Lorena Ochoa, who retired from the
LPGA
Tour
earlier this year, has been awarded the 2011 Bob Jones Award,
given by the
United States Golf Association.
Ochoa becomes the third former
LPGA
Tour player honored in the last five
years, along with 13-time major champion Mickey Wright, last
year's recipient,
and 2007 winner Louise Suggs, who was a founding member of
the
LPGA
Tour.
The USGA has presented the Bob Jones award annually since 1955.
The
association's highest honor "is given in recognition of
distinguished
sportsmanship in golf. The Award seeks to recognize a person
who emulates
Jones' spirit, his personal qualities and his attitude toward
the game and its
players."
Ochoa won 27 times on the LPGA Tour, including two major
championships, but it
was her foundation that helps underprivileged students that
was also a big
part of her winning this award.
"We've come to recognize Lorena for the contributions she has
made to humanity
much more so than for the golf trophies she's taken home,"
said Jerry Tarde,
chairman and editor-in-chief of Golf Digest, and a member of
the USGA's Bob
Jones Award Committee. "She has become a one-person
grow-the-game program not
just in Mexico, but in all of Latin America."
"I play golf for a reason and the foundation is the main
reason," Ochoa
stated. "That was my motivation to keep playing and
practicing for many
years."
Ochoa was a four-time Player of the Year on the LPGA Tour, and
also won four
Vare Trophies for lowest scoring average. Prior to that,
Ochoa was a two-time
NCAA Player of the Year (2001, 2002) as she set NCAA single
season scoring
records both of those years.
The Award will be presented Feb. 5 at the USGA's Annual Meeting in Phoenix.
