Greg Allen unzips his backpack, opens his Franklin day planner and takes out a letter.
It's dated May 17, 2002, and is from Lorena Ochoa.
The former Arizona Wildcats golfer typed the front and gave a copy to everyone who helped her around McKale Center, from trainers to tutors to administrators.
She wrote about the first time, in 2000, a course announcer introduced her as from the University of Arizona.
She swelled with pride.
"Those words are so clear in my mind," she wrote.
The back of the letter is hand-written, personalized to Allen, her UA coach, and his family.
"I will always remember you," it said. "Know I will always be there for you, just like you were for me in every single moment."
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Allen, now the coach at Vanderbilt, reads the note before every postseason tournament. He carries it with him every day.
"That's who Lorena is," he said. "Not someone who has won 27 tournaments and two majors."
Ochoa, who played at the UA from 2000 to 2002, finished her full-time LPGA career Sunday, finishing sixth at the Tres Marias Championship in Morelia, Mexico.
Winner of the last four LPGA Player of the Year awards, Ochoa wants to raise a family.
The 28-year-old golfer married Aeromexico CEO Andres Conesa, who has three children from a previous relationship, in December.
"Lorena's just one of those people where you knew she was going to be successful," said Laura Myerscough, a former teammate who now serves as the UA's assistant women's golf coach. "She always looked at her next goal.
"In college it was to conquer college golf and move on to pro golf. I think she always had dreams of having a family, having a life, having a foundation, helping others."
But, boy, did she conquer college golf.
The ball just sounded different when she struck it. She was dedicated enough to hit drives at dawn, organized enough to sort her closet by color.
After an All-America freshman year, she met with Allen to discuss her goals for the 2001-02 season.
She said she wanted to win every tournament and average a score under 70 - the equivalent of, say, Kenzie Fowler wanting an undefeated season with 20 perfect games sprinkled in.
The crazy thing is, Ochoa almost did it.
She rattled off seven straight wins that season, the longest organized golf streak since Byron Nelson's 11 in 1945. She finished with an average of 70.13.
It was, bar none, the greatest season in women's college golf. She won eight of 10 events, finishing second in the other two.
In her college career, Ochoa entered 20 events, finishing first 12 times, second six times and never out of the top 10.
"You don't see a girl that absolutely dominated college golf like Lorena did," Myerscough said. "You knew, as a pro, eventually she was going to catch up and be an annihilator."
She was. If Ochoa isn't on the Mount Rushmore of the sport, she will surely be remembered as a transcendent athlete in her country.
Joe Mazzeo, who first met Ochoa as the UA golf team's student sports information director, is the tournament manager of the Mayakoba Golf Classic, Mexico's only PGA Tour stop.
"She's the most recognizable and most famous athlete in Mexico, period," Mazzeo said. "She's a national hero, really.
"Every time anybody thinks golf, they say Lorena."
That won't change with Ochoa's retirement. When she announced her departure April 23, Ochoa sounded as appreciative for her college days as her coaches and teammates were for having her enrolled.
She told young players to "go to college, stay in college." The LPGA will always be there.
"In that case," she said, "you are prepared for life."
finley five: the five things we'll be talking about this week
Meet the new boss
1Greg Byrne begins his tenure as the Arizona Wildcats new athletic director today. Though he will spend the majority of the week attending Pac-10 meetings, the former Mississippi State boss will jump headfirst into budgetary and fundraising issues here.
Golf!
2The Wildcats head to a familiar spot Thursday for the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championships - Stanford, Calif. The Pac-10 champs, ranked No. 7 in the country, are one of 24 squads competing to finish in the top seven nationwide to qualify for the title round.
Red hot
3The UA softball team lost to Cal on Sunday, snapping an eight-game winning streak. The No. 3 Wildcats travel to No. 18 Oregon on Friday, starting the homestretch of six games before the NCAA tournament seeds are announced.
Playoffs!
4Is there a more exciting two weeks in high school sports? Baseball and softball teams continue their playoff push this week, and boys volleyball and track and field squads begin their postseasons.
Rivalry
5Want to catch the zing - and ping! - of college baseball? Make the drive to Tempe on Tuesday, where the Wildcats will try to defeat Arizona State again. Now ranked third, the Sun Devils were No. 1 when the Wildcats invaded Tempe on April 20 and won 4-2.
Contact Patrick Finley at 573-4145 or pfinley@azstarnet.com.
Ex-Wildcat Lorena Ochoa joined the LPGA Tour in 2003 and has finished among the top 10 players ever since. The data for 2010 reflects Ochoa's earnings through May 2, 2010.
