The Golf Watch

At Aronimink, a transformation

Tim Rosaforte reminds us that although there is a lot of excitement over Aronimink GC temporarily hosting Tiger Woods' AT&T National, the club has had its fair share of criticism. 

McLaughlin chooses Aronimink, not Avenel

First off, kudos to the Philadelphia Inquirer and Washington Post on their coverage the past six months of the future host of the 2010, '11 AT&T National.  Joe Logan of the Inquirer first reported Tournament Chairman Greg McLaughlin's interest in Aronimink, located outside of Philly, as a possible site six months ago, and the club seems destined to be the host of the tournament, pending a vote, as Leonard Shapiro of the Post reported earlier today.

This is a pretty big insult to TPC Avenel and the PGA Tour.  Tim Finchem and co. have invested a ton of money into a course overhaul at Avenel, and they certainly didn't have to do it for the members. 

For those of you not familiar with Avenel, it's located about a mile down the road from Congressional, the current host of the AT&T.  The decision to move there would have been logical, but obviously, the course didn't impress Tiger's camp. 

Most of the players complained about Avenel's layout, but I have heard the changes made should diminish most of those concerns.  What is the future of the course?

Tiger meets with Congressional members...in person

Last month, the trip to D.C. for his AT&T National would have been too much  Last week, though, Tiger Woods was able to make the trip to the nation's capital to Congressional Country Club.  According to Leonard Shapiro of The Washington Post, Woods made a presentation in support of the AT&T National staying at Congressional for the long haul...

More than 350 members of Congressional Country Club attended a town-hall-style meeting last night at the club to hear Tiger Woods and PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem make formal presentations in support of a proposal to keep the AT&T National, Woods's signature golf tournament, at the Bethesda course from 2012 through 2017.

According to a source who attended the two-hour meeting, Woods spoke to the members in the club's packed ballroom for about five minutes, and also answered members' questions.

As for his physical appearance, Doug Ferguson notes:

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem saw Tiger Woods for the first time since his season-ending surgery, and reported Sunday that the No. 1-ranked golfer was his usual self, except for being about 10 pounds lighter and walking with a slight limp.

"He lost 12 or 13 pounds after surgery, gained a few back," Finchem said. "He looks kind of thin."

"Tour broadcasts feel the pain"

Thomas Bonk of the LA Times catches us up on how badly television ratings have been hit the last three weeks without Tiger...

It's all a matter of perspective. The PGA Tour and its truckload of sponsors aren't even asking you not to touch that dial on your television; they're asking you to make sure the set is turned on in the first place.

The Absent Tiger Factor is here and it's awful to behold.

Case 1: Buick Open. The first event of three events so far that Woods would have played but missed because of his knee surgery. The overnight rating on CBS for the fourth round was down 12%, from a 1.7 to a 1.5.

Case 2: AT&T National. Worse. The overnight ratings for the fourth round on CBS were down 48%, from a 2.9 to a 1.5. Third-round ratings dipped 35%, from a 2.0 to a 1.3.

Case 3: British Open. Not good. The overnight ratings for ABC's final round coverage Sunday fell 14.6%, from a 4.1 to a 3.5.

AT&T National ratings drop

As expected, Thomas Bonk of the LA Times reports that the ratings for the Tiger-less AT&T National went down signifciantly...

In a word: bad. The overnight ratings for Sunday's fourth round of the AT&T National on CBS were down 48%, from a 2.9 to a 1.5. The third-round overnight ratings were down 35%, from a 2.0 to a 1.3.

As for the LPGA...

...overnight ratings on CBS for the weekend's LPGA event, the P&G Beauty Northwest Arkansas Championship, barely registered. Saturday's rating was an 0.7 and Sunday's was an 0.6.

Kim steps up for PGA Tour

On Wednesday, I was sitting on the driving range next to Rex Hoggard of Golfweek as we watched Anthony Kim prepare for the AT&T National.  He seemed fresh, confident, and relaxed.

I followed Kim for five holes during the pro-am, and he hit several superb shots, including one out of the rough on the par-4 3rd that I recorded in the video below.

Kim won the AT&T earlier today by two strokes over Fredrik Jacobson after firing a 5-under 65.  He's the first player since Tiger Woods to win twice in a year before the age of 25.

The PGA Tour needed a young gun to step up in Tiger's absence, and Kim is the first one to do so. 

Oberholser loses his cool at AT&T

At the AT&T National earlier today, I was out following the group of Arron Oberholser, Stuart Appleby, and Brandt Snedeker.  All three of the players struggled, but it was the startling behavior of Oberholser that stuck with many of the fans after Friday's action.

It all started on the 12th hole when Oberholser had a putt from less than 5-feet for par. He asked a woman to stop moving behind the hole, and subsequently missed the putt.  He walked toward the 13th tee, slamming his putter against the bag twice. 

Then, on the 13th tee box, Oberholser said:

The next person who moves is getting putted upside the freakin' head.

Later, after missing a makeable birdie putt on 15, Oberholser threw his putter a good 25-30 ft. toward his bag in frustration. 

Oberholser has been afflicted with two majors injuries the past year--one involving his left hand, and the other involving his right shoulder.  It's been a long, frustrating year for Oberholser, but that's no excuse. 

Pictures from Congressional

Inside the ropes at Congressional Country Club for the ceremonial tee shot.  I was impressed by how many people were on hand at the "Tiger-less" tournament.  Especially pro-am day...

This year, the length of the rough has been taken down a notch.  Below is Anthony Kim's ball in the primary rough to the left of the 3rd fairway.

Inside these doors, the drug testing begins.  First up, Tim Finchem...(British Amateur champ Drew Weaver talking on cell phone)

The media center was empty earlier in the day, but it got busier as the day progressed.

Tiger complained last year about the speed of the greens and that problem has been addressed.  I lost track of the number of balls I saw roll past the hole.

Longtime ESPN anchor Stuart Scott had a rough start to his day when he popped/sliced his first tee shot.  By my estimation, it only went about 100 yards.  Nevertheless, I caught back up with him on nine, and he sank a pretty long putt.  No clue what it was for though...

The 10th hole, a picturesque par-3 that was added for last year's tournament.  The tee box on 10 is essentially where the old 18th green once was. 

   

This shot says it all...the beauty that is Congressional.

AT&T National field less than stellar

I'm shocked.  Last year, the AT&T National at Congressional got some of the best players in the game including Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott, Vijay Singh, Geoff Ogilvy, and Justin Rose.  This year, none of those players are coming back.  In fact, there is only one top-10 player in the world ranking who is competing next week, Steve Stricker.

I have no explanation for this.  Congressional is a true test and will host the U.S. Open in three years. The tournament falls out the same time it did last year, two weeks before the British Open.  Plus, there's a big purse and Tiger Woods is the host. 

There's still no word as to whether or not Woods will be able to make it up to the district for the week, but he must be disappointed with the quality of the field.  This is the kind of field one would expect at the old Booz Allen at Avenel. 

Tiger appearance still uncertain for AT&T

Leonard Shapiro of The Washington Post offers the latest news on Tiger Woods--and it's not much.  There's still no word as to whether or not Tiger will be able to attend his own tournament at Congressional.

Regardless, I will be at Congressional doing some reporting for my paper, and will be sure to give some course setup updates and tournament day recaps as the week progresses.