Lorena Ochoa seeks record-tying fifth straight win

She can tie AnnikaSorenstam and Nancy Lopez at the SemGroup Championship.

BROKEN ARROW, Okla. (AP) — Lorena Ochoa walked across the parking lot at Cedar Ridge, no one within 100 yards of her. She was alone again Wednesday morning in the clubhouse at breakfast, munching fruit and bacon as she sat by herself at a table for eight.

It was peculiar to see the LPGA Tour’s biggest star go virtually unnoticed, but those two scenes illustrated her place in the game.

No one is close to her at the moment.

Consider what Ochoa accomplished over four consecutive weeks.

She beat the strongest field in women’s golf by seven shots at the Safeway International outside Phoenix. She won by five shots at the Kraft Nabisco for her second straight major. Before 25,000 delirious fans in her native Mexico, she won by 11 to meet the performance criteria for the World Golf Hall of Fame. And with exhaustion setting in at the Ginn Open, she still won by three shots.

“I didn’t think anyone could get near Annika’s record,” Laura Davies said. “And I think Lorena can give it a good run.”

One of those records is five straight LPGA victories, which Annika Sorenstam shares with Nancy Lopez. Ochoa can tie the record this week at the SemGroup Championship in the Tulsa suburbs.

The field includes defending champion Mi Hyun Kim, U.S. Women’s Open champion Cristie Kerr, Juli Inkster and Paula Creamer, who lost in a playoff last week. Among those missing are Sorenstam and Suzann Pettersen, the two biggest threats to Ochoa’s reign.

Ochoa takes nothing for granted, even though her game is at a stage where she determines who wins.

“I believe I can beat everybody,” Ochoa said. “I mean, it’s never too good to get too comfortable and think nobody can beat you. It’s another thing to feel comfortable with your game. But there are so many good players and talented professionals that are close to me. Golf is a crazy game. Anything can happen any week.”