01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, June 27, 2006

BY PAUL KENYON
Journal Sports Writer

NEWPORT -- In golf, as in so many other activities, timing is important. For golfers, it is one of the most critical aspects of the game. It is that way with the swing. And it is that way for tournaments, as well.

For golf fans in Rhode Island, the timing of the 61st U.S. Women's Open could not be any better. This week's tournament at Newport Country Club would have been special under any circumstances. Because of the timing, it should be even better.

It is similar to the situation the last time the U.S. Golf Association brought one of its national championships to Newport.

That was 11 years ago. That time, the USGA wanted to do something special to mark the centennial anniversary of both the first U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur championships. It did what almost no other sport can do -- it went back to the same site where it all began 100 years earlier.

That's Newport Country Club. The anniversary all but guaranteed a successful event. It became even bigger, a much bigger national story, because the defending champion was a kid from California who was hailed as the next great player.

The youngster, Tiger Woods, more than lived up to expectations. He turned it into one of the classic sporting events ever held in the state, sweeping to what turned out to be the second of his three straight Amateur titles.

The timing for area fans was perfect, just as it is this year. In women's golf, there has never been a better time to showcase the world's best players.

While so many other women's sports made huge strides in the 1990s, women's golf stagnated. It was in the shadows, not just among other women's sports, but in golf, as well. While Woods led a doubling and tripling of purses on the men's tour, and other women's sports grew in leaps and bounds, the LPGA fought to keep moving forward as it had since it was founded in 1950.

In the first three years of the 1990s, purses remained virtually the same, at just over $20 million. The number of events went down by two, from 39 to 37. In many ways, women's golf was out of the sports spotlight.

Then Annika Sorenstam came along and gave the LPGA star power to build around. Since 1995, Sorenstam has led the LPGA in earnings eight times, has been second once, third once and fourth once. She has won 68 times. She has earned more than $18 million.

Like Tiger did for the men, Sorenstam has carried her tour. The LPGA picture has improved dramatically. From 1995 to 2005, total purses went from $24.4 million to $45.1 million, even though the total number of events declined from 37 to 33. This year, purses will increase by 9.4 percent from last year, to $49.3 million, topped by the $3.1 million up for grabs at Newport.

Sorenstam, who won 45 times in the previous five years alone, is as high profile as any women's athlete in the world. She is a superstar who only endeared herself more to fans, and made herself an even bigger personality, with the way she handled herself when she competed against the men on the PGA Tour three years ago.

As the players arrive in Newport, Sorenstam no longer is alone in carrying the banner. The interest in women's golf has never been higher. The star power is brighter than ever.

It is that way because the game has its biggest batch of young stars ever. This year alone, the LPGA has 37 rookies, 21 of them international players. Some carry huge expectations.

The biggest, of course, is Michelle Wie.

She is not even an official member of the tour yet because she is too young. The 16-year-old from Hawaii has developed her game in a very different way than most others. Rather than competing, and beating, her contemporaries, the long-hitting 6-footer has competed in a number of men's event, both professionally and in the amateur ranks. Still in high school -- she just completed her junior year -- Wie turned pro last fall. Because she is under the minimum age of 18, she is not yet a card-carrying LPGA member.

The fact that she hits the ball so far, and that she has made so many headlines competing against the men, has made Wie a media star even before she's won her first tournament.

Already this year she has been in the top six in both LPGA majors, and in the top 10 in every women's event in which she has played. Last month, she became the first women ever to qualify for the sectionals of the men's Open. She created a stir when she played well, before falling short, in the sectionals in New Jersey.

There's more. Much more. The top challenger to Sorenstam in 2005 was then-rookie Paula Creamer. The Pink Panther, as she has been labeled because of her preference for wearing her favorite color, not only was the rookie of the year, she was number two to Sorenstam on the money list. She won her first tournament before she graduated from high school. She is a bright, photogenic, articulate personality who has given the women's game a huge lift.

Morgan Pressel, the runnerup in last year's U.S. Open as an amateur at age 17, received permission to join the tour early and has done so, providing not only another great young player, but an outspoken, feisty personality who already has made waves off the course, as well as on, because she is so willing to speak her mind.

Lorena Ochoa, has emerged from a potential star into a genuine star, the best player on tour this year. Two of the veterans who earned Hall of Fame credentials in their 20s, Australian Karrie Webb and Se Ri Pak, the leader of the huge and highly successful delegation from Korea, both have re-emerged as top-level stars after some down time.

Cristie Kerr, Jeong Jang, Natalie Gulbis and Hee-Won Han all finished in the top 10 on the money list last season -- and all are in their 20s. Christina Kim has gained popularity as perhaps the most outgoing player on the tour; Birdie Kim won last year's Open with a dramatic hole out from the bunker on the 72nd hole; two-time Open champion Juli Inkster leads the veteran delegation. All, except Inskter, are still in their 20s, still getting better.

There has never been a better time for women's golf. And the biggest women's tournament of the year is coming to Rhode Island.

pkenyon@projo.com / (401) 277-7340