A LOOK BACK ON 2007, HISTORY IN THE MAKING

The LPGA was never at a loss for story lines in 2007; Lorena Ochoa dominated many of them. But the season also found the LPGA acquiring the Duramed FUTURES Tour, and launching a new logo and online merchandising store. Historical moments included the hosting of the RICOH Women's British Open at the Old Course at St. Andrews—the historic ‘birthplace' of golf—and seeing the induction of Se Ri Pak into the LPGA Tour and World Golf Halls of Fame.

Ochoa tops on Tour | Pettersen wins once, five times | Major Championship winners all first-timers
Se Ri Pak inducted into Halls of Fame

Se Ri Pak inducted into the LPGA Tour and World Golf Halls of Fame

When Se Ri Pak's final putt dropped on the 18th hole of the first round of the 2007 McDonald's LPGA Championship Presented by Coca-Cola, Pak officially qualified for entrance into the LPGA Tour and World Golf Halls of Fame, one of the most difficult in all of sports in which to gain entry. As a rookie in 1998, Pak took the Tour by storm, becoming the only rookie since Juli Inkster (1984) to win two major championships in her rookie year. Pak earned the requisite 27 points needed to qualify for the Hall of Fame with her victory at the 2004 Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill. She met the 10-year LPGA Tour membership requirement at her 10th event in 2007—the McDonald's LPGA Championship, which was her very first victory on Tour in 1998.

Among her successes and achievements, Pak has been a leader and mentor for the 45 Korean LPGA Tour members in 2007. Pak joined Annika Sorenstam and Mickey Wright—now Hall of Fame peers—as the only players in Tour history to win the same event five times when she captured the 2007 Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Presented by Kroger.

Pak was honored at the annual induction ceremony at the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Fla., on Nov. 12.

Major Championship winners all first-timers

Morgan Pressel jumps in the water with her caddie Jon Yarbrough and her grandmother Evelyn Krickstein.

Ochoa's victory in Scotland capped off a season in which all four of the LPGA major championships were the first major victory for the winners. It was the first time since 1995 when Nanci Bowen (Nabisco Dinah Shore), Kelly Robbins (McDonald's LPGA Championship), Annika Sorenstam (U.S. Women's Open) and Jenny Lidback (du Maurier Ltd. Classic) were all first-time major championship winners.In April, second-year Tour member Morgan Pressel carded a final-round, bogey-free 3-under-par 69 and edged out Catriona Matthew, Suzann Pettersen and Brittany Lincicome by one stroke to become the season's second Rolex First-Time Winner. Pressel finished prior to the final group and waited on the driving range anticipating a playoff. Instead, she won outright and she, her caddy and her grandmother, Evelyn Krickstein, made the traditional jump into Poppie's Pond to celebrate the win. Pettersen rallied from the disappointing finish at the Kraft Nabisco Championship and won the McDonald's LPGA Championship Presented by Coca-Cola by one stroke over 35-time Tour winner Karrie Webb. This marked the second of five wins for Pettersen in 2007.For Cristie Kerr, she had trophies—nine from her 11 years on the LPGA Tour, including three from 2006—but none from a major championship. After two rounds at the U.S. Women's Open she was 1-over-par, but then shot up the leaderboard with a third-round 5-under-par 66 to take a one-stroke lead into the final round. Kerr carded a final-round 1-under-par 70 for a two-stroke win over Lorena Ochoa and rookie Angela Park to win her first major championship at the U.S. Women's Open.

To close out the year was Ochoa. It was as if she had saved her first major win for the 2007 RICOH Women's British Open on the Old Course at St. Andrews; a week already steeped in history and tradition, a perfect place to make more history. Despite windy and cool conditions and rounds suspended due to darkness, Ochoa went wire-to-wire for the win, which was the 13th of her career.

Pettersen wins once, five times

Not since Nancy Lopez won nine times during her rookie year in 1978 has a Rolex First-Time Winner won five events in the same season. Suzann Pettersen, of Norway, however, overcame two disappointing runner-up finishes at the Safeway International Presented by Coca-Cola and Kraft Nabisco Championship early in the year to find her breakthrough victory via a three-hole, sudden-death playoff against Jee Young Lee at the Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill. One month later, she captured her first LPGA career major championship title at the McDonald's LPGA Championship. Pettersen had a fruitful October as she won three of four LPGA Tour events she entered. She defeated Rolex Rankings' top player Lorena Ochoa in a playoff at the Longs Drugs Challenge. She also won two events in the Tour's three-week Asia swing: the Hana Bank • KOLON Championship and Honda LPGA Thailand 2007 in back-to-back weeks. With an incredible career-best $1,802,400, she ended the year second to Ochoa on the LPGA Official Money List.

Ochoa tops on Tour

“Lorena Ochoa” and “number one” have become synonymous over the past year. She set out in 2007 to make her name one that made competitors think twice about their chances at victory that week. And they do. In April, she took over the number one position in the Rolex Rankings—a position that had previously only been held by Annika Sorenstam since the Rolex Rankings were released in February 2006. Eight wins were added to Ochoa's resume, which included her first major championship victory at the RICOH Women's British Open—the first women's professional golf tournament hosted at St. Andrew's legendary Old Course. That win pushed Ochoa over the $2 million mark in season earnings. She was also the first Mexican-born player to win a major championship on the LPGA Tour, which was the first of three consecutive victories on Tour. Ochoa also notched 13 additional top-10 finishes in just 25 starts, which led to her second consecutive Rolex Player of the Year and Vare Trophy awards. In becoming the first player to earn $3 million and $4 million in a season, Ochoa also became the fastest to earn $10 million in 4 years, 8 months and 5 days (124 events), shattering Annika Sorenstam's previous benchmark of 8 years, 5 months and 3 days (183 events). Ochoa also led the Tour in the following statistical categories: birdies (383); rounds under par (66/89, 74.2 percent); rounds in the 60s (44/89, 49.4 percent); top-10 finishes (21/25, 84 percent); greens in regulation (73.1 percent); scoring average (69.6854); and putts per GIR (1.76).

In the area of philanthropy, Ochoa was just as busy—and determined to make a difference. She not only opened golf academies in her native country of Mexico, but also schools for elementary-aged children through the Lorena Ochoa Foundation, which provide students with a proper education and meals. After Ochoa's million-dollar victory at the ADT Championship, she pledged $100,000 to the flood victims of Tabasco, Mexico.