Numero uno

This comes as no surprise to golf fans.

PALM DESERT, Calif. -- Lorena Ochoa enjoys life at the top, and she intends to stay there for a while.

*****

Asked how she plans to remain No. 1, she said, "I always try to be one step ahead; not let any distractions get in the way, get in my practice and my rest.

"And there are a lot of things to improve. I'm going to work hard.''

Congratulations to Lorena. No question she deserves player of the year.

Boy were golf prognosticators off concerning Karrie Webb this year. I admit to being wrong too, but I didn't say Karrie deserved being comeback player of the year either. That should have gone to Se Ri Pak in 2006, but the nitwits in the golf MSM were too thick to see it.

Will Karrie be named comeback player of the year again if she should win a major in 2008 even if she fell only from #2 on the money list to 21st? I'd bet ten bucks at least three golf writers would name Karrie. Anyone want to take me up on the offer?

The 2007 LPGA Rookie of the Year award has been sown up also.

Aided by six top-10 finishes in 23 starts, 20-year-old Angela Park's rookie season has earned her the 2007 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year award. One event remains in the race for the award but Park's points total nearly doubles that of runner up In-Kyung Kim, making it impossible for anyone to catch her.

“Right after I made it through Q-school last year, winning rookie of the year was one of my goals,” said Park, who has been top of the class since the end of the Fields Open in Hawaii. “You only get one chance to win the award. The list of people who have won the award are successful golfers and I thought it would be great to have my name next to those players. It gave me motivation to play well this year.”

In one of the Tour's largest and most talent-ladened rookie classes, Park emerged as the pace-setting newcomer, tying for third place at the Fields Open in Hawaii, which was just her second event of the season. From that point on, Park posted a string of 12 consecutive top-35 finishes from the Corona Championship through the RICOH Women's British Open, where she missed her only cut to date.

Angela deserved ROY as much as Lorena deserved POY. Neither race was close. One note- The press keeps referring to Angela Park as Brazilian. While true Angela was born in that country, she is of Korean heritage and lived in the United States for over 10 years. Color Angela stateless, unless you want to say Jung Yeon 'Sarah' Lee is English too.(and I'm the Queen of England.)

Linked to- Bright & Early, Bullwinkle, The World According to Carl,