American Paula Creamer, defending champion at the LPGA Jamie Farr Classic, withdrew from the 1.4 million-dollar tournament on Thursday with a sore left thumb.
Creamer did not tee off in her scheduled group for the opening round alongside South Koreans In-Kyung Kim and Se Ri Pak.
After pulling out of last week's Wegmans LPGA due to the same injury, Creamer saw a physician and received a cortisone injection.
Creamer still plans to play next week at the US Women's Open, the third major tournament of the women's golf season.
Pak is trying to become the first person to win the same event six times in a row, having won this tournament five times in 24 prior editions, most recently in 2007.
Two retired stars, American Mickey Wright and Sweden's Annika Sorenstam, join Pak in having won an event five times.
Copyright 2009 AFP American Edition
