Nordqvist captures LPGA Tour Championship; Ochoa player of year

RICHMOND, Texas — Anna Nordqvist won the LPGA Tour Championship on Monday and Lorena Ochoa finished second to earn her fourth consecutive player of the year award, by one point over Jiyai Shin.

The 22-year-old Nordqvist shot a final-round 65 to finish 13 under par. Ochoa was two strokes back and won the top player honor when Shin couldn't chip in from the front of the 18th hole.

Shin led Ochoa by eight points (156-148) in the race entering the tournament. Once Ochoa secured second place, Shin had to finish no worse than seventh to win the player of the year award. Shin settled for a par on the last hole and finished tied for eighth at 6 under, giving Ochoa the player award by a 160-159 score. Point totals are based on top-10 results.

The 21-year-old South Korean fell short in her bid to win the rookie and player of the year awards. Nancy Lopez remains the only player to sweep both titles, in 1978.

The good-natured Shin was still smiling after coming up short.

"I learned a lot from this year," she said. "I need more focus, concentration, and everything. I really made my goals. I just missed player of the year, but I still had a good year."

Ochoa also won her fourth straight Vare Trophy, honoring the season's lowest scoring average. Ochoa and Shin were separated by decimal points in that race coming into the tournament.

Nordqvist, meanwhile, earned her second career victory and made it through the season without missing a cut in 15 starts. She also won the LPGA Championship this year.

Shin and Nordqvist played in the day's final group, right behind Ochoa. The Houstonian Golf and Country Club was still soggy after more than an inch of weekend rain and players were allowed to lift, clean and place their balls.

Nordqvist surged to the lead at 12 under with five consecutive birdies between nos. 8-12. She bogeyed the 13th, then added birdies on 14 and 15 to settle the tournament and clear the way for Ochoa and Shin to decide their duel.

"I definitely tried to be aggressive," Nordqvist said. "It was pretty tight up the leaderboard, so you were really going to have to shoot low in order to pull it off. I'm just very, very happy that I did."

Shin seemed to take the inside track when Ochoa needed two shots to escape a greenside bunker on the par-3 17th hole. Ochoa sank a bogey putt as Shin and Nordqvist watched from the tee.

But Shin also hit a bunker on the 17th, blasted out short of the green and bogeyed.

Ochoa dropped her approach to the 18th hole about 16 feet away and studied the leaderboard as she walked to the green. She and caddie Greg Johnston talked about the situation before Ochoa curled in the putt, giving a modest fist pump after it fell.