Twice she had a chance to reach No. 1 by winning tournaments, but a triple bogey in the third round derailed her bid at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, and a double bogey on the final hole cost her the title at the Ginn Open.
The 26-year-old Ochoa became No. 1 during a week off in April. In her first tournament as the LPGA's top player, with a frenzied gallery in Mexico ready for a coronation, she finished two shots behind unheralded Silvia Cavalleri.
Even more pressure came in the majors, the only achievement Ochoa was missing.
After blowing her chances at the Kraft Nabisco, Ochoa was tied for the lead in the U.S. Women's Open with five holes to play until two poor tee shots left her short again. But she buried those demons for good at the Women's British Open, where a gritty chip on the dangerous Road Hole secured a four-shot victory.
"There were a lot of people saying that I wasn't good enough, or that I couldn't win a major, or when am I going to win a major," Ochoa said. "And I always have taken all of the comments and understood very well because I didn't win. I just think now it's a big step forward. I did it, and there's no more to say." But she didn't pack it in.
Ochoa will soak in a view from the top of a mountain, but her eyes are quick to scan the horizon for the next mountain to climb. She won her next two starts on the LPGA Tour and finished the season with eight victories, finishing out of the top 10 only four times.
"I don't like to look back," she said. "I was always very motivated to become No. 1 because of what it meant and because of all the effort and passion I have put in during my life to golf. Now that I am No. 1, I'm even more motivated to keep giving my best."
Sorenstam was injured for about half the season, but even the Swede wonders if she could have stopped Ochoa.
"I have a lot of respect for Lorena," Sorenstam sad. "I think she's a fantastic player. She deserves to be No. 1. She's playing consistent every week. She's playing as good as anybody can play."
Still, she is not perfect, which showed in two collapses at majors, and another that almost cost her $1 million. A four-shot lead was trimmed to one at the ADT Championship, and Ochoa found her tee shot on the 18th so buried in Bermuda rough that she could only see half the ball as she sized up her 161-yard shot over the water.
She hit her approach to 30 inches, the signature shot in the best season of her career.
"I think she's been the best player," Karrie Webb said. "I don't think any of the players question that."
Playing golf is only part of what makes Ochoa a superstar. At a gathering of LPGA Tour founders, Ochoa politely asked each for an autograph.
And after winning $1 million from the final event of the year, Ochoa pledged $100,000 for flood victims in Mexico and set aside a large amount to help build schools for the needy children in her town.
Two of her cousins made a documentary of Ochoa this year, bringing a hand-held video camera to all the tournaments. They live in the United States, and often tried to expand Ochoa's vocabulary.
Instead of saying she had a good day during the U.S. Women's Open, she said it was "delightful," and then looked to her cousins to make sure she used the word properly.
Perhaps the next word to learn is sensational. Her play has been nothing but that for the last two years.
