Inside Track - AT&T National

By Harry Emanuel Last updated: 2nd July 2009

AT&T National

Course: Congressional Country Club (Blue Course)

Location: Bethesda, Washington D.C.

Since: 2007

Yardage: 7,255

Par: 70

Low winning total: 268 Anthony Kim (2008)

Course Record: 63 Peter Lonard, Tom Pernice Jr.

Field: 120

Cut: Top 70 plus ties after 36 holes

Tee Off: Thursday 12:10 GMT

Overview

This is the third year in succession the AT&T National, hosted by Tiger Woods, will be played at Congressional Country Club.

Congressional Country Club has a rich history of staging professional golf tournaments and was home to the Kemper Open from 1980-1986 and the Booz Allen Classic in 2005.

Congressional also hosted the 1976 PGA Championship and the U.S. Open in 1964 and 1997. It is scheduled to host the U.S. Open in 2011 and the AT&T National will be relocated to another venue over the next two years.

Last Time Out

Anthony Kim came from behind throughout the 2008 AT&T National. He trailed the leader by two strokes after 18 holes and was three shots off the pace at both the midway point and going into the final round. A 65 on Sunday moved Kim past five players and gave him a two stroke victory over Fredrik Jacobson.

In the process he set the tournament record at 12 under which bettered K.J. Choi's 2007 record by three strokes. Kim is coming back to form after battling some early season injuries and finished 16th at the U.S. Open and 11th last week at the Travelers Championship.

Course

Congressional was built in 1924 by Devereux Emmet, remodelled by Robert Trent Jones in 1957 and underwent a complete renovation by Rees Jones in 1989. It is a challenging par 70 that measures 7,255 yards from the championship tees.

It is a traditional style tree lined golf course with fairly narrow fairways, strategically placed bunker, thick rough and water hazards in play on 6th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 18th. The greens are generally large, fast and undulating.

Fairways

With multiple doglegs, par fours that vary in length from 354 to 518 yards and cleverly positioned bunkers players need to think their way round the golf course which can favour faders of the ball.

A mixture of power and accuracy is required to hit the right spots on some of the long reasonably narrow fairways. Last year Anthony Kim was ranked eighth for driving distance and eighteenth for accuracy.

With slightly firmer conditions this year, thick three and half inch rough and heavily tree lined fairways the emphasis may swing towards accuracy from the tee.

Greens

The greens are generally large, undulating and well protected by bunkers. Players will need to hit high approach shots that land softly in order to get the ball close to the pin or be left with some treacherous putts.

The poa annua greens are not as firm as the organisers hoped but are drying out with the warm weather in the run up to the tournament. They remain fast and are set to run at 12 on the stimpmeter.

They said

"I want the rough up and the greens firms. I want the build to have the guys get the ball down there on the fairways, be aggressive off the tees if they want, get the ball down there, but also have the greens firm enough where it rewards guys for being more aggressive off the tees and getting the ball down there so they can control their spins coming in the greens" - Tiger Woods

"You know, this course fits my game very well, because I hit a lot of high fades, high cut shots, which suits this course" - K.J. Choi

"It's a good, old, traditional golf course. It's a very, very nice layout. I think the hardest holes are 6, 10, 11, and possibly 18, but those 6, 10 and 11 are the three hardest holes" - Jim Furyk

Horses for Courses

Jim Furyk may not have won at Congressional but with third place finishes in his two previous visits he obviously has a liking for the course. He also finished fifth in the 1997 U.S. Open at Congressional.

Tiger Woods may have finished only sixth in 2007 but he has an outstanding record on courses designed or redesigned by Rees Jones. Since 1999 he has played in 24 tournaments on Rees Jones courses recording 11 wins, 19 top fives and 23 top 10's.

Key Holes

The sixth and eleventh holes have been converted from par fives to par fours. Both require long straight drives and any player missing the fairways will struggle to get home in two. Even a good drive still leaves a long approach shot to greens with water hazards on the right hand side.

They are the two most difficult holes on the course and any player negotiating them in par for the week will pick up at least two shots on the field.

Weather

Warm and humid condition with temperatures in the 80's are expected with the possibility of thunderstorms in the afternoon on Friday and Saturday.

Conclusion

This year the course will be playing firmer and faster but the greens are still receptive and the winning score should be around ten under par.

Congressional provides a solid all round test of golf from tee to green and the best ball strikers will come to the fore.

Harry Emanuel