"Peggy, it's so good to see you again," Sorenstam said as the two hugged.

"Good to see you playing again," Bell replied. "Can't wait to see you at Pine Needles."

The news Wednesday was that Sorenstam, who has been off the LPGA Tour six weeks with a ruptured disk, put in 18 holes and will be able to play this week in the Ginn Tribute, a $2.6 million tournament she is "hosting" at RiverTowne Country Club. Long the No. 1 player in women's golf -- a distinction she lost to Mexico's Lorena Ochoa earlier this year -- she's excited about getting back into the mix, competing, challenging Ochoa and a strong field.

"I'm in good spirits," Sorenstam said. "It has been a little weird being away so long in the middle of the season.

"My injury is getting better. I went from a badly ruptured disk to a mildly ruptured disk. I'm not 100 percent and probably won't be for a while. But I've made some great progress. My doctor gave me a thumbs up last week."

Good timing, she said. The LPGA Championship, the tour's second major of the year, is next week. Then, at the end of June, the U.S. Women's Open begins at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club in Southern Pines, N.C.

"And I hope she wins it," Bell said.

Sorenstam won the 1996 Women's Open at Pine Needles, the resort owned by Bell and her family. But Bell's association with the Swede began a few years before the '96 Open, when Sorenstam was playing college golf at Arizona.

"She was coming to Pinehurst for the Women's North and South [Amateur] and I was told by some friends, 'This kid can really play,' " Bell said. "I invited her to stay at my home. I gave her my car. I told her to go eat in the club and just sign my name.

"Unfortunately, she didn't win the tournament. She was a little mad about it, too. You could see what a competitor she was."

After the '96 Open, Sorenstam did not win another major until 2001. But her victory in the Nabisco Championship that year kicked off a stretch of golf, a streak of brilliance, matched by few in the history of women's golf -- and no one in the game of golf not named "Tiger" in this decade.

From 2001 to 2005, Sorenstam won 43 tournaments (and was second in another 19). She was the leading money winner each year, banking more than $12 million, including a career-high $2.86 million in 2002. She shot a 59 in competition, the first LPGA pro to do it. She was No. 1.

"It's nothing short of amazing," said Morgan Pressel, the Nabisco winner this year. "If I have half the career she has had I probably wouldn't be disappointed. She has been the face of women's golf."

One downer for Sorenstam: her play in the 2001 Open at Pine Needles. She was never a factor as Karrie Webb won easily.

Last year, Sorenstam was third on the money list, winning three times. But one was the Women's Open, her 10th career major.

"She is really the one who changed the game," Ochoa said. "Because of her, we make sure we work harder. We go to the gym, get strong, we try to hit the ball far. She's the one who really motivates me."

Now, Ochoa will be the motivator -- for Sorenstam.

"I think now she's not No. 1 in the world anymore she's going to want to get back to that spot again," said Charlotta Sorenstam, Annika's younger sister and an LPGA Tour pro. "I think you'll see a lot of fire in her."

But will that fire be enough? Sorenstam is 36. Because of the injury, she called her golf game "85 percent" of what it was. She said she can't hit as many practice balls as she did before the "setback," as she put it.

Sorenstam now has other golf interests. The Annika Academy opened last month in Reunion, Fla. She's also into course design, with her first at China's Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen.

But for now, Sorenstam just wants to tee it up and play again.

"We'll see how things go," she said.

Bell, for one, hopes things go well enough for Sorenstam to be at Pine Needles, healthy, competitive, seeking her fourth career Open title.

"She has been a part of our history at Pine Needles, with her win in 1996," Bell said. "I'd like for her to make some more."