The United States Golf Association has accepted 8,390 entries for the 2008 U.S. Open, to be played June 12-15 at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, Calif., including those from the 58 golfers who are currently fully exempt into the field.  

Early player commitments to the Champions Tour Bank of America Championship have filled nearly two-thirds of the tournament's 78-player field. More than 50 of golf's top players, including Jay Haas, the tournament's 2007 champion, have committed to competing at the 28th annual Bank of America Championship, which takes place June 16-22 at Nashawtuc Country Club in Concord, Mass.  

Annika Sorenstam's annual Ginn Tribute returns to the RiverTowne Country Club in Mt. Pleasant, S.C., May 26-June 1. With a $2.6 million purse, last year's player field included all of the top 50 players in the Rolex World Rankings and 94 of the top 100. A similar turnout is expected for 2008.  

The United States Golf Association has accepted 1,236 entries for the 2008 U.S. Women's Open, which will be played June 26-29 at Interlachen Country Club in Edina, Minn. It is the fifth consecutive year the number of entries for the championship has surpassed 1,000. The record of 1,251 entries was set in 2007.  

Fred Klauk will wrap up a 23-year stint as the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) Class A superintendent at TPC Sawgrass by prepping for The Players Championship one last time, May 8-11 on the Players Stadium Course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.  

Everyone assumed Trevor Immelman would have been a shoo-in to be honored as the European Tour Golfer of the Month for April after winning the Masters. But the South African received stiff competition from Darren Clarke, who claimed his first European Tour title in five years with a dramatic victory in the BMW Asian Open.  

Many interested observers figured the talented Anthony Kim would get his first win on the PGA Tour sooner rather than later. Well, that maiden win happened for the 22-year-old sooner as Kim became the youngest Tour victor in six years as he beat a quality field in the Wachovia Championship by five shots. The win was worth $1.152 million.  

One week after losing to Annika Sorenstam in a playoff in the Stanford International Pro-Am, Paula Creamer found herself right back in the cauldron of a sudden-death session at the Semgroup Championship in Broken Arrow, Okla.  

Denis Watson birdied the final hole to win the FedEx Kinko's Classic, a Champions Tour event. Though he birdied the 54th hole, the Zimbabwean was greatly assisted by fellow South African Nick Price's collapse on the back nine.  

Scott Hoch moved to within 91 points of overall Charles Schwab Cup leader Bernhard Langer as the race tightened through the Champions Tour's 11th tournament. Jay Haas, the 2006 Charles Schwab Cup winner, is in third, followed by Tom Watson. Denis Watson, who won his second tournament of the season, capturing last week's FedEx Kinko's Classic, is alone in fifth place.  

by Steve Habel

No golfer is more beloved than Tom Kite in Austin, the Texas capitol where he grew up and made his home for the entirety of a Hall of Fame career in golf. Many of the 50,000 fans that ventured to the Hills Golf Course at the Lakeway Resort last week for the FedEx Kinko's Classic, a Champions Tour event, came to follow their local hero. Everyone in the gallery on the sun-baked track seemed to have their own personal story about the man, his feats on the course, hard work on the range and kindness outside the ropes and within the community.  

Ashleigh Simon of South Africa has accepted a sponsor's exemption to the second annual Ginn Tribute Hosted by Annika. The $2.6 million event will again be played at RiverTowne Country Club in Mt. Pleasant, S.C., May 26 through June 1.  

Phil Mickelson has returned to Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., this week to defend his title in the Players Championship. The tournament, often considered the "fifth major," starts Thursday at TPC Sawgrass on Thursday. On Wednesday afternoon Lefty met with reporters to discuss the event, his game and the chances of repeating in the event, which won't have Tiger Woods in the field as he's still recuperating from knee surgery.  

After vanquishing one of the LPGA Tour's greatest players ever, Juli Inkster, on the second playoff hole to win the Stanford International Pro-Am last week, Paula Creamer is now in Williamsburg, Va. The 21-year-old hopes to win her second straight tournament in the Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill. On Wednesday Creamer sat down with reporters and held the following Q&A.  

by Joel Zuckerman

Since this is the week of the Players Championship, the PGA Tour's so-called "fifth major" that starts Thursday at TPC Sawgrass, it's appropriate that we get a glimpse of Pete Dye and his family, the folks responsible for this cutting-edge course that set the world of golf architecture on its ear. Writer Joel Zuckerman, an expert on the Dyes after writing "Pete Dye: Golf Courses - 50 Years of Visionary Design," gives us some perspective on the amazingly productive family.  

After failing to pick up her fifth straight win last week Lorena Ochoa hopes her time in Williamsburg, Va., for the Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill will lead her once again back to the winner's circle. During a press conference yesterday at the tournament site Ochoa discussed what happened in last week's Stanford International Pro-Am in Broken Arrow, Okla. She also talks about being listed among Time Magazine's 100 most influential people in the world.  

Thanks to Will MacKenzie's withdrawal because of knee surgery, Fred Couples will be making his 24th appearance in the 2008 Players Championship. Tom Kite, Ben Crenshaw and Jay Haas have the most appearances with 28, while Craig Stadler has 27, Tom Watson 26, Tom Purtzer and Larry Nelson 25, and Couples and Bruce Lietzke with 24. On Wednesday after the pro-am Couples met with the media and talked about what it was like filling the last spot in the tournament, which started today at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.