Lorena Ochoa, world number one temporarily retires from golf

First there was Tiger Woods, the world number one, which left golf for four months to withdraw to his marital problems. And yesterday it was Lorena Ochoa, the star of women’s golf, who announced that momentarily she sticks to raise her family. The number one for the last three years has announced her temporary drop after 10 seasons in the professional elite and 27 titles, including two big ones. Next Friday, in Mexico City, Lorena Ochoa will discuss the causes of withdrawal.

Lorena Ochoa have married on Dec. 4 with Andres Conesa, Aeromexico’s chairman, one of her sponsors. Lorena Ochoa, 28, has not won a tournament since last October and has started 2010 with gray results. As Lorena Ochoa, Annika Sorenstam, the former world number one and an icon of women’s golf, ended her career last season a few weeks before marriage.

“I am thinking about a family,” Ochoa said earlier this year, “with the departure of Annika, the responsibility is greater than expected,” said PGA spokesman. In a country where golf is considered an entertainment of the rich, Lorena Ochoa emerged to become the major benchmark of women’s golf in the world.