Mexico's Ochoa named LPGA Tour's Player of the Year for third time

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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The LPGA has honored Lorena Ochoa with the Rolex Player of the Year and Vare Trophy Awards, while Yani Tseng was selected as the Rookie of the Year.

"Lorena has had yet another incredible season," said LPGA Commissioner Carolyn Bivens. "Her work off the course has been equally impressive. Once only a national hero, Lorena is now a global hero. The world is grateful to have her, and we are more than proud to call her our own."

Ochoa won her third Player of the Year and Vare Trophy Award titles. Ochoa, the Rolex Rankings' No. 1 since April 2007, won seven times this season and recorded 10 additional top-10 finishes in 21 starts on the LPGA Tour.

She also earned a 68.5802 scoring average to capture the Vare Trophy, which honors the player on Tour with the lowest scoring average through at least 70 rounds. Ochoa was the only player in 2008 to maintain a sub-70 scoring average, which is one-tenth of a stroke lower than 2007.

Tseng earned the Rookie of the Year award after winning the McDonald's LPGA Championship and finishing the year third on the money list with $1,752,086. In addition to her first major championship, she amassed nine other top-10 finishes.

This year also was marked with eight first-time winners, including Tseng. The others were Louise Friberg (MasterCard Classic); Leta Lindley (LPGA Corning Classic); Eun-Hee Ji (Wegmans LPGA); Inbee Park (U.S. Women's Open); Ji Young Oh (LPGA State Farm Classic); Katherine Hull (CN Canadian Women's Open); In-Kyung Kim (Longs Drugs Challenge).