As you probably know, Lorena Ochoa is not in the field this week at the LPGA Corning Classic in New York. For those of you even more astute, you would know that this violates the LPGA’s once every four rule which states that every player must participate in each event once every four years – though they get one CAREER exemption from the rule.

Well, Lorena paid the price for not participating this week.

Lorena Ochoa earned $300,000 for her sixth victory of the year at the Sybase Classic, which should help her pay a $25,000 fine for skipping the Corning Classic this week.

The LPGA Tour has a “1-in-4” rule, meaning players must compete in every full-field event on the schedule at least once every four years. Ochoa has not played Corning since 2004, when she tied for 19th.

The Mexican star felt she had no choice. She is defending champion at eight tournaments this year, the LPGA Tour added another tournament in Mexico and Corning is right before a buildup into the majors.

I cannot exactly blame her for having to defend so many titles and participate in the new event in Mexico with her name on it, as well as the HSBC Women’s Champions event earlier this season. Still, a huge disappointment for the fans in Corning – especially with such a paltry fine in relationship to Lorena’s back account.