Sorenstam, Wie hold key to Open

SOUTHERN PINES -- Annika Sorenstam was present in voice only on Monday, as close as she'll get to a golf course for some time. With one disk in her back ruptured and another one herniated, the defending U.S. Women's Open champion isn't traveling these days and certainly isn't swinging a club.

Sorenstam won in 1996 at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club for the second of her three Open titles. Whether she'll be at Pine Needles in late June to go for a fourth remains very much up in the air.

"I hope so," Sorenstam said on a conference call Monday. "I definitely hope so. At this time, it's still unclear when I can return to competition. ...

"I'm hoping to return to practice three weeks from now if the doctor gives me the OK."

The only comparable name in women's golf is just as hard to find these days. Michelle Wie hasn't played a tournament since February, when she fell and injured her wrist. Wie announced Monday she'll return to action in Charleston, S.C., at the end of May.

Both should, in theory, be back by the time the Women's Open rolls into Pine Needles in two months. But Sorenstam's back injury is a nasty one, and Wie has had wrist problems before. There are no guarantees either recovery will proceed on schedule.

Last year, they both played starring roles in a wild Women's Open that saw Sorenstam hold off a charging Wie on Sunday and outduel LPGA veteran Pat Hurst for the title in a playoff.

Without Sorenstam and Wie, you can't have the kind of epic Open that last year nearly became, a battle between generations. And you certainly won't have the same level of media and fan attention without them.

That probably won't make for any nervous stomachs at the U.S. Golf Association and in the Sandhills, where ticket sales are ahead of the pace set in 1996 and 2001, if only halfway to the target as of Monday, and the USGA expects a record amount of corporate sales.

You can have an Open without Sorenstam and Wie, and, given Pine Needles' history, you could probably have a pretty good one, which is why the Open is back for the third time in 12 years.

"I don't think anybody's going to come just because they want to see one particular player," said Kelly Miller, the Pine Needles president and tournament chairman.

"I think they come because of the championship. As you heard today, I'd like to think Annika will be here. I think Michelle will be here."

But if anyone was going to come to see one particular player, Sorenstam and Wie would top the list.

The LPGA's recent surge in popularity has been the result of an entire wave of young golfers whose ability and, often, attractiveness have captivated fans.

As popular as Morgan Pressel, Paula Creamer, Natalie Gulbis and their cohorts have become, they don't have the game or the fame of Sorenstam and Wie, the Nicklaus and Woods of women's golf today -- names and faces that cross the rubicon of gender and sport into the mainstream.

Sorenstam has dominated her peers the way Nicklaus dominated his, power and precision combined with a steely edge that ground down the competition

And then there's Wie, a phenomenon like none women's golf has ever seen. Already one of the best in the world at the tidy age of 17, Wie could be on the verge of an era of dominance that will dwarf both Sorenstam and Woods on their respective tours.

It is no coincidence that those two have stepped into the void and challenged the men on the PGA Tour. They have the talent to try and the charisma to flourish.

They also have the talent and charisma to make this Women's Open an international phenomenon, and their absence would leave a vacuum of similar proportions.

Right now, they're the engine driving women's golf. Until they're healthy, the hype for this year's Open remains in neutral.