Philadelphia, PA (Best E Casino) - LPGA TOUR - U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN, Interlachen Country Club, Edina, Minnesota - It will be the first time Cristie Kerr defends a major championship. It may also be one of the last times Annika Sorenstam can win another one.

The third major championship of the LPGA Tour season and the crown jewel of its yearly schedule, the U.S. Women's Open visits Interlachen for the first time this week.

Kerr closed with a one-under 70 in the final round at Pine Needles last year to hold off world No. 1 Lorena Ochoa and Angela Park for a two-shot victory, her 10th career title on the LPGA Tour and -- at last -- her first major championship.

Sorenstam, who claimed her third U.S. Women's Open victory in a playoff against Pat Hurst in 2006, is set to retire at the end of the season, leaving this week's championship and next month's Women's British Open as potentially her last chances to win major No. 11.

Ochoa sits somewhere between them, having won the Women's British Open last summer and the Kraft Nabisco Championship in April for her first two career majors. She is still looking for a win at this particular major, where she has finished inside the top 20 in four of the last five seasons.

Yani Tseng was a surprise first-time major winner at the McDonald's LPGA Championship earlier this month, where she knocked off Maria Hjorth with a birdie on the fourth hole of a sudden-death playoff. It was also Tseng's first LPGA Tour win of any kind, and she became the 21st player to make the McDonald's LPGA her first major championship.

This will mark the 35th time a USGA championship has been conducted in Minnesota, and the first time this particular one has been played at Interlachen.

It is the 63rd U.S. Women Open, dating to 1946, and it will be well-covered. ESPN will have four hours of coverage for the first two rounds, with NBC providing three-hour broadcasts on both weekend days.

Next week's tournament is the NW Arkansas LPGA Championship, which was shortened to 18 holes last year following a weekend of persistent bad weather. Amateur Stacy Lewis' seven-under 65 held up as the best score -- she finished on Saturday -- but she was not credited with an official win.

PGA TOUR

BUICK OPEN, Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club, Grand Blanc, Michigan - The PGA Tour enters its second week without the injured Tiger Woods, although the world No. 1 would probably not have played this tournament even if he hadn't ended his season after winning the U.S. Open.

Brian Bateman won last year's Buick Open with a 12-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole, claiming his first PGA Tour victory by one shot over Woody Austin, Justin Leonard and Jason Gore.

Bateman, who finished at 15-under-par 273, holed his birdie putt after Gore and Leonard made it into the clubhouse at 14-under. Austin joined them by missing a 22-footer for birdie at the last hole.

Back to defend what remains his only PGA Tour win, Bateman will be joined by a field that includes world No. 12 and 2003 champion Jim Furyk as its highest- ranked player.

Woods, who counts Buick among one of his prime sponsors, won this tournament in 2006. Three-time champion Vijay Singh will be taking a rare week off.

The Golf Channel will carry four hours of play on Thursday and three hours of action on Friday, with CBS providing the three hours of play both weekend days. Next week is the AT&T National, a second-year tournament hosted by Woods and won by K.J. Choi in 2007.

EUROPEAN TOUR

OPEN DE FRANCE, Le Golf National, Paris, France - Graeme Storm lived up to his surname at this tournament last year, storming back from five shots down to claim his first career European Tour victory.

Storm fired a five-under 66 on Sunday to beat third-round leader Soren Hansen by a stroke, making four birdies on a tough final stretch at Le Golf National to clinch the win.

Three of the top eight finishers at the U.S. Open two weeks ago -- Lee Westwood, Robert Karlsson and Miguel Angel Jimenez -- will join Storm in the field this week.

Last week's winner in his native Germany, Martin Kaymer, is also scheduled to be on hand. Jean Francois-Remesy knows how Kaymer feels. The Frenchman won this tournament -- his own national open -- in 2004 and 2005.

The Golf Channel will have coverage of all four rounds this week. Next week is the European Open, where eight-time Order of Merit champion Colin Montgomerie picked up his 31st career European Tour win last year.

CHAMPIONS TOUR

COMMERCE BANK CHAMPIONSHIP, The Red Course at Eisenhower Park, East Meadow, New York - Streaks are made to be broken and last year one of the longest droughts without a win was stopped at the Commerce Bank Championship.

Lonnie Nielsen had competed in 229 PGA Tour-sanctioned events without a win. However, Nielsen moved into the lead during the second round and would not give up the lead.

Not only did Nielsen wait that long for his first win he played 169 events before posting his first top-three finish back in 2005. Since then, he only has four other top-three finishes to his credit.

Nielsen became the third straight victor at this event to earn his first title on the Champions Tour. Nielsen followed John Harris, who won for the first time as a professional, and Ron Streck, who became the first player to own titles on the PGA, Champions and Nationwide Tours.

Eisenhower Park's Red Course has played host to this event since 2003. The prior 15 years were at Meadow Brook Club.

The Golf Channel has two hours of coverage on Friday, then three hours of action on the weekend. The tour moves to Endicott, New York next week for the Dick's Sporting Goods Open, where R.W. Eaks won last year.

NATIONWIDE TOUR

FORD WAYNE GRETZKY CLASSIC, The Georgian Bay Club, Clarksburg, Ontario - He was known as The Great One during his playing days, now he has paired with the Nationwide Tour for his own event.

Wayne Gretzky won the BMW Charity Pro-Am at the Cliffs earlier this year and will host this week's event, the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic, that will also have a Pro-Am format.

The field will include 160 professionals and they will be paired with celebrities and amateurs in the Pro-Am.

Other former hockey players playing this week include - Mark Messier, Paul Coffey, Brett Hull, Grant Fuhr, Doug Gilmour, Darcy Tucker, Marty McSorley and Matthew Barnaby among others. Some celebrities include Janet Gretzky, John Elway, Trent Edwards, Alan Thicke and Kevin Dillon.

The Golf Channel will air two hours of action the first two days, then two- and-a-half hours of play Saturday and Sunday. The tour is off next week, but returns in two weeks with the Nationwide Tour Players Cup, where Jimmy Walker won a year ago.

CANADIAN TOUR

ATB FINANCIAL CLASSIC, Cottonwood Golf & Country Club, Calgary, Alberta - The ATB Financial Classic changes courses this year, with the Cottonwood Golf & Country Club scheduled to host this year, the second year of the event.

Last year at Calgary Elks Lodge and Golf Club, Mike Grob reeled off four rounds in the 60s, with his worst score being a 67. The win was Grob's fifth on the Canadian Tour.

There is no television this week. The Canadian Tour moves to Saskatoon next week for a new event, the Saskatchewan Open.