Laura Diaz (70) was one birdie away from the lead throughout the back nine until a three-putt bogey on the 17th. She finished fifth. The Ochoa-Sorenstam duel on a searing hot day at Bulle Rock never developed. Instead, five players had a share of the lead at some point in the final round, and the back nine was up for grabs to the very end.

Ochoa opened with a 10-foot birdie and didn’t make another one until the par-4 16th.

She had eagle chances on consecutive holes, both times to get within one of the lead. But she three-putted for par from 45 feet on the 15th, and her eagle pitch from 20 yards lipped out on the 16th.

“I never lost the hope,” she said. “I though something good was going to happen, that miracles exist. But it wasn’t my time.”

Still, it was her seventh consecutive top 10 in a major.

Equally disappointed was Sorenstam, playing the LPGA Championship for the final time and applauding the fans walking up the 18th.

“I left a lot of shots out there,” Sorenstam said. “I wish I could have converted one or two; it would have been enough. But I didn’t.

Both were part of the carnage on the 13th in which the top six on the leaderboard were a combined to play the toughest hole at Bulle Rock in 7-over par.

Sorenstam was the only player in the fairway, but she missed the green to the right, her chip ran over the cup and her 4-foot par putt never hit the hole. That ended a streak of 42 consecutive holes at Bulle Rock without a bogey.

Worse yet, she never made another birdie the rest of the way.

MORE FROM GOLF

Golf Section Front

Ochoa edges Shin for LPGA's top player award Nordqvist wins LPGA Tour Championship Out of Bounds: Tiger booed ... at Stanford? Latest golf videos Latest player news, rumors and more Tracking Tiger: News, features and more Tiger's triumphs: Recapping all Woods' wins Vote: When will Tiger win his 15th major? Vote, discuss: Best major of 2009? Special section: Golf on NBC   Golf Section Front   Add Golf headlines to your news reader: