Tiger or no Tiger, the show goes on at the Buick

GRAND BLANC, Michigan, June 25 (Reuters) - Golf adjusted to life without Tiger Woods on Wednesday as the 50th Buick Open prepared to get underway without the sport’s number one attraction.

Woods, who will not play again this season after undergoing knee surgery on Tuesday, had been scheduled to play at the Buick and the tournament is sure to feel his absence.

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Sorenstam to begin her final U.S. Women’s Open

Annika Sorenstam called herself “emotional” and “very cold” in the same sentence Wednesday. It’s an interesting way to sum up the golf champion who’s about to play in her last U.S. Women’s Open.

Well, probably her last. Sorenstam announced in May that she was retiring after this season, with plans on starting a family and spending more time on her many golf-related ventures. But as sports fans know, retirement doesn’t always mean there’s no coming back.

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Sebonack Golf Club gets 2013 Women’s Open

Sebonack Golf Club is not quite two years old, but its admirers believe its natural beauty makes it look as if it had been there for nearly two centuries. Count the United States Golf Association among the admirers because the organization announced yesterday that the course in Southampton will host the 2013 U.S. Women’s Open.

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Mediate Embraces New Popularity

Rocco Mediate was met by enthusiastic fans Monday and Tuesday at the CVS Caremark Charity Classic in Barrington, R.I., his first public golf appearance since losing to Tiger Woods in a U.S. Open playoff.

“They were just screaming and hollering and I signed a million autographs … same thing here in the pro-am,” Mediate said Wednesday from the Buick Open in Grand Blanc, Mich.

Mediate is amazed how the public has embraced him.

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Famous holes offer up $1 million prize

GRAND BLANC, Michigan (Reuters) - The PGA Tour unveiled a new competition on Wednesday that will see golfers challenge the game’s most celebrated holes with the winner receiving $1 million (506.5 million pounds).

The Kodak Challenge, which will debut in 2009, will combine the PGA Tour’s most famous holes into a year long 18 hole event that golf officials hope will help maintain fan interest later into the season after the majors and FedEx Cup is completed.

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With injury behind her, Wie poised to make noise at Open

Michelle Wie is back at the U.S. Women’s Open.

Her game is back, too.

Humbled by an injury-marred 2007 campaign that strained her relationship with players and the tour and took her to rock bottom, a year in which she averaged 76.4 strokes a round, missed three cuts, withdrew from two events (including the Open) and had just two under-par rounds and a season-best 69th-place in eight LPGA events, the 18-year-old Hawaiian who nearly won three majors when she was 15 insists she is close to 100% healthy.

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13-year-old takes a ride on golf’s fast track

She’s 13.

“Thirteen?” asks a boy passing by. “Dang!”

Alexis Thompson’s mom chuckles to herself. She’s heard plenty of flabbergasted fans commenting on her daughter — the youngest competitor in this year’s U.S. Women’s Open at the Interlachen Country Club.

Thompson’s website boasts she is “Golf’s next big star.” Playing in her second Open, she seems on her way. Favorites Lorena Ochoa and Annika Sorenstam didn’t play in their first Opens until they were 19 and 22, respectively. Thompson is one of 27 amateurs in the 156-player field.

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No Need to Wonder: Tiger Will Come Back Strong

There is no athlete on earth who inspires more comment — regardless of what he is doing — than Tiger Woods.

A week ago, everyone ran out of adjectives describing his performance in winning the U.S. Open on a damaged knee. Even without knowing how seriously he was injured — that news wouldn’t come until Wednesday — people were awed by his ability to deal with pain for 91 holes and still come up with the shots he had to as he beat Rocco Mediate in Monday’s playoff.

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