A fierce storm tore through the DC area and hit Congressional hard on Friday night

The maintenance workers and clean-up crew at Congressional Country Club deserve a huge round of applause for preparing the storm-ravaged golf course in time for golfers to complete Saturday’s third round.

Just after 10pm on Friday evening, a fierce thunderstorm called a “Derecho,” which originated in the Chicago area, wreaked havoc in the nation’s capital. The storm goes at least 250 miles with winds at least 58 miles per hour or greater. In the Bethesda, Maryland, area, gusts reached 80mph.

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Hunter preying

Many fell prey to the heat that scorched Congressional Country Club on Friday afternoon, but not Hunter Mahan, whose sweet swing and cool demeanor helped him en route to a blistering six-under 65 in the second round of the AT&T National, which included birdies on two of the last three holes.

Heading into what’s expected to be another super hot and humid weekend, Mahan, -7, leads by two strokes over Brendon de Jonge, Jimmy Walker and Robert Garrigus. Mahan, 30, kept hydrated and played so well that the record-high temperatures didn’t bother him or affect him mentally. (continue reading…)

Tiger's bubble

Tiger Woods weathered the heatwave sweeping through the greater D.C. area and played his way into contention at Congressional Country Club on Friday morning, firing a respectable three-under 68 (which was probably the highest score he could have shot) for a two-under 36-hole total.

Woods, who teed off on No. 10, kick-started his round with an eagle on the par-6 No. 16, ramming a 48-foot putt in the center of the cup.

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Tiger Woods walks to the 17th green during Round One of the AT&T National at Congressional Country Club

Since I’m waiting out the gridlock traffic in the media center, I might as well toss up a gratuitous post on Tiger Woods, your tournament host. Anyone catch the coverage today, anyway? I’m guessing some of you were more interested in the DVR’d Irish Open, Wimbledon and/or the Euro soccer semifinals.

Well, you didn’t miss too much in the first round of the AT&T National. As you’ve heard, the U.S. Open that didn’t happen last year is taking place this week at Congressional Country Club.

Tiger shot a ho-hum one-over 72 to trail 18-hole leader Bo Van Pelt by five strokes. He didn’t do anything excellent, but the glaring weakness that cost him was his bunker play.

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Tiger scrambles for a 72

Just a little over a year after surrendering record-breaking scores, Congressional Country Club is playing like a U.S. Open course in U.S. Open-like conditions. The course is firm and fast. The heat is sweltering. And the scorching temperatures aren’t letting up at the AT&T National.

Only ten players in the morning wave broke par, including Vijay Singh, Dustin Johnson, Davis Love III, Hunter Mahan, Stewart Cink and Marc Leishman, who captured his first PGA Tour victory last Sunday at the Travelers Championship.

Tournament host Tiger Woods struggled to find fairways on the front nine and grinded to shoot a one-over 72. Bo Van Pelt, who placed T14 at last year’s U.S. Open here, fired a bogey-free four-under 67 to take the first-round lead over Singh, Brendon de Jonge and Jimmy Walker. (continue reading…)

Baring it all

Suzann Pettersen will be the latest golfer to appear nude in ESPN The Magazine’s Body Issue, which hits stands July 13, according to CBSSports.com’s Shane Bacon: (continue reading…)

A bunch of Buckeye alums in the NFL, including A.J. Hawk, Troy Smith, Doug Datish and Bobby Carpenter, participated in a charity golf outing that raised money for at-risk youths last weekend, according to Deadspin. As you can see in the video above, an impromptu game of touch football broke out at some point, producing the shot of the day.

Meh-heh-heh

Here we go. The PGA Tour has found a new umbrella sponsor for its developmental tour: Web.com — which, effective immediately, will replace the Nationwide Tour as the title sponsor. Yes, that means you will now call it the Web.com Tour.

All parties insist the Q-school format change had nothing to do with inking the deal. So then, let’s just keep the status quo, right?

Check out the company’s homepage (kinda weird, no?)…and here’s the media blast: (continue reading…)

Wooooot! We're legit!

Starting in 2013 the Fall Series events will become legitimate PGA Tour tournaments. The Tour policy board has voted to award full FedExCup points to the events following the season-ending Tour Championship. Now the change comes as part of the decision to modify the Tour’s schedule (along with the Q-school format). Instead of following a calendar-year format, the plan is to kick off the 2013-2014 season with the fall tournaments.

Via the Tour’s media blast (continue reading…)

Hello, DC!

AT&T National host Tiger Woods, who was cheery and chatty (by Tiger standards), greeted the media on Tuesday afternoon at Congressional Country Club — after a two-year hiatus where it was contested at Aronimink GC — for his pre-tournament presser. Of course, the most-anticipated question: What happened over the weekend at Olympic, where you were in prime position to grab victory by its throat and break the major-less since ’08 steak?

Well, there was no beating around the bush! — First question: (continue reading…)