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GINN OPEN

April 11, 2007

Lorena Ochoa

REUNION, FLORIDA

DANA GROSS-RHODE: Lorena, thanks for coming in and joining us today. You tied for second here last year at the Ginn Open, so you played great and had a great season with six wins and were the Rolex Player of the Year. Just talk about being back here at reunion.
LORENA OCHOA: Hello. Yes, I really enjoy this golf course. I think, you know, last year, being close to win the tournament and you know giving myself a chance to win the tournament was a great experience. But you always want, you know, a little bit more, and you regret this year to (not) to get that win.
I think the golf course is in great shape. The greens are a little bit different, not as hard as last year, especially with the rain this first few days. But I'm just really excited to be here, to be back, to see all of you and I had a really good practice on Monday and Tuesday. I gave myself the time to hit a lot of balls on the range. I feel comfortable with my swing, and I think that I learned so much last year with my season in 2006, and this will be a good tournament. I'm very excited to start tomorrow.

Q. Obviously you had a very successful year last year. What was your mind-set coming out of Kraft and what happened there, and how important do you think it was for you to get a win immediately to kind of move on past that?
LORENA OCHOA: Last year, I mean, like I said, last year I think it was a very important tournament for me. It was I think a turning point. I let myself down and I think what happened at the Nabisco, it's something that showed me that I could win any major and I could win any tournament. And the good thing about it is that I had a chance to win the tournament and I don't change that for anything.
It was tough during the time, but then you know what, I learned right away and go forward. I think that made me a better player and the way I finished the 2006 season has a lot to with the start.
It's a horrible feeling to lose, but you learn from that and you just make yourself a better player, and that's what happened. So hopefully this year with that experience that will help me to keep playing good, and I like very much my start of the year. Hopefully we can continue that good playing.

Q. We can't find a man smart enough to do the math on the player ranking systems to know, but we think if you win this week, you'll become the No. 1 player in the world. Is that important to you? Is that something you want to be?
LORENA OCHOA: It is. It is very important to me. I think, you know, that was my dream since I was probably 10, 12 years old and I wanted to be the best player and I wanted to dominate the game.
You know, you have to start slowly and you have to kind of like, you know, start playing better and better. They told me that the week of the Nabisco tournament, and you know, I'm not in a hurry. I've been waiting for five years and I've been waiting for many, many years for when I grow up. If it happens this week or if it happens in three weeks or five weeks, that's okay, too.
I'm just trying to enjoy myself as much as I can. That's my goal to be No. 1 and I'm going to keep trying and I'm going to do whatever it takes to be in that position.

Q. If you had to look at and point to one thing that led to that break out year last year, you win six times; what do you think it was that really set that year apart for you?
LORENA OCHOA: A combination of different things. One, I improve my swing. I have more consistent backswing and just a better position off the top of my backswing and that helps me a lot when I'm under pressure, it really makes a big difference to hit good shots and to be able to do whatever you need to do when you're in a tough position.
Experience counts a lot. I think five years, four years last year, it's a lot, a lot of tournaments played, and you learn from that. I'm a very aggressive player. Over time you learn to be more smart and not make as many bogeys as I used to make. I think that's one of the things.
The other thing that really helped me is to be stronger. I worked really hard in my off-season, just a little more weight and I run a lot, strong legs and to maintain myself in good condition all year, it really makes a difference. Because in 2005, 2004, I didn't have enough strength to finish good. You know, I was really tired and my head was, you know, out and I couldn't play any more than three tournaments in a row. I was exhausted.
Last year was really different. I felt fresh and strong and ready to go, and even at the end of the season, I was able to finish playing good. That was one of the things that I made sure I train even hard they are off-season and I did a little more weights, and I'm running more and I want to make sure that I maintain myself strong all year so that I can finish the way I want to finish.

Q. Your answer to the question before last makes it sound like it's inevitable that you will be No. 1 at some point; is that the way you feel?
LORENA OCHOA: I don't understand the question.

Q. That it's inevitable, that it's a given fact that at some point you will be the No. 1 player in the world.
LORENA OCHOA: I don't think it's a fact. You have to -- you have to really work hard to get into that position. Golf is a funny game. Things can change really quick. You can play good and you can play bad.
But I see myself in that position. I believe and I have faith in me and I know that's my dream. I'm going to keep working really, really hard to be in that position. I'm not saying -- there are so many good players that are trying to be No. 1, that, you know, of course it's not a fact and I cannot lower the reason that I'm practicing right now, playing or exercising. I need to practice a lot more and get a lot better because competition is really tough out here. So hopefully I will be on top.

Q. Nancy Lopez is playing here this week, coming back to may again. You talked about being ten years old, I'm running those numbers in my head, her career was winding down when you were ten years old. Was that a thing that you said, oh, there's Nancy, I want to be Nancy?
LORENA OCHOA: Yes, and my coach, we always talk about her. When I was growing up, Nancy Lopez was the greatest player and, you know, as a Mexican it's something special. Everybody talks so much about Nancy and how good she is and how great she is as a person and how the fans love her.
I admired her since, like I say, I was ten years old. I believe that my first impression, when I first had a little time with Nancy and I talk to her, I was like in shock. I was very, very surprised at how nice she was and how much I admired her for so long.

Q. Where on the list of goals coming into the season was winning a major? Where did that rank in your goals?
LORENA OCHOA: This year? I would love to win a major, not only one; hopefully I can win many of them. You know, we still have three more this year. I think I'm okay. I'm not worried. They will come. I think sometimes when you try really hard, it's hard to get them.
So I'm just going to try to relax and keep playing the way I played in Nabisco and hopefully let them come to me. I don't think I can do anything different. You know, I'm really trying hard and it's only four times a year that we have a chance to win a major.
Hopefully this is the year for majors. Hopefully, you know, I can get a couple of them, we still have three more. But I'm okay. Sometimes people worry too much. Could be the media or my relatives. (Laughing) But I'm okay. They will come. Just be patient. I'm patient.

Q. Your relatives are on you about that, too?
LORENA OCHOA: No, no, don't worry, everybody just comments all the time. I just tell them, just be patient, don't worry.

Q. Do you feel your driver last year, did you hit the ball much better off the tee than you had? Obviously you won six times, it was a factor, but did you have just a better year with your driver than you had? Had you been struggling before, and just found something last year with it?
LORENA OCHOA: I think my swing has a lot to do, like my driver and improve with my second shot. I was able to do different shots. I think my rhythm really help it, too, with those couple of changes I'm trying to do with my backswing. I think the distance, also. Not only hitting more fairways, but those ten extra yards, it really helps make the course easier, especially if you take advantage of the par 5s, it's always good to do that. That's why it helped a lot.

Q. Morgan Pressel's win at the Kraft, any thoughts on what that might do for her career and even the LPGA Tour, what that first victory might mean down the road one day?
LORENA OCHOA: Tough question. I think Morgan did a great job. I think she obviously deserves the win. She was playing consistent and she was coming from behind and just posting a lower round and be in the clubhouse in a major with a good score is always good. Sometimes you win the tournament, they give you the tournament, it's always a different situation.
But it's great, there are a lot of American players that are doing good, they are young and doing good. The best thing is they are bringing more fans to our tour, more interest from the media and the sponsors' standpoint.
The LPGA, it's an international tour, but the Americans, they are really good players and it's nice to see them at the top. I think it's going to be a week for many people, you know, she will remember that for the rest of her life.
But I only see good things coming from that win and, you know, Morgan, I think she's prepared. She's a very mature player. She's been playing really good since, you know, junior. Now she just need to be ready with all of the things that are going to come because of winning that major. Hopefully she takes things, you know, in a good way and be sure that she takes enough time for herself and to rest and to not go too much ahead.

Q. Did you know Meaghan Francella before she won that tournament?
LORENA OCHOA: Sophia, the other Mexican, is closer to her. She play some tournaments together on the future tour and they knew each other. So she talked to me a little bit about her. But obviously her results on the FUTURES Tour were really good and she didn't come from nowhere. She's a player that's a really tough girl that practiced really hard and she wants to be here and she wants to be, you know, a good player.
So it was amazing what she did. I think being able to play good for those three days and beat Annika in a playoff is something special. I think that she will be a player that will stay here for a long time.

Q. At the point you pass Annika in the World Rankings, this week or whenever it is, are you ready to be the one that everyone has a target painted on your head and everyone is gunning for you?
LORENA OCHOA: Yes, like I said, if it happens in six months or one year or two years; it's already my fifth season and I've already been having that target on my head for many, many years, in college, or every time I see Annika's record, I want to be there, so I'm ready, yes.

End of FastScripts

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