Kiichiro Sato / AP

Nancy Lopez, a winner of three major titles, has been a runner-up at the U.S. Women's Open four times.

Another player stepping away — at least for the short term — is Tiger Woods. What are your thoughts on his season-ending injury, and how is it going to impact the PGA Tour, and golf in general?

I just feel very sad he injured himself this way, because the PGA Tour will miss him and they need him out there. I don't think he planned on playing the U.S. Open the way he did, under the kind of pain he was having. He probably didn't even know he was hurting himself, because as an athlete you just don't want to stop. I wish the U.S. Open had been more down the road for him, because he probably needed more time to recuperate (from his previous injury). When you favor an injury over surgery or anything like that, you really end up hurting yourself and making it worse.

He was so exciting to watch at the Open and that is what Tiger is all about — he lives for those putts. Every time he putts, someone will ask me if I think he is going to make it, and I always answer, certainly! When he stands over a putt like that, all he feels and sees is that hole and that ball going in the hole. He doesn't even realize all the thousands of people standing around him watching. He is almost always going to make it.

He is going to be missed, since everyone was watching him this year. I wish him well and hope that he really takes this time off to come back more hungry then he is right now. When you play a game that you love and are gone for a while, you come back hungrier then ever.

Do you think his leaving for the rest of the season will turn more eyes to the LPGA Tour, or is there no connection?

It really could, because the majority of people who watch the men's Tour are obsessed with Tiger. I think the men are a little more ignored when Tiger is not playing. I hope that people do become more focused on the LPGA, because they're missing out on wonderful competitors, great personalities, and cute players who can pound the ball 260 yards down the middle of the fairway.