Wie Withdraws, Ochoa Leads LPGA Tour Championship

Michelle Wie is gone, putting all the attention on Lorena Ochoa's player of the year fight with Jiyai Shin at the LPGA Tour Championship.

Michelle Wie reacts after missing a birdie putt on the 18th hole during the first round of the LPGA Tour Championship golf tournament Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009, in Richmond, Texas. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

(AP)

Wie withdrew from the season-ending event Thursday because of a sprained left ankle, hours after Ochoa shot a 6-under 66 to take a one-shot lead over Reilley Rankin.

The 20-year-old Wie, fresh off her first LPGA Tour victory last week at Ochoa's tournament in Mexico, shot a 72 in the afternoon. She limped through her round on the gimpy ankle that she sprained during the Solheim Cup in August, went for treatment afterward and withdrew about an hour later.

"I wanted to do everything I could do to fight through the injury," Wie said in a statement. "It bothered me last week in Mexico, but I was able to play through the pain. I realized today that I wouldn't be able to continue to play through it."

Ochoa teed off in the morning, before the wind picked up across the Houstonian Golf and Country Club.

She was four shots ahead of Shin (70) on the leaderboard, but the 21-year-old South Korean leads Ochoa by eight points (156-148) in the race to become the tour's player of the year. To earn the distinction this year, Ochoa must win this week or finish no worse than third and hope Shin places out of the top 10.

But Ochoa says she's actually feeling more relaxed this week after dealing with the demands of hosting a tournament a week ago.

"Last week was a little bit tough in many different ways with all the things to do and all the pressure," she said. "Everything is a little bit easier, if you compare it to last week."

Shin and Ochoa started on the back nine and both were 2 under after three holes. Shin added birdies at Nos. 13 and 15 to move to 4 under.

Both players bogeyed the difficult 17th, then picked up birdies early on their second nines. Ochoa added birdies on Nos. 6, 8 and 9, capping her round with a 15-foot putt and a modest fist pump.