From tree tops of Mexico to queen of golf
Golf on NBC |
|
 | Special feature |
 | more photos |
 | Special feature |
 | NBCSports.com |
| Slide show |
 | more photos |
"My family is the one that keeps me happy. It's my motivation,'' she said in March. "They make me feel normal, and I love that.''
Ochoa's parents — her father is a real estate developer, her mother an artist — raised their four kids in a small house overlooking the country club, just 15 minutes from the cathedral and colonial plazas of Mexico's second-largest, sprawling city.
She was 5 when her father put a golf club in her hand, and success soon followed — a state championship at age 6, a national title at age 7, and the first of five straight world championships a year later.
None of that was an accident.
Granada recalls how she and Ochoa were the only girls in a weekly golf class with 15 boys. The two played together everyday after school for the next 10 years, following a detailed practice schedule that Ochoa sketched on notebook paper and carried with her clubs.
"Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: Putt, 4:00-5:00; Approach, 5:00-6:00; Driving range, 6:00-7:00,'' Granada recalls, diagramming a replica of the schedule on the country club's ferny terrace. "Everything was perfectly structured.''
From a young age, Ochoa learned to seek challenges and conquer her fears. She climbed Mexico's highest volcano at age 12 and completed a three-day mountain "ecothon'' of biking, kayaking and swimming at 14.
Ochoa's father hated his kids to sit around, so she dabbled in everything, including swimming, tennis and basketball. But when he told her to pick one sport, she chose her clubs.
Most days after early mornings on the golf course, her father would plop her on the back of his moped and speed her to the Torre Blanca Catholic girls' school, dressed in a blue plaid jumper and motorcycle helmet.
Cameras showed up there in the fifth grade, as Ochoa continued winning Junior World Championships. Yet despite the attention, teachers remember a steady, dynamic and fun-loving perfectionist who never sought special treatment and was good at every sport she tried.
Ochoa's only teen rebellion was to sneak in to play basketball and volleyball — discouraged by her father, who asked gym teachers to keep her concentrated on golf.
"One time she jammed a finger, and it swelled up fat and black and blue. We said, 'Quick! Ice! Quick! Before her father gets here!'" Ochoa's high-school gym teacher, Abigail Faviola Vasquez, recalls. "She was always a really positive, natural leader, and when she'd come to play, her enthusiasm was contagious. You could tell she was meant for great things.''
| Rate this story | Low | High |
MORE FROM GOLF |
 Golf Section Front |
| Add Golf headlines to your news reader: |
NBC Sports videos |
Sponsored links