Lorena Ochoa calls it quits

One of the greatest female golfers and Mexican athletes of all time has surprisingly decided to retire from the game.

"Lorena Ochoa has confirmed her retirement from LPGA... more details will be released on Friday at a press conference," according to the golf star’s management group. The shocking announcement comes as the 28-year-old as at the peak of the women’s golf game having won 27 tournaments and earned $14 million. Though the communiqué did not explain why Ochoa is to quit she has previously expressed departing from professional golf in order to raise a family. (She admitted last year that the “things that I do outside the golf course” served as her “main focus.”)

Though Ochoa never reached the star power of Annika Sorenstam (who retired for personal reasons in 2008) her departure will leave a big void in the economically struggling LPGA Tour. Much like Ana Guevara in track and field, Ochoa was a superstar in Mexico on a level comparable to the country’s elite soccer players. Her legacy will hopefully continue via her numerous charitable efforts:

Earlier this month, Ochoa disclosed plans to open a golf academy in Mira Loma, California, targeting the area’s Latino population. Ochoa’s foundation also runs a similar school in Mexico and has plans to open academies in the U.S. and other countries.

Image- USA TODAY
Online Sources- AP, Reuters, New York Times, Bloomberg

Daily Headlines: April 21, 2008

* Mexico: Can anyone stop Lorena Ochoa? The Mexican golfer became the first person in 45 years to win four LPGA tournaments in consecutive weeks.

* Honduras: Sixteen Cuban migrants are “in good health” after landing on the Honduran island of Guanaja last week.

* Peru: $450 million is the price tag placed by government officials for the reconstruction of areas devastated by earthquakes last August.

* Venezuela: Why was the Venezuelan government interested in being a minority shareholder of a firm that owns a pair of spy satellites?

Sources- BBC Sport, New York Times, Associated Press, The Latin Americanist, Miamiherald.com

Image- New York Times

Sports Illustrated Latino's Sports Hombre of the Year

Sports Illustrated's Latino version, SI Latino, has chosen futbolista Argentino Lionel Messi as their 2007 Sportsman of the Year. The issue with Messi gracing the cover also features 12 other Latino athletes including David Ortiz (no relation) and Manny Ramirez of the Boston Red Sox, WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto, and the 2007 LPGA Player of the Year, Mexico’s Lorena Ochoa.

Story and Image Source : Latin Gossip

Daily Headlines: November 16, 2007

* Coming soon to a Wal-Mart near you: Pollo Campero.

* Mexican golfer Lorena Ochoa (image) will be honored in a unique manner: she will host her own LPGA tournament starting next year.

* After many months of disagreements and delays, the controversial Botnia paper mill located near the Uruguay-Argentina border began production.

* Brazilian police often kill suspects before trial according to the U.N. special investigator on extrajudicial executions.

* Four multinational construction firms are bidding for the multibillion dollar contract to expand the Panama Canal.

Sources- The Latin Americanist, Forbes.com, Reuters, Voice of America, CNNMoney.com

Image- MSNBC

Daily Headlines: August 27, 2007

* Headline: “Chavez offers billions in Latin America”. In other news, the Earth revolves around the Sun and there are twelve months in a year.

* Congrats to top-ranked Mexican golfer Lorena Ochoa who won her third consecutive LPGA tournament yesterday.

* The Brazilian city of Santos will build a museum in honor of soccer legend Pele.

* Puerto Rican governor Aníbal Acevedo Vila called for the return of National Guard troops from combat in Iraq.

* Over 150 British legislators have signed a motion calling for the end of arms sales to Colombia.

* Follow-up: Brazil’s justice Minster said that “visa irregularities” led to the deportation of two Cuban boxers that had gone missing during the Pan American Games.

Sources (English)- Yahoo! News, International Herald Tribune, Independent Online, ESPN, The Latin Americanist,

Source (Spanish)- El Diario/La Prensa

Image- MSNBC

Daily Headlines: August 7, 2007

* Congrats to Mexican golfer Lorena Ochoa (image) who won her first major title at the Women’s British Open.

* U.S. FDA busts BSing P.R. Drs. (Try saying that five times fast).

* Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez offered to negotiate with Colombian guerrilla leaders.

* Ecologists are worried over the deaths of hundreds of sharks off the Ecuadorian coast after the government lifted a ban on the sale of shark fins.

* A Washington State hiker died after falling off a Chilean cliff.

* Did Mexican television channel Televisa edit out the climactic scene of “Y Tú Mama, También”?

Sources- FOX Sports, AHN, Bloomberg, Forbes, Guardian UK, Guanabee

Image- CNN

Daily Headlines: June 25, 2007

* Less than a week after Boca Juniors captured the Copa Libertadores title, its owner Mauricio Macri was elected as Buenos Aires’ next mayor.

* Last Monday we congratulated Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton. Today we give kudos to Colombian driver Juan Pablo Montoya and Mexican golfer Lorena Ochoa for their respective victories on Sunday.

* “If the young people fail, everything will fail” wrote Fidel Castro in a letter to a Cuban communist youth group.

* Peru’s legislature overwhelmingly approved a law lowering the age of consensual sex to 14-years.

* To move or not to move Bolivia’s capital, that is the question.

Sources- The Latin Americanist, Yahoo! Sports, Yahoo! News, BBC News, CTV.ca, CBS News

Image- BBC News (Mauricio Macri at a Buenos Aires polling station on Sunday, only a few hours before exit polls indicated he would be the next mayor of Buenos Aires)