Jay Haas charged past Tom Watson to win the Senior Players Championship by a stroke, birdieing the 18th hole yesterday to match the course record with a 6-under 64 in the final Champions Tour major of the season. Watson, 60, was tying to become the oldest major winner on the 50-and-over tour. But after making only one bogey in the first three rounds at Baltimore Country Club, he had three in the final round en route to a 70.

Suzann Pettersen and Ji Young Oh seemingly won’t have to worry about three-time defending champion Lorena Ochoa making a run at them today in the final round of the Sybase Classic. There are plenty of other challengers though, including recent major winner Brittany Lincicome, eight-time LPGA winner Paula Creamer and probably the most famous non-winner on tour, 19-year-old Michelle Wie.

A tournament that was Lorena Ochoa’s to lose is suddenly anyone’s to win. Lindsey Wright and Cristie Kerr played splendidly and well, respectively, on a breezy day on the lower James River to vault into a tie for first place heading into today’s final round of the $2.2 million Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill. Wright shot 64 and Kerr 66 yesterday. Kerr, striving to become the first two-time champion in the event’s seven-year history, pulled alongside Wright at 15 under by finishing with back-to-back birdies.

An uncharacteristic stumble at the finish line didn’t prevent Lorena Ochoa from pulling away from her pursuers at the Michelob Ultra Open. Ochoa, the world’s No.1-ranked female golfer, delivered a 6-under-par 65 yesterday and will carry a three-shot cushion into today’s third round on the Kingsmill Resort’s 6,315-yard River Course. Ochoa reached 14 under with a birdie on her 17th hole but returned that stroke by bogeying 18 (the par-4 ninth) from the bunker that guards the right side of the green.

WILLIAMSBURG—Lorena Ochoa, the world’s No. 1-ranked female golfer, says she detests cold weather. Given the heat Ochoa brought to the Kingsmill Resort yesterday, cold didn’t stand a chance.

The first round of the Michelob Ultra Open was accompanied by weather that changed from dark, gloomy and rainy to windy with scattered clouds to bright and humid. Players were required to adjust tactics - and clothing - accordingly. “I had my rain gear on and off about three times today,“ said Lindsey Wright, who shot a 6-under-par 65 for sole possession of second place.

WILLIAMSBURG—Lorena Ochoa finished a sizzling round of 7-under 64 today to maintain her first-round lead at the Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill. Ochoa, the world’s top-ranked female golfer, leads Lindsey Wright by one stroke and Hee-Won Han by two.

WILLIAMSBURG—Lorena Ochoa, the world’s No. 1-ranked female golfer, shares the lead at 4-under through seven holes of today’s first round of the $2.2 million Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill. Hye Jung Choi (through 15 holes) and Seon Hwa Lee (through 11) also have reached 4-under. A group of five players at 3-under includes 2005 Michelob Ultra Open champion Cristie Kerr (through eight holes).

This much can said with certainty about the LPGA’s annual visit to Kingsmill Resort: No journeymen need apply. The $2.2 million Michelob Ultra Open, widely regarded as the LPGA’s fifth major, produces formidable champions with remarkable regularity.

The unspoken question at the seventh Michelob Ultra Open is: Will there be an eighth? The LPGA’s contract with Anheuser-Busch and Kingsmill expires at the conclusion of this year’s event. Talks between the LPGA and Anheuser-Busch are expected to begin this summer. Complicating the issue are the economy and the 2008 acquisition of Anheuser-Busch by European brewing giant InBev.

Lorena Ochoa, the tour’s leading money-winner and one of the favorites this week, will be working with a new caddie, Adam Woodward, when the tournament begins tomorrow. The change was made necessary by quirky misfortune. Ochoa’s full-time caddie, Dave Brooker, suffered a broken left foot two weeks ago in Morelia, Mexico. He was injured while playing in the informal soccer match that traditionally follows the third round of the Corona Classic. Ochoa’s coach, Rafael Alarcon, took over bag duty for the final round two weeks ago.

MEXICO CITY—Top-ranked golfer Lorena Ochoa is engaged. The 27-year-old Ochoa plans to marry 39-year-old Andres Conesa, the director general of Aeromexico airline, one of her sponsors. Local media reported Conesa popped the question late last month as the couple vacationed in Europe. Hola magazine’s Mexico edition said the pair was planning a wedding at the end of this year.