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Ochoa Clinches Player Of The Year

The Associated Press

Published: October 15, 2007

PALM DESERT, Calif. - Lorena Ochoa clinched her second straight LPGA Tour player of the year award with a runaway victory Sunday in the Samsung World Championship.

Successfully defending her title in the elite event, Ochoa shot a 6-under 66 for a four-stroke victory. The title was her seventh of the year and 16th overall. She finished at 18-under 270 and earned $250,000 to push her record total to $3,318,421.
Mi Hyun Kim closed with a 69 for second. Rookie of the year Angela Park and Jeong Jang shot 70s to tie for third at 13 under.

Michelle Wie, who received a special exemption to join the field, finished with by far her best round of the tournament, a 71 for an 18-over total. She was 19 over after the first three rounds, but her finish jumped her over Bettina Hauert into 19th place in the 20-player event.

PGA TOUR: George McNeill won his first career PGA Tour title in commanding fashion, shooting a 5-under 67 for a 23-under 264 total and a four-stroke victory over D.J. Trahan in the Frys.com Open.

McNeill, who lives in Naples and attended Florida State, last December won Q-school by five strokes. He began his final round at 18 under and five strokes ahead, matching the largest lead on the tour this year heading into a final round.

CHAMPIONS TOUR: Bernhard Langer matched the Champions Tour scoring records for a 54-hole event, closing with an 8-under 64 for an eight-stroke victory in the Administaff Small Business Classic.

The German star, playing in his fourth Champions Tour event since turning 50 on Aug. 27, birdied the final three holes to finish at 25-under 191 and match the scoring records for relation to par and low score. He opened with rounds of 62 and 65.

Loren Roberts also had a 25-under 191 total in the 2006 MasterCard Championship, and Bruce Fleisher finished the 2002 RJR Championship at 19-under 191.

Mark O'Meara (68) finished second, and Tom Kite (69) was third at 16 under on the Augusta Pines Golf Club course.

WORLD MATCH PLAY: Ernie Els won his record seventh World Match Play Championship title, beating Angel Cabrera 6 and 4 at Wentworth in Virginia Water, England.

EUROPEAN TOUR: Denmark's Mads Vibe-Hastrup won the Madrid Open, his first European tour title, closing with a 5-under 67 for a three-stroke victory over Spain's Alejandro Canizares.

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