Mayakoba, Quintana Roo, May 21, 2025.- Lorena Ochoa retired 15 years ago from professional golf, but remains as the maximum reference of Mexican golf. No wonder, she was number one in the world from April 2007 to April 2010.
Present as a guest at the MEXICO Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba, where this Wednesday she played the Pro-Am, the tapatía acknowledged that she misses feeling the adrenaline of playing under pressure to win a title, but at the same time she knows that she retired at the right time so as not to leave hating golf.
“I miss being there on Sunday with the opportunity to win a tournament, with the opportunity to play under pressure, in the last group, feeling the support of the public, the adrenaline, being there to win a tournament to be cheered on… that feeling is something unique, very special, very difficult to live outside the golf course, still at night I imagine it, visualize it and feel it, but I can’t do it anymore”, said Lorena.
But she added that she does not miss traveling throughout the year, being away from home, having so much responsibility, the activities they have to fulfill as professionals outside the golf course, “the cocktails, the awards, the visits, when you are in so many places and they ask you so many things every week, but when you are a professional you have to fulfill all those things. That’s why I stopped playing, physically and mentally I could no longer enjoy that life, because I had the dream of becoming a mother, I decided to leave to do other things. It is a very difficult life, all professional athletes are to be admired”.
Lorena notices a natural evolution of the game, things that were not used to in her time. “I consider myself a young player, I have contemporaries who are still playing. I was one of those who had a good physical structure, but I was also concerned about being healthy, exercising, flexibility, strength, being in shape, running every day. Maybe at that time I was one of the 10 percent who did those things, today all the players do it, today it is a strict part of a professional to be in the gym, to keep in shape, to have more speed, to hit the ball harder, to use technology, to use measurements, there are so many things that were not used in my time, today there are stronger players”, she said.
She knows that she is still the great figure of Mexican golf, but she asked to give more recognition to Gaby Lopez, who is the top tricolor representative in the MEXICO Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba. “Gaby is doing very well, she is very professional, she works very hard, I understand well her position, her responsibility, she is fighting to achieve her goals, but she should be congratulated much more, sometimes it is difficult because of the comparisons with me. Gaby is a super woman, super player, but sometimes she puts a lot of pressure because of the comparison, it is hard, sometimes I try to be separated for the same reason, so that she is not being compared”, she mentioned.
Regarding the tournament, she celebrated the fact that they have secured their permanence for five years, “I was happy to know that, and when the players say how much fun they had, they talk about how incredible the course was, that makes more players come the following year, little by little they will come with a higher level and this way it will gain strength, it is only something for the long term”, she concluded.
