Speaking at the tournament press conference Ochoa admitted it would be difficult to repeat her stunning 11-shot winning margin from last year. "It was a great week. For sure it was spectacular. I had a really good pre-season, I worked really hard and when I got to Singapore everything just went in the right direction. I hope it's the same this year," said the 27-year-old Mexican. "I think it's great that now there's a whole new generation of players to challenge me. I'm really excited by that. I think it'll be a great year. It'll be great for the fans and the media having some new faces. I'm really excited. All of them are very young and they're not afraid. I just play for me, rather than think of them, because there's always somebody who is going to give you a hard time!" she added.

Ochoa's 2008 victory in Singapore sparked a remarkable run of five wins in six tournaments as she dominated the early part of the season. However she was to claim only two more titles all year as her young challengers came to the fore.

Under threat? Lorena Ochoa poses with the winner's trophy after the final round of the inaugural HSBC Women's Champions in Singapore. [Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images]

"In the last year I have made fantastic progress up the rankings but I don't want to stop at Number 2," said Yani Tseng, winner of the first Major of 2008 (the McDonald's LPGA Championship) and the LPGA's Rookie of the Year.

"I want to win early to show that last year was no fluke and to prove that I'm here to stay. My goal this year is to be World Number One. Winning this week would be a great place to start in achieving that goal so I will be looking for a great start with a lot of birdies," said the 20-year-old Tseng, who finished "on the podium" a remarkable eight times in her debut season.

20-year-old Inbee Park was on hand to represent the exciting group of young Koreans known as "Se-Ri's kids" and her particular age-group, the 1988-born super-generation that includes fellow Major winner Jiyai Shin and In-Kyung Kim and Ji-Young Oh who both recorded their maiden LPGA wins in 2008, called "The Dragon Ladies" because they were born under that sign in the Chinese calendar.

(L-R) Lorena Ochoa of Mexico, Inbee Park of Korea, Suzann Pettersen of Norway, and Yani Tseng of Chinese Taipei share a laugh on trishaws at the HSBC Women's Champions. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

"We grew up together, trained together, and we all came of age on the LPGA together last year. It's an exciting period for Korean women's golf and it's exciting to be here together in the showcase for women's golf in Asia," said Inbee.

"This is the richest event we play in Asia, it's the biggest event in Asia and whether it's this year or the year after, there will come a time when one of us wins the HSBC Women's Champions," she added.