Sports

PGA Tour

PGA - AT&T National Preview

From The Sports Network

DATES: Thursday, June 28th through Sunday, July 1st

SITE: Congressional Country Club (Blue Course), Bethesda, Maryland

COURSE ARCHITECT: Devereaux Emmett (1922), Robert Trent Jones (1957),

Rees Jones (1989)

PAR: 71

YARDAGE: 7,569

Hole-By-Hole:	1 - Par 4 402 Yds	10 - Par 3 218 Yds
	2 - Par 3 233 Yds	11 - Par 4 489 Yds
	3 - Par 4 466 Yds	12 - Par 4 471 Yds
	4 - Par 4 470 Yds	13 - Par 3 193 Yds
	5 - Par 4 413 Yds	14 - Par 4 467 Yds
	6 - Par 5 555 Yds	15 - Par 4 490 Yds
	7 - Par 3 173 Yds	16 - Par 5 579 Yds
	8 - Par 4 354 Yds	17 - Par 4 437 Yds
	9 - Par 5 636 Yds	18 - Par 4 523 Yds
	-------------	-------------
	36 3,702 Yds	35 3,867 Yds

Annual:	6th
Television:	Golf Channel - Thursday/Friday -- 3-6 p.m. (et),
	- Saturday -- 1-2:30 p.m. (et),
	CBS - Saturday -- 3-6 p.m. (et),
	Golf Channel - Sunday -- 1-2:30 p.m. (et),
	CBS - Sunday -- 3-6 p.m. (et)
Defending Champion:	Nick Watney
Runner-Up:	K.J. Choi
Tournament Record:	267 (Tiger Woods, 2009; Nick Watney, 2011)
54-Hole Record:	200 (Tom Pernice Jr, 2008; Tiger Woods, Anthony Kim, 2009;
	Justin Rose, 2010)
36-Hole Record:	130 (Tiger Woods, 2009)
Course Record:	62 (Anthony Kim, Hunter Mahan, 2009)
18-Hole Record:	62 (Nick Watney, 2011 - Aronimink Golf Club)
Total Purse:	$6,500,000
Shares:	1st Place - $1,170,000; 2nd Place - $702,000; 3rd Place - $442,000

2011 Finish
Player	Score	Player	Score
Nick Watney	267	Robert Allenby	272
K.J. Choi	269	Chris Stroud	272
Charles Howell III	271	Chris Kirk	273
Jeff Overton	271	Bryce Molder	273
Adam Scott	271	Webb Simpson	273

Past AT&T National Winners
Year	Winner (Score) -- Runners-Up
2011	Nick Watney (267) -- K.J. Choi
2010	Justin Rose (270) -- Ryan Moore
2009	Tiger Woods (267) -- Hunter Mahan
2008	Anthony Kim (268) -- Fredrik Jacobson
2007	K.J. Choi (271) -- Steve Stricker

Top Contenders in the Field
Player	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Nick Watney	---	T-36	T-66	T-7	Won
K.J. Choi	Won	T-49	mc	---	2nd
Jeff Overton	---	T-9	wd	3rd	T-3
Charles Howell III	mc	T-22	mc	T-62	T-3
Adam Scott	mc	---	---	---	T-3
Robert Allenby	T-6	T-3	mc	T-41	T-6
Bryce Molder	---	---	4th	T-25	T-8
Chris DiMarco	T-40	---	T-44	T-25	T-13
Charley Hoffman	T-19	T-72	T-48	T-41	T-25
Hunter Mahan	T-8	T-12	2nd	---	T-30
Ryuji Imada	T-69	mc	T-22	T-46	T-34
Gary Woodland	---	---	---	---	T-47
Ryan Moore	T-25	mc	T-11	2nd	T-68
Marc Leishman	---	---	T-25	T-7	mc
Jim Furyk	T-3	T-3	T-7	T-33	mc
Jason Day	---	mc	mc	T-9	---
Tiger Woods	T-6	---	Won	T-46	---
Dustin Johnson	---	---	---	mc	---

Sports Network Selections

Pick to Win - Tiger Woods
Darkhorse - Brian Davis

Last Week's Pick to Win (Padraig Harrington) - Finished tied for 11th
Last Week's Darkhorse (John Merrick) - Missed the cut

NOTES:

The PGA Tour heads to Maryland this week for the AT&T National at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda. Seven of the top-30 players in the world are scheduled to compete outside of Washington D.C. Tournament host Tiger Woods is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 4 in the world. He is joined by Hunter Mahan (10), Dustin Johnson (13), Adam Scott (16), Jason Day (21), defending champion Nick Watney (27) and Jim Furyk (30).

Three amateurs who played well at the U.S. Open are in the field. Jordan Spieth, Beau Hossler and Patrick Cantlay all made the cut at The Olympic Club. Spieth finished tied for 21st, Hossler tied for 29th, and Cantlay tied for 41st. Cantlay turned professional following the U.S. Open and missed the cut last week at the Travelers Championship in his first tournament as a pro.

The tournament returns to Congressional this year for the first time since 2009. Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania hosted in 2010-11 due to Congressional staging the 2011 U.S. Open. Woods won this event the last time it was played at Congressional in 2009. The purse increased $400,000 from last year to $6.5 million, with the winner receiving $1,170,000.

The AT&T National is an invitational featuring a field of 120 players. It replaced The INTERNATIONAL on the PGA Tour schedule in 2007. Tournament proceeds benefit the Tiger Woods Foundation and the event will honor United States military men and women. The tournament offers free admission to military personnel and they will receive special seating and hospitality tents.

Last year, Watney closed with weekend rounds of 62-66 to earn a two-stroke win over 2007 champion K.J. Choi. He fired a back-nine 27 in the third round to set a new course record of 62 at Aronimink. Watney's 27 was the lowest back nine of the 2011 PGA Tour season.

In 2010, Justin Rose claimed the lead after a second-round 64 and went on to win his second PGA Tour event of 2010. It came just one week after he coughed up the final-round lead at the Travelers Championship. Rose parred his final seven holes in the last round to post an even-par 70 and win by one shot over Ryan Moore. He finished at 10-under-par 270.

The 2010 tournament was the first PGA Tour event held in the Philadelphia area since Waynesborough Country Club staged the 2002 SEI Pennsylvania Classic, won by Dan Forsman.

In 2009, Woods won this event for the first time, firing rounds of 64-66-70-67 at Congressional Country Club. Woods finished at 13-under 267, which was a new tournament record, and won by a single stroke over Mahan, who matched the course record in the final round with an 8-under 62.

In 2007, K.J. Choi played a beautiful round of 2-under 68 on the final day and in the process cruised to a three-shot victory at the inaugural event. He finished at 9-under-par 271 for his second PGA Tour win of 2007.

Next week, the PGA Tour travels to West Virginia for The Greenbrier Classic, where Scott Stallings won last year.

06/26 16:42:42 ET

As of June 26, 2012, at 04:42 PM ET