North Plains, Ore. ? Se Ri Pak was chipping out of a grassy hollow left of the 18th green as Annika Sorenstam waited down the fairway, debating whether she could hit a 7-wood out of the bunker and over a hazard.

Approaching the 18th tee at Pumpkin Ridge was Juli Inkster, the defending champion at the U.S. Women’s Open and, at age 43, still motivated to win majors.

Also on the back nine Wednesday was Karrie Webb, the first player since Mickey Wright in the 1960s to win at least one major championship four years in a row.

Indeed, fans watching the final practice round for the U.S. Women’s Open didn’t have to walk far to find the best in women’s golf.

They are known as the “Big Four,” and for good reason.

Inkster, Webb, Pak and Sorenstam have combined to win 15 of the last 17 majors on the LPGA Tour, giving the women something the men have been lacking for years: a real rivalry in the Grand Slam events.

“If you look at the money list the last four or five years, all of us have been up there consistently,” Sorenstam said. “It’s tough to win one major. I think you need the experience with winning other tournaments, and then you’ve got to have a certain game to win majors.”

The PGA Tour once had the “Big Three” — Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player, who won 13 of 24 majors in the early 1960s, including seven straight Masters.

There have been other rivalries — Nicklaus and Lee Trevino, Nicklaus and Tom Watson, Greg Norman and Nick Faldo — but not much of one since Tiger Woods came along.

Annika Sorenstam tees off on the 17th hole during a practice round. She was preparing Wednesday for the U.S. Women's Open, which begins today at Pumpkin Ridge in North Plains, Ore.

Woods has won seven of the last 15 majors on the PGA Tour dating to 1999, and no one else has won more than one since.

“I think Tiger is really good,” Inkster said with a laugh. “I think he’s got a lot of skill, and I think he’s got a lot of those guys … he’s in their head. Sometimes they start playing his game, instead of their own game.”

That wasn’t the case at the U.S. Women’s Open last year.

Sorenstam was in the midst of the best season in 38 years on the LPGA Tour. She had won the first major of the year, and finished third in the other. Better yet, she was the only player under par through three rounds at Prairie Dunes and had a two-stroke lead.

On the men’s tour, they could have started engraving the trophy.

Inkster had other ideas. With one of the best rounds of her career, she closed with a 4-under 66 on a dry, blustery afternoon to win by two shots.

Juli Inkster works on her bunker shot during a practice round for the U.S. Women's Open. Inkster is the defending champion at the tournament, which starts today in North Plains, Ore.

Sorenstam might have 45 victories, five majors, the only 59 in LPGA history and the experience of playing against the men on the PGA Tour at Colonial, but she doesn’t have the intimidating presence that Woods at times carries.

“I know if she’s playing good and I’m playing good, we’re going to have a good match,” Inkster said. “Week in and week out, she’s going to beat me. But a few tournaments during the year, I know I can go head-to-head with her. And I enjoy that.

“That’s what gets me out of bed in the morning to go practice.”

Pak is no different.

A year ago, she became the youngest player (24) to win four majors by capturing the LPGA Championship. Pak has made it clear she won’t stop until she catches Sorenstam.

“I’m always trying to be No. 1, trying to be the best,” Pak said.

Webb has already been at the top, winning five of eight majors during one stretch. She is winless so far this season, the longest drought of her career, but no one has won more majors than her six since the end of the 1999 season.

“I’m not playing too badly, I just haven’t put four rounds together in a tournament yet,” Webb said. “It’s just a matter of getting some momentum going on the golf course, making the good par save at the right time. That’s what I need to get over the hump.”

The Big Four are clearly the big favorites when the 58th U.S. Women’s Open gets under way on a Witch Hollow course that is getting faster and firmer each day.

The course has been lengthened by about 200 yards since Alison Nicholas won at 10 under par in 1997, and when the back tee is used on the par-3 10th, the course will be the longest in Women’s Open history at 6,550 yards.

Just like any Women’s Open, it’s not all about length.

The greens are difficult to hold and are running at 11 on the Stimpmeter. The fairways are framed by waist-high fescue, deep enough to hide some of the 14 teenagers in the field, but probably not Michelle Wie.

After all, the 13-year-old from Hawaii already is approaching 6 feet. Coming off a victory two weeks ago in the Women’s Amateur Public Links — making her the youngest to win a USGA tournament for adults — Wie is sharing the spotlight with the Big Four.

While Inkster has a chance to become the oldest winner of the Women’s Open, Wie could become the youngest by seven years. Pak was 20 when she won in 1998 at Blackwolf Run in Wisconsin.

And get this: The kid really thinks she can.

“Everyone comes here to win. Of course, I want to win,” she said. “But I just want to make par on every hole, play consistently, try not to make too many mistakes, and hopefully I’ll make the top 10 or win.”