Lorena Ochoa has now won in her last two playoff appearances (Wegmans, June 2007) after starting her career 0-5.  She not only snapped her own winless streak but she ended my prognosticating losing streak at 17.  I hadn't picked a winner outright since Lorena won the Ginn Open back in April.

Blame it on the large number of players in contention if you like, but Golf Channel nearly missed the boat on Candie Kung yesterday.  Even though she was within a shot the entire back nine, she didn't get any air time until her birdie attempt at 17.  Cristie Kerr was in exactly the same position and Yani Tseng was one shot further back and they both were prominently covered.  The three-putt to lose on the second playoff hole was especially surprising because Kung had just seen Kerr do the same thing from a similar position on the first hole.  Candie has been playing well in recent weeks (she's knocking on the Top 30 door) and this week's performance should not be a surprise.

Can anybody tell me why Ochoa didn't get relief from that water meter cover next to the 18^th green yesterday?  I'm guessing it was because her ball wasn't actually on the cover but it was on the sloped edge of the grass about an inch away, certainly affecting the next shot.  Maybe the question should be "why is that damned cover located in the fringe only five feet off the putting surface?"

Although she specifically denied it in a post-round interview, Louise Friberg's nerves appeared to get the best of her on the 17^th green.  She tentatively left her makeable birdie putt five feet short and missed the par putt.  Even so, Louise hung tough all day and showed she still has the game that won the MasterCard back in March.  Hopefully we won't have to wait six months to see her next Top 10 finish.

Vicki Goetze-Ackerman did a good job for Golf Channel as an on-course reporter after missing the Navistar cut.  Next time though, I would suggest that GC take the time to get their guest's name spelled right - more than once she was fonted "Goetz-Ackerman".

In a landslide, Sarah Jane Kenyon is this week's Big Surprise.  Sarah finished tied for sixth, the first Top 10 and best finish of her career.  The Big Disappointment goes to Laura Diaz, who missed the cut by two shots.

Shanshan Feng's amazing second half continues.  The tie for fourth is her fourth Top 5 finish in her last seven events.  In her post-round interview she attributed her turnaround to "experience", which I took to mean that she's gotten comfortable with life in the LPGA and America in general.  Speaking of recent turnarounds, Katherine Hull didn't quite finish Top 10 but she's still rolling along nicely.