By Phillip Howley

Edina, Minn. – Does the absence of Tiger Woods from golf’s landscape for the remainder of 2008 impact the LPGA? Does a chicken have lips?

If the second question makes you scratch your head, so will the conflicting answers to the first question from two of the LPGA’s brightest stars at the U.S. Women’s Open.

Lorena Ochoa, often referred to as the women’s version of Tiger Woods, believes the gap left by

Plotting a strategy: Annika Sorenstam studies a hole at Interlachen on Wednesday. (John Mummert/USGA)

Woods’ season-ending knee surgery opens a door for the LPGA to attract new followers.

"I think it’s a good opportunity for us to get more fans so they can really see what we are all about," said Ochoa, 26. "There are still people out there that that … they don’t believe we have the game, or the shots, or the excitement.

"I think (with Woods out), they turn their TVs to women’s golf and they will find us. I think with Tiger sometimes the (PGA Tour’s) ratings go down, and hopefully they turn to us and it will help us."

Sounds reasonable enough. John Q. Publinks, who might normally be glued to the British Open on July 17-20 might lose interest in a Tiger-less field long enough to flip over to the LPGA State Farm Classic. Maybe he or she will even like the product and check on LPGA events regularly. Right?

Wrong, at least to Annika Sorenstam’s way of thinking. As she seeks a record-tying fourth Women’s Open title on her last national championship rodeo, the retiring Swede sees no direct connection between Woods’ absence and LPGA opportunity.

"When it comes to the LPGA, I don’t think that … we don’t compete against Tiger by any means," said Sorenstam. "I think we stand on our own legs and we have some great golfers out here, and in our own tournaments. I would hope that the interest would be there where Tiger is playing or not.

"I love watching him play. And I’m sure all of us will miss him competing the next few months. But the LPGA, we have our own tournaments, our own agenda. I don’t see anything that will change."

In other words, a chicken may or may not have lips, depending on who you ask.

Attendance Prize – Having recently experienced a freshman year at Stanford, Michelle Wie allowed high school and college are quite different.

"I think it’s hard because there’s a lot of pressure to go to class," said Wie, 18. "I mean in high school, you get demerits, you get detention, you get in big trouble if you don’t go to class.

"But in college, no one will really notice if you don’t go to class. So, it’s really tempting and sometimes I skipped lectures."

One would think it might be difficult for Wie, one of the more recognizable figures in sports, to have an unnoticed absence. But, bottom line, Wie said her report card was OK … some of it, anyway.

"Actually, fall quarter was pretty good," she said. "I got As and Bs. Winter quarter … we’ll not talk about that. But fall quarter was really good."

Ambassador Sorenstam – Newly anointed USGA ambassador Sorenstam isn’t sure what her official duties might be. But she is proud to have the title.

"I’m very excited about the opportunity to be a part of this great organization that has done so much for the game," said Sorenstam, who was named to the post earlier this week. "They stand for a lot of things that I stand for and one of them is sportsmanship. One of them is rules. One of them is growth of the game.

"I think the synergy is there between what they think and what I care about. I know they are creative in a lot of ways to grow this game and I’m excited to work with them and learn from them. In the future, I’m going to be involved in tournaments with them, especially this one. I think the possibilities are endless."

Phillip Howley is a freelance writer whose work has appeared previously on www.uswomensopen.com.