TERRE HAUTE —
LPGA Commissioner Michael Whan already had a tough job, trying to promote the LPGA tour and keep the 25 events that they have on the schedule, but that job was made tougher last week when the tour’s No. 1 player announced her retirement from the game at the ripe old age of 28.
Whan is putting a positive spin on her departure though. In an e-mail sent to players after Lorena Ochoa’s announcement April 23, he said that Ochoa “made the LPGA better AND she’ll make the LPGA better when she’s not playing. So I don’t consider Lorena’s departure from us a loss. It’s only been a gain.”
Easy for him to say, but the proof is yet to be seen. Ochoa was a charismatic and fierce competitor whom the crowd could relate to because she tended to wear her emotions on her sleeve. She also was known for not ever ducking out of an interview and always signed autographs.
Why would someone seemingly at the top of her game, and ranked first in the world, decide to retire? Well, for one thing, she wanted to go out on top. When asked at her press conference how she would feel when she gets passed as No. 1. She smiled and replied, “I will never be passed. I retired as No. 1. I will always be No. 1.”
It was 3 years to the date of her retirement announcement since she had overtaken Annika Sorenstam as the No. 1 player. (When Annika retired she was ranked 3rd in the world, partly due to a season battling neck problems.)
Other reasons had to do with changes in her priorities, most likely because of her recent marriage to Andres Conesa, an Aeromexico executive with three children between the ages of 7 and 14. After she won the Navistar LPGA Classic in October of 2009, it made her think about everything more. After that tournament she spoke with Andres and said, “I am ready to start a new life.”
She found, even at that tournament, that golf didn’t bring the same joy that it always had. “If you make a bogey or make a birdie and feel the same, or if you win a tournament and don’t feel that adrenaline rush and all the excitement, then you need to realize that something is wrong.”
There were other signs after that, pointing the way to her eventual retirement. Her game wasn’t up to her standards, and she was showing her temper, slamming clubs and throwing balls. She said she felt she needed to be brave to see those signs, and make her decision. She said, “It is more something that happens inside, it is more something that is in your heart. “
She played her last tournament in at Tres Marias in Morelia, Mexico. Ochoa has established herself as one of Mexico’s greatest sport icons, and is ranked as one of her country’s five most successful athletes of all time.
Lorena intends to remain active in golf, to some extent. She will host and play in the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in November. She plans to practice and work out so she can participate in corporate outings, and is not ruling out playing via sponsor’s exemptions in a few tournaments in a couple of years. She plans to put more energy into raising awareness of her foundation, which helps disadvantaged children in Mexico.
Ochoa and Sorenstam have been the only No. 1 players on the LPGA tour for the past decade. There is no clear favorite waiting in the wings to claim the new spot at the top. In the current Rolex Rankings Jiyai Shin from Korea is No. 2, Yani Tseng, from Taiwan is No. 3, and Suzann Pettersen, from Norway, No. 4.
Then 5-to-10 are Ai Miyazato, Cristie Kerr, Anna Nordqvist, Karrie Webb, and Michelle Wie. Jiyai Shin’s rookie year on the LPGA tour was 2009, when she won the both the Rolex Player of the Year and the Louise Suggs Rookie of the Year. She could be a new sensation, but she’s also a new name.
Even the PGA Tour gets better TV ratings when well known pros are winning. If the LPGA offers a bunch of unrecognizable names at their tournaments, they’ll have more trouble getting viewers to watch, patrons to attend the tournaments, and thus have an even harder time holding onto sponsors. The LPGA is going to need some great play and great personalities to generate some excitement for their tour.
Quote of the Day: “I never felt the pressure or weight. It was joy and happiness. I did my best, and it’s been a wonderful ride.” — Lorena Ochoa, when asked if being No. 1 contributed to her retirement.
Upcoming Events: The Terre Haute Women’s Golf Association will have their Combo Tournament on May 15 at Rea Park. Tee times begin at 8 a.m. The format is six holes best ball, six holes alternate shot, and six holes scramble. Entry fee is $15 plus green fees and carts.
Flyers are available at area courses, or call Kelly Gosnell at (812) 894-2299 for more information.
On & Off the Course
On and Off the Course: Ochoa’s departure to impact LPGA
- On & Off the Course
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: With some tricky rules, golf is not a walk in the park
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On and off the course: Sycamores seeded sixth heading into MVC golf tourney
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: A hard ticket to come by
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Some things on golf course are worse than steep putts
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: The shot heard round the world
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: The Red, White and Blue visits the Isle of Green
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Fall may be coming but golf season is far from over
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Golf… simplified!
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On and Off the Course: Northern Ireland builds on golf history
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Women’s Open at the Broadmoor
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: The Fort Golf Course: A Walk in the Park…
Indiana has some pretty spectacular state parks, but one of them gives you the ability to “spoil a good walk” by chasing a little white ball.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Father’s Day is a good day for golfers
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Playing with lead a difficult task
As exciting as last week’s Masters was, with six players being tied for the lead at one point on Sunday, it was very difficult watching Rory McIlroy fall apart to shoot an 80.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Masters a rite of spring
This is Masters weekend, the grand kickoff to the golf season for a lot of golfers. Sure, there have been tournaments on TV, because the professionals have been playing in Hawaii, California, Texas, Dubai, and other areas not so affected by winter as we are here in the Midwest, but to me, watching The Masters is a rite of spring.
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ON THE OFF THE COURSE: Some history on the Ryder Cup
I fell asleep in way too many history classes to ever qualify as a history buff. However, since I have grown up a bit (not much), I enjoy learning about all kinds of history. I often have questions about how something began, or how something came to be.
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On and Off the Course: Purdue's Kampen Course a gem in Indiana's rough
About a month ago, Indiana was still heavily mired in heat and humidity, making outdoor activities such as golf less appealing than usual. At that time it felt like the repressive heat would never go away, it would never rain again, and all of the grass was just going to continue to wither and die. And the month prior to that we kept getting rained out of golf events!
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On and Off the Course: Successful golfers know ... focus is the key
I have a good friend who coached his daughter’s basketball team for a number of years, and told me that his theme with the girls was always “focus”, until it was ingrained in their brains. Now when they play high school ball, if they hear “focus” yelled from the stands, they know the source.
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On and Off the Course: Technology adds even more fun to the course
You’ve hit a drive into some brush in an area marked as a hazard, but you can’t find the ball to prove it is there. And no one actually witnessed it go in the hazard. You just think that’s where it probably is. What is the rule for this situation?
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On and Off the Course: Anthony Gonzalez First Tee Classic a worthwhile charity event
On Monday, I worked as a volunteer for the Anthony Gonzalez First Tee Classic, Golf Tournament and Auction at Eagle Creek Golf Course in Indianapolis. It was an absolutely beautiful day, with clear blue skies, just a few wispy clouds here and there and a high temperature of about 76 degrees.
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On and Off the Course: Trends show golf in decline
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On and Off the Course: Remembering former South golfer Ian White
It’s usually a bit of a struggle for me to figure out what my topic will be for this column. This week I could have written about Tiger’s withdrawal from the Players’ Championship due to a bulging disc in his neck, or by association, the health hazards a violent golf swing can have on the human body, or any number of other golf-related topics.
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On and Off the Course: Ochoa’s departure to impact LPGA
LPGA Commissioner Michael Whan already had a tough job, trying to promote the LPGA tour and keep the 25 events that they have on the schedule, but that job was made tougher last week when the tour’s No. 1 player announced her retirement from the game at the ripe old age of 28.
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On and Off the Course: Examining the square groove rule change
Even though the Masters is going to have its own little drama going on with the return of Tiger Woods, an interesting thing to note will be how well the players are able to hold the hard fast greens at Augusta. An underlying part of the bigger picture that everyone might not realize is a rule change that could dramatically affect most, if not all, of the players. That rule change took effect on Jan. 1.
- On and Off the Course: President's Cup should be entertaining Just when we thought golf season was over, and it was time to concentrate on football, we must awaken from our naps, because there’s going to be some exciting golf for us to watch next weekend. The President’s Cup will run from Oct. 6-11 at Harding Park in San Francisco.
- On and Off the Course: The obscure of golf's rulebook Golfers know that the rules that govern the game are abundant. The game originated in the 15th century on the links of Scotland, and somehow as time went on and people became more civilized, rules were adopted.
- ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Women’s City Match Play had tough competition I played in the Terre Haute Golf Association Women’s City Match Play Tournament a couple of weeks ago.
- On and Off the Course: One for the ages … well, almost! I wonder how long people will be referring to last week’s British Open, as “one for the ages.” They could also refer to it as “one for the aged!” Tom Watson’s near miss of a 9th Open Championship (as the Brits prefer to call it, and as it rightly should be by virtue of its longevity) was a rallying cry to all those golfers who have toiled for so many years at their game, but had given up hope as for ever getting it back to where they had it twenty years ago.
- ON AND OFF THE COURSE: In a bad economy, should LPGA raise its fees? For 31 years The LPGA’s Corning Classic was held at Corning Country Club in Corning, N.Y., with Corning Glassware as its title sponsor. This year, however, was the end of an era as LPGA players played their final rounds in its’ longest-running event. Due to many factors Corning chose to not renew their contract for 2010.
- ON AND OFF THE COURSE: ‘Average golfer’ ready to face challenges of Bethpage Black Golf Digest, in association with the USGA and NBC Sports, has asked the question, “Can the ‘average golfer’ break 100 at Bethpage Black under U.S. Open conditions?”
- On and Off the Course: Golf is for Mother’s, too I’d like to wish all of my readers who are mothers, whether they play golf or not, a Happy Mother’s Day — and if you do play golf — I hope you have a fine day today and that you find the time to get out on the course.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: With some tricky rules, golf is not a walk in the park
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