LPGA tour needs American star.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

Byline: Linda Robertson

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. _ Women's golf should be as popular as women's tennis. From top to bottom, the personalities on the LPGA Tour are just as fascinating as those on the tennis tour _ or more so, given that most pro golfers spent their formative years in school as opposed to the groom-and-grind, jet-lagged lifestyle teen tennis phenoms are swept up in.

Golf is booming at the recreational level; tennis is lagging. Then there's the Tiger Woods spillover effect, at least in theory. And the actual experience of watching a golf tournament, which allows the spectator to hike through a stunning landscape mere yards from the athletes, is more invigorating than sitting in bleachers and following a tennis ball back and forth.

It all depends …