Lorena Ochoa, #1 woman golfer on the LPGA tour for the past three years with 27 wins, has decided to walk away. The 28-year-old Mexican athlete made the announcement Tuesday in a short press release that indicated she will retire. She has been named LPGA player of the year consecutively from 2006-2009 and is ranked #3 in career money winnings with $14.7 million.
Ochoa took up golf at age five and won her first state event at age six and her first national event at age seven. She won five consecutive titles at the Junior World Golf Championships. She played collegiate golf at the University of Arizona for two years before deciding to turn pro in 2002. She joined the LPGA in 2003.
The statement read: “Lorena Ochoa confirms her retirement from the LPGA, as news reports in some media have said today. The reasons and more details on the matter will be given by Lorena personally in a press conference on Friday in Mexico City. Lorena will share this news of a new stage in her life with her sponsors, family members and friends.”
Her last tournament was three weeks ago at the Kraft Nabisco Championship in California, where she finished fourth in the year’s first major, showing some frustration on the course. It is not clear whether that is her last or if she will play next week in the Tres Marias event in Morelia, west of Mexico City.
Annika Sorenstam, who retired in May 2008, weighed in on the sudden departure of Ochoa. She said, “I must admit that I was surprised, but not shocked, when I heard the news yesterday that Lorena is going to retire. She has always said she would play for maybe 10 years and then leave the game to start a family. She just got married and obviously feels she is ready for that next chapter in her life.”
Lorena married Andres Conesa, AeroMexico CEO in December 2009. The airline, based in Mexico City, has a fleet of 43 planes and flies to 44 destinations.
More photos and video coverage of her retirement below: