Thu 29 Mar 2007
Many see Ochoa as role model for girls in her home country - and in the United States
The Desert Sun
March 29, 2007
RANCHO MIRAGE - Lorena Ochoa says if she ever wins a major championship on the LPGA Tour, the celebration in her home city might rival the parties after Mexico’s beloved national soccer team wins a tournament.”They all go to this one place called La Minerva, which everybody said when the soccer team wins, they celebrate there, like drink and run and listen to music, mariachi bands, and they promised me they will do that,” Ochoa said. “We’ll see.”
The celebrations for an Ochoa major victory, which could come in the desert this week at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, likely won’t be confined to Ochoa’s hometown of Guadalajara or even to Mexico.
There might be celebrations in Coachella, El Centro and East Los Angeles, too. That’s because as Ochoa’s star rises in the LPGA sky, the 25-year-old is receiving support not just from her countrymen but from Hispanic-Americans.