Mexican team fires 209 to win Americas Cup

Spencer Patterson

Friday, July 30, 1999 | 9:37 a.m.

Loaded with teams from golf-rich California, Nevada and Arizona, the field for this week's Girls Junior Americas Cup Tournament read like a who's-who of the Southwest's top young players.

But long before the final scores for the three-day event at Stallion Mountain Golf Course were counted up Thursday, it was clear the winners would come from a country featuring fewer than 15 total courses, including just one public facility.

For the second time in three years, Mexico captured the Americas Cup, awarded annually to the top four-person under-18 squad.

After taking an 8-stroke lead into the final round, the Mexican team cruised to the title with an astounding score of 209 on Thursday. Its final total of 651 was 21 shots better than second-place Northern California and 22 ahead of third-place Oregon.

"Our players have improved a lot, and we think Mexican golf has grown up very fast," said Marcela Livas, a chaperone and co-captain for the squad.

Mexico's Lorena Ochoa spearheaded the team victory with her third-straight America's Cup individual title. Ochoa followed up back-to-back rounds of 73 with a two-under 70 on Thursday to best Oregon's Allison Hanna and Mexican teammate Violetta Retamoza by one stroke.

"I'm just so happy. Our dream was to come here and win the tournament," said Ochoa, a 17-year-old from Guadalajara. "We don't have to prove anything, but we know we are really good players and can win any tournament we play."

Ochoa dueled Hanna throughout the final round, with the playing partners battling back and forth for the overall lead down the stretch.

After Hanna pulled even with a birdie on 16, the match came down to the par-5 18th, where Ochoa showed off the aggressive style of play that has earned her a scholarship to Texas A&M for this fall.

With 230 yards remaining for her second shot, Ochoa left a 3-wood 25 yards short of the hole, then recovered nicely, hitting a sand wedge within two feet. Her birdie proved just enough to outdistance Hanna, who parred the final hole.

"Lorena is aggressive, she has self-confidence and she believes in herself," Livas said.

Bonanza High senior-to-be Jordan Auten, a member of a Southern Nevada squad that finished 10th in the field of 17, said that after playing against Ochoa for more than a decade, the Mexican champion's exploits don't surprise her anymore.

"She's my lifelong rival, and every tournament I play in with her I think in the back of my mind that Lorena will win," said Auten, who wound up 10th individually. "She has unbelievable ambition to win and usually, you can guarantee she'll come back like this."

And though Ochoa, who will be 18 before next year's event, has played in her final Americas Cup Tournament, the Mexican team may have found a successor to her throne.

Retamoza, who turned 16 earlier this summer, posted the low score of the three-day event with a two-under 68 on Thursday. That was enough to move her from a tie for eighth place after Wednesday into a second-place deadlock with Hanna, just one shot behind Ochoa.

Liliana Alvarez also contributed to Mexico's whopping final margin of victory, becoming the third golfer on her team to post a red number on Thursday. Her final-round 71 gave her a three-day total of 218, fourth overall.