Injury to friend's child cuts Obama's golf outing short

KAILUA, Hawaii - President Obama abruptly ended his golf outing and sped in his motorcade to his compound yesterday after he learned a child of friends was injured while playing on the beach.

Members of the first family were fine, a White House official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of a reluctance to discuss personal matters involving the president.

An ambulance left the Obamas' with lights flashing. The injury to a child of Eric and Cheryl Whitaker, friends of the Obamas, was described as relatively minor, and the child did not require stitches.

Obama was playing golf with friends from Chicago who joined him on his holiday vacation. The White House did not identify whose child was injured.