokes at the HSBC. Annika Sorenstam could not muscle up the cojones to take her on. Paula Creamer hadn't enough reserves in her tank. And according to Ochoa, "on the weekend I wasn't as good with the putter but I managed to shoot under par every day." Could Lorena Ochoa be the next "Tiger Woods" of the LPGA Tour?
Blog: Is your swing as consistent as Tiger's?
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Spring training: Hotel Valley Ho, Scottsdale Stadium give Cactus League a different vibe
Podcast: Ochoa replaces Sorenstam as "Tiger Woods" of LPGA, Ping G10 irons vs Mizuno MP-30 Forged, more
