Mexico's Lorena Ochoa says retiring from LPGA was easy choice

Mexican golfer Lorena Ochoa said retiring from the LPGA tour in April 2010 was an easy decision because golf was no longer a priority in her life.

"I retired gladly. I wanted to start a family, I had achieved my goals, because I no longer had the desire and the energy to get up every day (to practice)," Ochoa said during the presentation on Monday of her autobiography, "Soñar en grande" (Dreaming Big), in the western Mexican city of Guadalajara.

Ochoa announced her retirement more than two years ago to focus on her personal life, but she still plays in some tournaments, such as the LPGA's Lorena Ochoa Invitational, which starts on Thursday in Mexico.

The 30-year-old Ochoa said an injury, image problems or sponsorship problems might have made the decision to call it quits more difficult because she wanted to leave as world No. 1, a spot she held until her retirement.

The book allows the public to understand her determination on the links and tells how she spent her last day in a tournament with tears in her eyes, Ochoa said.

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Kung joins first in Mexico invitational

Michelle Wie had six birdies in a six-under 66 on Thursday to seize a share of the first-round lead in the Lorena Ochoa Invitational alongside Taiwan’s Candie Kung and Angela Stanford.

Wie, whose 2009 triumph in Mexico was the first of her two LPGA tour victories to date, opened with back-to-back birdies at Guadalajara Country Club, and strung together four successive birdies from the 10th through the 13th.

It was a great start for a player who has struggled to just two top 20 finishes this season and needed a sponsor invitation to get into the 36-player field after failing to qualify.

“It’s been a really difficult year,” said Wie, whose round was just her eighth in the 60s this year. “It’s been the hardest year I’ve had so far.”

The US golfer said she knows what she needs to do to keep it going at Guadalajara.

“You have to be on the right position on the fairway, on the right position on the green, get above the hole a couple times and getting in your putts,” she said. “So for the next couple of days, I just need to put them in the right position, keep doing that — just position golf.”

Continue reading about Candie Kung, Michelle Wie & Angela Standford in the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Mexico at Taipei Times.com!

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Former World No 1 Lorena Ochoa of Mexico to play in Europe and Mexico

Former World No 1 Lorena Ochoa of Mexico will make a small-scale return to competitive golf later this year at events in Norway, France and Mexico, she revealed on her website on Thursday.

Ochoa retired from the LPGA in 2010 and gave birth to a son last December, causing her to miss the hometown event which bears her name, the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in her hometown of Guadalajara.

Ochoa, 30, will play in the Ladies European Tour's French Open on October 4-7 at Chantaco Golf club in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Aquitaine, and at the 2012 Lorena Ochoa Invitational on November 8-11 in Mexico.

Also on her schedule is a two-day match-play event in early September in Oslo, Norway. Ochoa and current World No 1 Yani Tseng of Taiwan will face Norway's Suzann Pettersen and former World No 1 Annika Sorenstam of Sweden.

(Via Supersport.com)

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