Mexico's Lorena Ochoa made five straight birdies to rally past US teenager Paula Creamer and win the Rochester LPGA by four strokes on Sunday.
Ochoa, a two-time winner last year, trailed by five shots with seven holes remaining. She shot a 7-under 65 in the final round to finish at 15-under 273 for the tournament.
Creamer, an 18-year-old rookie seeking her second victory in a month, faded with three bogeys on the back nine to end at 11 under.
"It's hard to realize right now what I did," Ochoa said. "You have to just really believe -- and make it real."
Rosie Jones (68) took third place at 10 under, two shots ahead of South Korea's Jeong Jang (66). Laurie Rinker, 43, who won twice in the mid-1980s, also shot a 66 to finish at 7 under alongside Gloria Park of South Korea. First-round leader Becky Morgan (74) tied for seventh.
Ochoa struggled early off the tee, twice saving par after clipping trees on Nos. 1 and 3. She sank a 25-foot birdie putt on No. 5, just missed an eagle chance on No. 8 but couldn't make par from 10 feet on No. 10.
She roared back with five consecutive birdies on Nos. 12-16 to move one shot ahead of Creamer. She chipped within 3 feet on No. 12, then knocked in birdie putts of 8 feet, 9 feet, 5 feet and 4 feet. She capped her day with a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole.
"Everything happens so fast when you're out there," Ochoa said, recalling her playoff loss to Annika Sorenstam in Phoenix in March when she surrendered a four-stroke lead over the last three holes. ``I was just really focused.''
"She just went birdie-birdie-birdie-birdie," Creamer marveled. "It was a train and it just kept going through, making no stops. If I was going to get beat, that's the way I wanted to get beat, [by] just someone who lit it up."
Ochoa, a runner-up three times this year, came off a two-week break to tie for fifth at last week's LPGA Championship. The 23-year-old finished second in Rochester in her rookie year in 2003, then gained prominence with two wins in 2004.
She earned US$225,000 and stayed in third place on the money list with US$762,268. The US$1.5 million tournament at the tree-lined Locust Hill course is sponsored by Wegmans, a grocery store chain.
Creamer got off to a shaky start, lipping out from 1 foot for an opening bogey. She rallied with two birdies, holing each time from 20 feet. She rolled in a downhill, 6-foot birdie putt on No. 6, then chipped within 4 feet for another birdie on the par-5 eighth.
She birdied the par-5 11th, putting close from the edge of the green, but dropped back to 13 under after being forced to chip out from behind trees on the next hole. She then watched helplessly as Ochoa rallied.
Annika Sorenstam, who captured the season's first two majors, skipped the tournament to prepare for the Women's Open. Despite 62 career LPGA victories, the Swede's best finish in four tries in Rochester was a second in 1996.
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