Congressional Country Club reluctant to take back Tiger Woods’ AT&T National
While a beleaguered and injured Tiger Woods managed to show up at this year’s AT&T National at Aronimink Golf Club, as the host of the event in Philadelphia last week, the tournament is set to receive a severe blow when the Congressional Country Club, its
supposedly next venue, is reluctant to take the event back.
This was the second, and the last episode of the AT&T Classic which was played at Aronimink after the venue was shifted last year as the Congressional prepared for the onslaught of the US Open. Woods has been associated with AT&T for a long time and although
the sponsorship contract expired sometime back, he still remains the host of the event.
Members of the Congressional Country Club voted with a ratio of 52-48 in 2008 to extend the relationship for another three years after the US Open. The AT&T National was held for the first time in 2007 at the Blue Course of the Congressional Country Club,
Bethesda, Maryland. Congressional hosted the event for another two years in 2008 and 2009 and after its selection as the venue for 2011 US Open, the event was shifted to Aronimink for a brief period of two years.
“So, perhaps Aronimink will take over the contract from Congressional. Maybe it will host for at least one more year to give Congressional a chance to catch its breath after hosting the Open. One thing is for sure: Congressional will not be the tournament’s
long-term host. There has even been talk that, to keep the tournament in Washington, it might be moved to the newly-renovated TPC Farms at Avenel.” The statement was confirmed by Congressional member and GolfChannel.com contributor John Feinstein.
Congressional’s drastic step to move away from AT&T National has come more because of Woods deteriorating form than anything else. The 14-major-winner has been battering lack of form and consecutive injuries for the last two years and has not won a single
event in this time. His downslide from the top started in 2009 when the news about his extramarital affairs broke headlines and the player has been facing blatant criticism since then.
Other more favoured venue for the event can be the TPC at Avenel in the neighboring Potomac which has been host to Booz Allen Classic and is currently under consideration. Despite of the fact that Congressional did not play up to the mark for the US Open
Championship, the officials at USGA remain upbeat of bringing the national event back in 2026, which will be the 250th anniversary of the United States independence.
AT&T National is one of the only five events on the PGA Tour which have been given the invitational status, subsequently reducing its field to 120 players rather than a full field of 156. The other four events include Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Verizon
Heritage, the Crown Plaza Invitational at Colonial, and the Memorial Tournament.
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