RICHMOND, Texas --- 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.
Wie withdrew from the season-ending event Thursday because of a sprained left ankle, hours after Ochoa shot 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 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.
"Last week was a little bit tough in many different ways with all the things to do and all the pressure," Ochoa said. "Everything is a little bit easier, if you compare it to last week."
Shin bogeyed two of her last four holes as the wind strengthened. She is trying to sweep the rookie and player awards. Nancy Lopez is the only player to win both in the same season, accomplishing the feat in 1978.
european tour: In Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Robert Allenby shot 7-under 65 for a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Dubai World Championship, while Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy vied for the European Tour money title.
Allenby was one shot ahead of Westwood, Chris Wood and Camilo Villegas, who all shot 66.
When the tournament ends Sunday, the top player on the European Tour's money list will win a $1.5 million bonus from the Race to Dubai.
Westwood, second in the race, was two shots ahead of money leader McIlroy, who shot 68.
PEBBLE BEACH INVITATIONAL: In Pebble Beach, Calif., Champions Tour players John Cook and Olin Browne shot 6-under 66s at Del Monte Golf Course to share the first-round lead in the Callaway Golf Pebble Beach Invitational.
Jim Thorpe, one of 11 Champions Tour players in the field of 75 pros, shot 67, also at Del Monte. Matt Bettencourt, 10th this year in the U.S. Open, and Champions Tour veteran Tom Purtzer also shot 67s at Del Monte.
Two-time defending champion Tommy Armour III opened with 71 at Del Monte.
The event includes players from the four major professional tours as well as mini-tour, club pros and amateur teams.
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