25 November 2009 / REUTERS, HOUSTON
Lorena Ochoa edged out South Korean Shin Ji-yai to become the LPGA player of the year for a fourth successive time on Monday after Swede Anna Nordqvist won the season-ending LPGA Tour Championship.
Mexican Ochoa coolly birdied the final hole for a five-under-par 67 at The Houstonian Golf and Country Club to finish alone in second place at 11-under 205, two strokes behind Nordqvist who signed off with a 65. Shin, who led Ochoa in the player of the year race going into the weather-delayed tournament, had to settle for a share of eighth place at six under after closing with a 73. The bespectacled Korean, playing with fellow rookie Nordqvist in the final group, would have overhauled Ochoa with a birdie at the last but her chip from greenside rough slid past the right edge of the cup. Ochoa, who ended her season with three victories and 13 top-10 finishes in 22 starts, had tears in her eyes as she watched Shin’s birdie attempt from the edge of the 18th green.
