Lorena Ochoa Drops Retirement Bomb on the LPGA

The tour that doesn't need any bad news had a major bomb dropped right on top of it Tuesday.

The world's No. 1 female golfer, Mexico's Lorena Ochoa, is hanging up her PINGs. She's done, finished, and will announce her retirement from competitive golf later this week in Mexico City.

Bad news for women's golf.

As if it needs that.

Ochoa won her fourth consecutive Rolex Player of the Year award last season and has 27 wins and $14.2 million in career earnings.

This is not what the LPGA wanted to hear.

This tour is already struggling: it has fewer American stars, too many non-English speaking players, and is basically dog-paddling through its schedule. It's a schedule that has too many idle weeks between events.

Brittany Lincicome, from the Tampa Bay area, is teeing it up in a one-day men's mini-tour event called the "No Exemptions Tour." She's paying her $160 entry fee to compete for a $1,000 first-place check.

She said she'd rather do that than just keep hitting range balls.

It's an indictment of the women's tour.

Now Ochoa's retirement comes and it may be a shock, or it may not be.

She was married recently and said that one day she'd quit when she wanted to start a family.

Just looks like it happened sooner than later.