Corona Championship - Final Round

Lorena Ochoa birdied 15 to take the lead and held on to win the Corona Championship.  It is the second victory of 2009 for Ochoa and the 26^th of her career.  Suzann Pettersen finished in second place, one shot back.  Na Yeon Choi wound up in third seven shots behind the winner while Wendy Ward was fourth, eight shots behind.

Playing together in the last pairing, Ochoa and Pettersen were neck-and-neck virtually all day.  Lorena kept her overnight one-shot lead until Suzann birdied 3.  Ochoa answered with birdie at 4, Pettersen birdied 5 and then Lorena went back in front with birdie at 6.  Another birdie at 8 opened up the first two-shot lead of the day for the World's Number One.  Meanwhile, Ward was running off four straight birdies around the turn to make the only semi-serious run at disrupting the impromptu match-play event.  Wendy's run stalled out and a double-bogey at 14 ended her chance to win with a thud, although she went on to collect her first Top 5 finish in almost two years.

After the turn Ochoa and Pettersen each birdied the par-5 10^th, reaching -24 and -22 respectively.  Lorena stumbled with a bogey at 11 and when Suzann birdied 12, they were all even again.  The back-to-back par-3s, 13 and 14, resulted in pars for both players but Ochoa made it three threes in a row at 15 to retake the lead.  At the par-5 16^th, Lorena birdied again to go up by two with two to go.  Pettersen birdied 18 to make up one shot but Ochoa parred the final two to win by one.

Matching her tournament record score of -25 from last year's 11-stroke victory, Ochoa had a little tougher time securing the win this year.  Pettersen posted her third straight bogeyless round (68 straight holes without a bogey) and fourth straight round in the 60s, never giving Lorena a moment's relaxation over the weekend.  It was an outstanding duel that would have made for some great Sunday afternoon television - if only we could have seen it.