TIME names Lorena Ochoa one of the 100 most influential people in the world

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., May 1, 2008 – LPGA Tour player and world number one Lorena Ochoa today joins an acclaimed list of individuals honored in this year’s TIME 100. As TIME managing editor Richard Stengel writes in his Letter to Readers, “The TIME 100 is not a list of the smartest, the most powerful, or the most talented—it is a thoughtful and sprightly survey of the most influential individuals in the world. Influence, like those other categories, is subjective, but you try to measure it in the effect people have on the world.”

The list recognizes the men and women whose power, talent or moral example is transforming our world, and the list is divided into five subsections: Leaders & Revolutionaries; Builders & Titans; Artists & Entertainers; Scientists & Thinkers; and Heroes & Icons.

Ochoa joins Andre Agassi, Lance Armstrong, Oprah Winfrey, Tony Blair, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, and others in the Heroes & Pioneers subsection. While her performance on the golf course is dominant and record-breaking, it is her passion and dedication to those in need off the golf course for which she is being honored. On learning of the honor, LPGA Commissioner Carolyn Bivens remarked, “Lorena is a wonderful ambassador for our Tour, a true icon in Mexico, and a role model for women across the globe. We could not be happier for her, and we are delighted that through her placement in TIME others will now be touched by her spirit.”

Other honorees this year include U.S. presidential candidates Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John McCain, as well as music artists Mariah Carey and Bruce Springsteen, and business titans Steve Jobs and Rupert Murdoch.

The TIME 100 issue hit newsstands Friday, May 2.

+ Read Lorena's write-up by LPGA Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez.
 

About Lorena Ochoa
Lorena Ochoa, Rolex Rankings’ top golfer, recently earned the 27th and final point needed to qualify for the LPGA Tour and World Golf Halls of Fame. She will be eligible for entrance when she meets the 10-year member requirement in 2012. In her first six events this season, Ochoa has five victories, including her second LPGA major at the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

As the first Mexican-born LPGA champion, Ochoa has generated an enormous interest in the game of golf in Mexico. Off the golf course, through her Ochoa Foundation, Ochoa sponsors hundreds of children at La Barranca, a school in Guadalajara, her hometown. Her plans include building a secondary school there aimed at stemming a large drop-out rate among children in the area. Through the Foundation, Ochoa also lobbies the Mexican government to build public golf courses, and is launching a series of golf academies to make the game accessible to all children. In a country of over 100 million, less than 20,000 Mexican citizens golf. Ochoa hopes to bring the sport she loves to the masses of the country she loves.