Ochoa cruises to victory in Mexico

Lorena Ochoa carded a final round four-under-par 69 to win the Corona Championship by 11 strokes.

Entering the final round with a seven-stroke advantage at the Tres Marias Residential Golf Club, Ochoa finished at 25-under-par 267 to qualify for the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame after claiming her 21st victory.

Ochoa, who posted three consecutive seven-under-par 66 rounds to start the tournament, easily claimed the title – her third in a row and fourth in five outings this year – ahead of Song-Hee Kim (72) despite shipping a triple-bogey seven at the 11th.

“It was an amazing week,” said Ochoa. “I did enjoy myself a lot. I guess I can say I’m in the Hall of Fame now. I’ll just have to wait a few more years to get in though. It was really special to be in my home country.”

The triple-bogey ended any chance for Ochoa to tie or break the LPGA 72-hole scoring record of 27-under 261 set by Annika Sorenstam in 2001.

“I was trying to break the record by going more than seven-under,” added Ochoa. “After the triple bogey things went down, but I did want to finish like a champ and when I birdied four of the last few holes, that really made my day.”

France’s Karine Icher (72) finished tied for third with Inbee Park (74) at 13-under, while defending champion Silvia Cavalleri carded a 69 to finish tied for 29th place.