Nordqvist cops crown; Ochoa year's best

RICHMOND, Texas – Anna Nordqvist won the LPGA Tour Championship on Monday and Lorena Ochoa finished second to earn her fourth consecutive player of the year award, by one point over Jiyai Shin.

The 22-year-old Nordqvist shot a final-round 65 to finish 13 under par. Ochoa was two strokes back and won the top player honor when Shin couldn’t chip in from the front of the 18th hole.

South Korea’s Shin led Ochoa by eight points (156-148) in the season standings entering the tournament. Once Ochoa secured second place, Shin had to finish no worse than seventh to win the player of the year award. The 21-year-old Shin had par on the last hole and finished in a share of eighth at 6 under, giving Ochoa the player award by a 160-159 score. Point totals are based on top-10 results.

Shin fell short in her bid to win the rookie and player of the year awards, leaving Nancy Lopez as the only player to sweep both titles, in 1978.    (AP)