Inside the Ropes at Congressional

If you order right now . . .

K.J. Choi credits the new grip on his putter for his improved putting this week. Choi, who finished top five in putts, made a 25-footer for birdie on No. 12 and a 12-footer for birdie on 15 using the "Super Stroke Grip." He first heard about the grip watching an infomercial last year.

"When you watch infomercials, half the time you don't believe it, half the time you believe it, and you don't know what's right," Choi said through an interpreter. "I was convinced it might work for me so I ordered one. When I first got it, it was ugly. It was big. I wasn't sure if I could just bring it out on tour. I was very hesitant because it was so big and ugly. I kind of gathered the courage to bring it out here."

Don't Give It Away

The crowd clustered around the scoring tent at No. 18 was clamoring for anything from a golfer. Fans were asking for balls, gloves, even shoes. An enterprising young standard bearer thought he had hit upon a gold mine. A fan told him he would pay him for the bib of Vijay Singh's caddie. The caddies had been dumping the bibs into what appeared to be a trash can. The young boy dug Singh's bib out and took it to the fan who handed him $40. It was only after one of the caddies told him that the bibs were going to be re-used that the standard bearer realized he had made a faux pas.

SUNDAY SWOONS

Aaron Baddeley entered this week 12th on this season's money list, but were it not for his recent struggles in final rounds, he would be even higher. Here are Baddeley's finishes since April:

Event	First 3 Rounds	Final Round	Finish
Masters	79-72-76	80	T-52
Heritage	70-66-70	72	T-10
Wachovia	71-75-71	72	T-43
Players	72-72-67	77	T-37
Memorial	66-68-71	71	T-9
U.S. Open	72-70-70	80	T-13
AT&T National	74-69-68	79	T-69

QUOTABLE

"It would be great if it did stay in Washington anyway. I love this area. It's great. Bethesda is a nice little town. It's got great little restaurants. It's a cute little town."

Robert Allenby, on the future of the AT&T National

BY THE NUMBERS

0

Players who shot four under-par rounds

65

The low round of the tournament, recorded by Shigeki Maruyama on Saturday and Hunter Mahan yesterday

4

Australians among the top 18: Stuart Appleby (T-3), Robert Allenby (T-6), Geoff Ogilvy and Mathew Goggin (T-12)

$144,000

The difference in prize money between a tie for third and a tie for eighth, the slide Mike Weir made with a double-bogey 6 on No. 18

29

Rocco Mediate's score on the front nine yesterday; he followed with a 37 on the back

1

Players who started the day in the top five who broke par yesterday, winner K.J. Choi

5

Players who have multiple PGA Tour wins this season: Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Zach Johnson and K.J. Choi