I AM no superwoman.

World No.1 woman golfer Lorena Ochoa has revealed that the breaks in her schedule this year are designed to make sure she doesn't suffer a repeat of what was - by her standards - a relative loss of form in the second half of last year.

The 27-year-old Mexican won the US$2 million ($3m) HSBC Women's Champions last February to mark the start of a run of five victories in her first six tournaments, but only won twice more in the remaining seven months of the season.

She returns to Singapore in March to defend her HSBC title, confident that the breaks she has introduced for this year will produce a prolonged run of the excellence that has typified her play during three years of dominance on the LPGA Tour, reported the official website of the HSBC Women's Champions.

'I'm hoping it will be a better year this year; a bit more balanced...rest when I need to rest and try to take it easy outside the course. Hopefully those things will improve,' she said.

Ochoa, who plans to marry AeroMexico CEO Andres Conesa in December, will play only in the McDonald's LPGA Championship in a six-week period in May and June.

She will have another three weeks off in August and will miss five weeks (including the Autumn Asian swing events in China, Japan and Korea) in October and November.

To call her second half of the season a slump would be absurd given that once her winning streak ended, Ochoa only finished outside the top 20 once (31st at the US Open) in 16 events. But she admits her sensational early-season explosion definitely caught up with her.

Exhausted

'I was exhausted,' she admitted. 'I played well early and I had a lot of expectation and a lot of pressure from the media and a lot of things to do with my sponsors outside the course.

'That was very tough and I just couldn't handle it anymore. I just couldn't do it anymore.'

Two family tragedies - the death of an uncle in May and her maternal grandfather in June - contributed to a demanding year, but Ochoa feels that grief was not a contributory factor.

'It's just one of those things and you learn from the experience and then you go from there,' she said.

'You never know what's going to happen, so I'm making sure this year I'm well prepared and I'm going to do better.'

Ochoa has to, given the generational change among her closest rivals.

Twelve months ago, her challengers were Hall of Fame members Annika Sorenstam and Karrie Webb. Once again, all of her main rivals will be present in Singapore, only now they're 20-year-olds Yani Tseng and Shin Ji-Yai and 22-year-old Paula Creamer.

'All of them are very young and they're not afraid. They're very aggressive,' said Ochoa.

'But I never think of them. I just play for me, rather than think of them, because there's always somebody who is going to give you a hard time.'

Ochoa, though, thinks Creamer is one to watch. 'I think she gained more confidence. I think she's understanding her game more,' she said. 'Experience is better for her. You can see it in the way she plays and the way she talks, the way she handles herself in the last few holes.

'But, like I say, they're all good players.'