NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former women's world number one Lorena Ochoa will receive the 2011 Bob Jones Award in recognition of her distinguished sportsmanship, the United States Golf Association (USGA) said Tuesday.
Ochoa, who stunned the golfing world when she retired from the game in April at the age of 28, has benefited hundreds of underprivileged children through her foundation in her native Mexico.
"It was very exciting," Ochoa said in a statement of her reaction when she first heard the news. "I went to the Internet, trying to see what it was all about, and I said to myself: 'Wow!'
"I enjoyed reading about Bob Jones and all of the past recipients. Then I told my mother. Now I just plan to enjoy the good news, the ceremony, the whole thing."
Ochoa will be presented with the award on February 5 at the USGA's annual meeting in Phoenix.
"People love her and she is such a great ambassador for the game of golf," said American Nancy Lopez, winner of the 1998 Bob Jones Award. "And she does so much for charity.
"When she was so busy with her career, she still had time for the people who needed her."
Ochoa's foundation runs La Barranca, an elementary school in her hometown of Guadalajara with an enrollment of 250 underprivileged students. The foundation also began operating a high school for 21 freshman students in 2008.
"I play golf for a reason and the foundation is the main reason," Ochoa said. "That was my motivation to keep playing and practicing for many years."
Presented annually since 1955, the Bob Jones Award is given in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf.
American Bobby Jones, widely acknowledged as the greatest amateur in the game's history, founded the U.S. Masters in 1934.
He won four U.S. Opens, three British Opens and five U.S. amateur crowns between 1922 and 1930 when he retired from competitive golf at the age of 28 after completing a grand slam of the majors.
(Writing by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Steve Ginsburg)
