Lorena Ochoa is hoping to banish some painful memories of the US Women''s Open in Minnesota this week.
The world number one has twice come close to winning the tournament in the last three years but struggled to deal with the pressure of the final round, with Cristie Kerr beating her by two shots at Pine Needles in 2007.
Ochoa told reporters this week that those near-misses "really hurt" at the time and have made her particularly determined to succeed this time round at the Interlachen Country Club in Edina.
Speaking about her past failures at the Open, the 26-year-old Mexican said: "I want to make sure that doesn''t happen [this week]. I''m ready for this one."
After winning by five shots at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the first Major of the LPGA season, Ochoa will look to repeat that success on a course which has been confirmed as the longest in the history of the US Women''s Open.
Michelle Wie is also in the field at Interlachen after coming through qualifying. The 18-year-old tied for third at the tournament in 2006 but has since struggled with a persistent wrist injury and nosedive in form.
 |