Mayakoba, Quintana Roo, May 20, 2025.- For many years Lorena Ochoa was the world number one in women’s golf. She was the first Mexican to reach the top of the LPGA’s world rankings. From 2007 to 2010, the year she retired, she occupied the first place.
At that time Nataliya Guseva was a child. Born in 2003 in Russia, she was just beginning to look at the sport that would become her profession. Present at the MEXICO Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba, the young girl confessed her admiration for Lorena.
“Honestly, she is one of my favorite golfers. Whenever I’m asked, Lorena Ochoa is number one for me. For her way of being, for her feelings, for everything. She had the mentality to be number one and I learned a lot from her. I grew up watching her win tournaments and everything else, and I wanted to repeat that. I like everything about her, she played her best golf, then she retired and she has an amazing family. And yes, I still look up to her and it’s good that you have a superstar like her,” applauded Guseva.
Nataliya joined the LPGA tour in 2024, becoming the first Russian player to obtain her card. So far this season she has one top 10, at the T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM Rewards.
Guseva confessed her excitement to participate in the tournament that marks the LPGA’s return to Mexico. “I’ve heard a lot of good things about the golf course, about Cancun. This week for us is kind of like a vacation with a golf side. It’s super awesome to be here at this beautiful resort. I’m really excited to play, a great experience for sure. It’s also nice to see the beach. When you’re done playing golf, you go relax a little bit on the beach. So I’m going to try to enjoy every minute of it.”
As for the El Camaleón course, Guseva explained that she played nine holes on Monday and another nine today, so she can anticipate that it will be a complicated course. “It’s very narrow off the tee. The greens are also quite small. I know guys have had pretty low scores here, but I think with the wind and with those kind of conditions, it’s going to be pretty tough to score. So it will reward the good hitters, which is good for me. I’m going to try to have fun at the same time, be more accurate and focus.”
For Nataliya it is important to have a good performance at the MEXICO Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba, as the following week the US Open is played. “It’s a good momentum to start from here, play good golf and carry the momentum into the US Open week. I’m excited, but at the same time I’ll try to make it more fun, easier and relaxed because we travel a lot. The last time I was home was five weeks ago in Florida. So it’s just trying to enjoy it,” she commented.
