By Leonard Shapiro
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 26, 2008

EDINA, Minn., June 25 -- No decision has been made on whether Tiger Woods will be able to make an appearance next week at his signature event on the PGA Tour, the AT&T National at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda.

Woods underwent what was described by his doctors as successful reconstructive surgery to repair the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on Tuesday in Park City, Utah. His longtime agent, Marc Steinberg, who also represents Annika Sorenstam, was here at the U.S. Women's Open at Interlachen on Wednesday and said it was too soon to determine whether Woods's doctors would allow him to make the trip from his home in Orlando to Washington next week. The tournament starts July 3.

In Washington, the tournament's director, Greg McLaughlin, said he had spoken to Woods on Wednesday morning to "wish him well and tell him a few things that are going on with the tournament. He sounded in great spirits. I know he'll want to be here, but we'll just have to wait and see."

The U.S. Golf Association on Wednesday awarded the 2013 U.S. Women's Open to Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., the first time the event will be played on Long Island and the first time the championship will be played in the New York City area since 1973, when it was at Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, N.Y.

Sebonack was designed by Jack Nicklaus and Tom Doak and opened for play in 2006. It includes panoramic views of the Great Peconic Bay and Cold Spring Pond, with a number of holes also played along inland forest. The tournament will be played that year from June 27 to June 30.

David Fay, the USGA executive director, also said Wednesday that there have been preliminary discussions about staging a U.S. Senior Women's Open, but "we don't think that time is just yet." The USGA conducts 13 national golf championships, including a Senior Men's Open, but has never had one for women 50 and older.

"In order to put on a championship, we would want to do it in a first-class manner," Fay said. "We would want to have an appropriate purse and an appropriate site. . . . We presumably would want to have it broadcast. That's another component, getting the broadcast partner."

Sorenstam, a three-time U.S. Women's Open champion who has announced she will retire at the end of the season, will be playing in her final Open but said she's not trying to think about that.

"Let's just say the last few tournaments it's been the same way," she said. "Last week was the last time in Rochester and then it was the last time at McDonald's. I can be a very emotional player, but I can also be a very cold player, and I just try to stay cold on my emotions and just focus on what I have to do."