OPINION

By Dave Allen

updated 5:41 p.m. ET April 14, 2008

Let the debate begin. Tiger Woods' runner-up finish at The Masters and Lorena Ochoa's 11-shot runaway triumph at the Corona Championship in Mexico on Sunday made me wonder: Just who is the most dominant player in golf today?

Is it Woods, whose much talked about quest for the Grand Slam was derailed in the season's first major by Trevor Immelman, or Ochoa, whose average margin of victory in her four wins this season is an astounding 8.5 shots? So I did a little investigating.

Since the start of the 2007 season, Ochoa has competed in 30 LPGA Tour events, Woods in 21 PGA Tour events, with Ochoa winning 12 titles (40 percent) and Woods claiming 10 wins (48 percent). Woods has the edge there.

However, in Ochoa's last 14 LPGA starts, dating back to last year's Ricoh Women's British Open, Ochoa has won nine times (64 percent) and finished outside the Top 10 only once — a 12th-place finish at last year's Hana Bank KOLON Championship in South Korea.

In Woods' last 14 PGA starts, dating back to last year's Memorial Tournament, he has won seven times (50 percent) and finished outside the top 10 only twice (a T15 at the Memorial and a T12 at the British Open Championship). The edge goes to Ochoa here, although it is worth noting that Woods did capture two non-PGA Tour events during that span: Last December’s Target World Challenge and this year's Dubai Desert Classic.

So which player is more dominant today? Based on her recent play and margin of victory, I'd have to give Ochoa the slight edge. But Woods holds a distinct advantage at the cash register: Since the start of the 2007 season, Ochoa has earned $5,415,544, while Woods has raked in $15,292,052, or a cool $728,193 per start!

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