Natalie Gulbis | Natalie Gulbis Photographs Pictures Calendar > Natalie Gulbis Tres Marias Championship

This week in Morelia, Mexico has been special and memorable because of Lorena Ochoa’s announcement that she will retire after the event. Lorena has been the #1 player in women’s golf for the last three years, winning several majors and other LPGA events. Lorena has been one of my close friends since we were team mates on the golf team at the University Of Arizona. We shared much success during our time at Arizona, where we were #1 and #2 in the country and the best team at that time in women’s golf.

I first met Lorena at Junior World in Albuquerque, NM where she was an accomplished champion, winning Junior World five times in a row. She didn’t speak English, but was always smiling and taught me a dance called the Macarena (a year before it became wildly popular in the USA). I didn’t see her again until the first day of freshman orientation at the University of Arizona. Her English was better, as she stayed back a year before coming to Arizona to work on the language. I had studied Spanish for a few years, and could communicate with her, both in English or Spanish, depending on the day. Lorena was famous for starting to speak in English, and then finishing in Spanish. She would often come up with words that were a combination of English and Spanish, like ‘super bien’ or making the word, thank you, plural by adding an ‘s’, saying, ‘thank yous’. I, of course, started to use both of these famous combos often!

I have many fond memories with Lorena. My absolute favorite involves her picking me up every day before our 6:30am workouts from my apartment at U of A in her early 80s two door white Honda Prelude. We would meet up after our separate classes for our drive to practice, in the Arizona heat, and without A/C. She would blast Spanish hits with the windows down, and we would sing along until we were in the parking lot of an exclusive club or practice range. Somehow we managed to fit both of our golf clubs in the back as long as we angled them the right way and took out the fairway woods. After practice we would hop back in the car and drive to campus for study hall and the car’s engine would get louder as the day went on. Lorena would laugh and say it was tired and would be fine in the morning. I always encouraged her to have it checked. Well, she never did and she was right – every morning the noise would be gone, and the car was fine. She kept the car throughout college and into her professional golf career. She told me today that after winning millions of dollars with lucrative endorsement deals and a car endorsement, she still wishes she had that car, and regrets selling it. She even painted it herself one weekend! I was very grateful for her kindness to let me ride with her every day and to be able to enjoy her car!

I am very proud of Lorena for all that she has accomplished both on and off the golf course. She has stayed true to her Mexican heritage and given back through her foundations and charities in Mexico. She has golf academies and educational schools throughout Mexico. She has raised the popularity of golf in Mexico and given Mexico a heroine to follow throughout her career. She is loved and cheered for all over the world and exemplifies the values of not only an LPGA player, but the #1 player in the world. We have been very lucky to have a player like Lorena on the LPGA Tour and as a part of women’s golf.

Today Lorena and I talked about the times in college, our moments on tour, team events when we were partners, moments as friends, and the reasons why she has decided to retire at an early age. After she coasted through a 7 under round of 63, I asked her if she was sure she wanted to retire and she said yes. She said, ‘I am so happy, I am married and have accomplished my goals during the 8 years I have been on the LPGA Tour, and am excited to start the next chapter of my life’.

It is very admirable for Lorena to be able to step away as the best and retire the #1 ranking as she will do after this event. I am glad that in her last event I was able to play a few rounds with her. I was able to play with one of the best women golf has ever seen, my college teammate, and friend.

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