It's Time for Tee at Congressional

"The golf course is in phenomenal shape," says Tiger Woods after his practice round Tuesday. "It's going to be one heck of a test." (Toni L. Sandys - The Post)

Former president George H.W. Bush has left the premises, taking all those other amateurs with him after yesterday's stirring opening ceremonies and pricey pro-am at Congressional Country Club. The time for baby talk also has ended, though Tiger Woods's 2-week-old daughter at home in Florida will remain very much on his mind during his inaugural signature golf tournament.

This morning at the AT&T National, the golfers finally will take off the head covers for real at the storied Bethesda course. Woods, the No. 1 player in the world, will tee off at hole No. 1 at 1:15 p.m., no doubt witnessed by thousands of golf fans eager to see him play in a regular PGA Tour event in the Washington area for the first time in his career.

A tournament conceived just more than four months ago already has the look and feel of a far more established event, with five of the world's top six players and six of the top 10 entered in a field of 120 players vying for a $1.08 million first-place check from a $6 million purse.

Woods, as always, will be the main attraction, but Phil Mickelson (No. 2 in the world), Jim Furyk (No. 3) and Adam Scott (No. 4) should draw their own substantial galleries, along with No. 6 Vijay Singh and No. 8 Geoff Ogilvy.

Local favorite Fred Funk, still a legitimate contender at age 51, will be here, and even John Daly has shown up to possibly spice up the event, getting in as an alternate on Tuesday.

Mickelson said yesterday he initially did not expect to play here this week, but an injury to his left wrist suffered before last month's U.S. Open forced him to revise his schedule. He's playing in a tournament for the first time since missing the cut at the Open on June 15 and said his wrist was not yet 100 percent, but definitely better than before.

"Because I've missed some events, I wanted to add it when I was able to," Mickelson said of his decision to enter here this week. "Now that the doctor has said I won't be doing any more damage to the wrist, that I can go ahead and go at it 100 percent, I wanted to get back out and play. I played last week. I've played the last six, seven days and have been able to play reasonably well and not have to worry about being injured."

And what would it mean to him if he could win Woods's inaugural tournament?

"Well, if he passed out the trophy," Mickelson said with a wide smile, "it would be pretty cool."

Mickelson and many of his playing peers are thrilled to be back at Congressional, which last hosted a PGA Tour event at the 2005 Booz Allen Classic. The course will play to a par 70 at a distance of 7,204 yards and includes a brutish 488-yard par 4 (No. 6) on the front side and another robust 489-yard test (No. 11) on the back.

Every player in the field also will get his heart started right out of the tee box either today or tomorrow when they confront the newly configured 10th hole, a 218-yard par 3 over water that quickly will get their attention.

"This is definitely in the top five [courses] on tour, for sure," Scott said. "It's just a traditional, old-style golf course, and it rewards good golf and punishes bad golf, which I think is a good way to go."