Following in the footsteps of Anneka Sorenstam, the woman she succeeded as the world's number one player, Lorena Ochoa announced her retirement from the LPGA tour.  While she didn't say so in the announcement, she has previously indicated a desire to spend more time with her husband and step-children and to have children of her own.

I'm sure everyone involved in the LPGA wishes Ochoa well, however this was not a retirement that the tour needed this year.  The tour is already reeling from the impact of the Great Recession and to lose one of its most popular players is bound to have an adverse affect on television ratings and crowd turnouts at a time that the tour can least afford it.

Here's Anneka on Ochoa's retirement: