Mariajo Uribe hits a tee shot on Wednesday at Le Golf Nationwide.
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Absolutely, Mariajo Uribe is reconsidering.
Her begin Wednesday should have satisfied her. She birdied 1. And a pair of. And 4 at Le Golf Nationwide. She was rolling. But when that hadn’t carried out the trick, her end would’ve. On the demanding par-5 18th, she birdied once more. And when issues had been wrapped up after day one on the Olympics, Uribe was tied for third, 5 pictures from the highest.
She couldn’t presumably observe by way of now on what she’d pledged, proper?
Nope, nonetheless is.
Come Saturday, no matter whether or not a gold, silver or bronze medal is hanging round her neck, Uribe’s retiring.
“I imply, certainly one of my idols is Lorena Ochoa,” Uribe stated, “and he or she went out as No. 1 on the earth, and I all the time thought that was so nice, like simply ending on a excessive be aware.
“This yr has been actually particular for me, and to complete with week right here would make it a good higher retirement week.”
Unexpectedly, it’s been considerably like a multi-year victory lap for Uribe.
The 34-year-old from Colombia had been prepared to hold up her golf sneakers after the 2020 Video games in Tokyo. It was time, she felt. In 2007, Uribe received the U.S. Ladies’s Am. In faculty, at UCLA, she was a two-time first-team All-American. In July of 2009, Uribe turned professional, and he or she’s received over $2 million on the LPGA Tour, with 14 profession prime 10s to her title. However then the 2020 Olympics had been postponed a yr resulting from Covid. And within the months earlier than these rescheduled Video games, she had a child boy.
So she performed on, with a watch on this yr.
“We determined as a household to present it one other attempt for Paris,” Uribe stated. “So it’s been 4 years too lengthy already.
“So I’m prepared for it, however I’m excited for the week to return.”
In fact, Uribe nonetheless wanted to qualify for the Video games, and, as you possibly can surmise, the story will get higher. In March, in quest of wanted factors, she entered the Ladies’s NSW Open in Australia — the place she birdied her last gap to win the Girls European Tour occasion by a stroke.
Previous to that, she’d received as soon as professionally, on the 2011 HSBC Brazil Cup, which was an unofficial LPGA occasion.
This Olympic golfer is prohibited from smoking. Has it damage her probabilities?
“I’ve felt inside stress for positive as a result of it takes braveness to return right here too,” Uribe instructed the Girls European Tour web site after the victory. “I’m not a member, so to write down the emails and attempt to get invitations. You may come right here, and also you won’t make the reduce.
“Even final yr, I performed on the LET and LET Entry Sequence to get some alternatives to play. We are going to see, however I’m fairly positive this may clutch it out and I shall be in Paris for now. My husband is glad as a result of I don’t should do a loopy schedule anymore. It’s good to get a win after so a few years, it’s a pleasant icing on the cake.”
There is perhaps extra.
Wednesday was particular. The early birdies. The late one, which helped her bounce again from a bogey on 17. She additionally led the sphere in driving distance, at 283 yards, although not on the expense of accuracy — she hit 11 of 14 fairways and 14 of 18 greens. The spherical adopted a tie for fiftieth on the 2021 Video games, and a tie for nineteenth on the 2016 Video games in Rio, the place golf was a part of the Olympic schedule for the primary time since 1904.
“I had a good spherical, some not so nice errors and bogeys I shouldn’t have made,” Uribe stated. “However I’m proper in there. I do know I can shoot low. You need to hit it good off the tee right here, and my driver is fairly good proper now.
“So simply keep in competition. In fact a medal shall be nice, however simply get pleasure from this week and see what occurs.”
However no, she says she’s re-evaluating.
After Paris, she says she is going to say au revoir.
“That is my third Olympics, however Paris feels totally different,” Uribe stated. “The ambiance is unbelievable. Watching the fellows end on Sunday was nice. The crowds are superb. I’m not part of Solheim Cup, however that is in all probability the closest I’m going to get to. The course is unbelievable.
“I’m actually proud of the choice I made, and it’s been an incredible week thus far.”
