SEATTLE, May 26 (UPI) -- Lorena Ochoa, the University of Arizona's most successful golfer in school history, will make her professional debut on the Futures Tour before thousands of golf fans in Wisconsin on Thursday.
"I feel that the time is right for me to go professional," said Ochoa, who concluded her two-year career last week after the NCAA women's golf championship. "It has always been my dream to become a pro golfer and I think I'm ready for that."
A native of Guadalajara, Mexico, Ochoa won 12 titles in only 20 tournament appearances, giving her a winning percentage of 600. She leaves, Tucson, Ariz., as the most decorated golfer in the school's history, male or female.
For the second straight year, she finished second at the NCAA tournament, this time tied with three players at 4 under-par, five strokes behind Duke's Viranda Nirpath-pong-porn.
The successful sophomore led the Wildcats to its second consecutive top-eight team finish.
"I am planning to play the Futures Tour to earn my LPGA card," Ochoa, 20, told reporters Saturday at a Seattle news conference. Her first event will begin Thursday in Sussex, Wis.
Wildcat coach Greg Allen said the impact Ochoa made on collage golf was unbelievable.
"Lorena leaves the University of Arizona as the best golfer that's ever played here, and we've got a great list of collegiate golfers ... led by the best player in the world, Annika Sorenstam," Allen said.
Ochoa's 12 titles place her third on an unofficial list of most individual career championships won by an NCAA female golfer. Her career scoring average, 70.3, set an NCAA record.
"My time at the University of Arizona has been great, I've enjoyed playing college golf and being with my teammates," she said.
Perhaps most prominent and impressive of all her achievements was Ochoa's NCAA record seven-tournament winning streak.
