Lorena Ochoa—who quite possibly had the best season of any professional golfer last year—has said that her goals are to get to number one; to play ten years; and then to quit.
“There are things that make me a little sad, but I accept them because I have to make a sacrifice to go far,” Ochoa said in an interview with The Associated Press. “For that reason, I don’t want to play for more than 10 years in the LPGA, I would like to be a more normal person, to have a family, that God gives me the opportunity to have kids.”
That’s quite a statement. She’s been on the Tour since 2002, so if we take her literally, that means that she has just five years of playing time left.
I wonder, however, if it’s not just a little fatigue speaking. The twenty five year old won six times last year to capture the money title, the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average and LPGA Tour player of the year. She also was voted AP Female Athlete of the Year, and was awarded a national medal from the government of Mexico, her home country.
That’s enough to wear practically anyone down. If she really decides to quit in a couple of years, then more power to her. But with someone as obviously competitive as she is, I have a hard time believing she’ll quit. On the other hand, I would much rather see an athlete quit at the peak of his or her powers than soldier on thorugh one embarassing performance after another. (i.e. Barry Sanders and Jim Brown v Emmit Smith).
The exception, of course, is Arnold Palmer. I’d pay to see him shoot 100.
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While I really like seeing Ochoa, I hope she does quit if that is what she wants to do. I am of the opinion that it would not be a good life for her family for her to be on the road 20 times a year once she starts having kids. My wife and I did not have our girl until we were 37 and 38. I imagine Ochoa wants to have more than a couple, so she needs to get started a little earlier than we did—30 is a good number for that.
I also wonder if this is what will do Tiger in. Once the cub is about 3 and asking Tiger not to go play “hit ball” (what my daughter calls it) this weekend, I wonder if Mr. Teary Eyes will be able to actually leave 15 weekends a year. (and I really hope he isn’t dragging the kid into the limelight every weekend also).
That “hit ball” bit is funny. My boys will ask to go play either “standing golf” or “walking golf”. Standing Golf is the driving range. Walking golf is the course.