With Tiger Woods stealing golf’s spotlight, many might have forgotten about a young lady from Mexico.

In her first start of the year, Ochoa dominated a competitive field at the HSBC Women’s Champions. Ochoa began the day with an 8 stroke lead. Once the eight hour final round which was halted three times by rain, Ochoa carded an 11 stroke victory. With Annika Sorenstam a distant second, the gap between number one and two in the world continues to grow. "I learned a lot, and I took my game to a new level, so I’m going to keep trying to repeat myself. There are a lot of birdies out there, and hopefully I’ll have great rounds this year," said Ochoa.

The rain delays were not enough to break Ochoa’s concentration. Birdies on 3, 4, 9, and 16 and without a single bogey in the round, one might think she was fighting for the lead. However, competition with herself was the only thing pushing Ochoa, "It was just great because I also had pressure. I wanted to keep the pace. I didn’t want to make mistakes. I wanted to win by more than eight which was my lead yesterday. It was good today."

This is the inaugural event for the HSBC Women’s Champions. The event was played in Tanah Merah Country Club in Singapore and featured the largest total purse in a women’s golf event in Asia. Aside the poor weather, many players were quite impressed with the people and golf course. "Singapore is a great place. I love the golf course. People are nice, supportive. It’s been a great tournament, very first-class," according to Annika Sorenstam. The field at the HSBC is made from all the past champions of 2007 and major champions since 2005. After Ochoa’s dominant performance, one wonders if the 2009 HSBC field might be significantly smaller if Ochoa can continue her stellar play.