'Ecstatic' Response For Woods

One source connected to the AT&T National says that representatives of Tiger Woods's foundation have looked at potential sites inside the Beltway that would allow Woods to build his own course or renovate an existing facility. (Scott Halleran - Getty Images)

The tournament director for the inaugural AT&T National golf tournament at Congressional said yesterday that Tiger Woods left the Washington area Sunday night thrilled about the response to his signature event and that he would prefer to keep the event at Congressional "as long as they'll have us."

"We were ecstatic with how it came off," said tournament director Greg McLaughlin, also the president of the Tiger Woods Foundation. "The positive comments we received from the club, the community and the players has been very gratifying. People were thanking Tiger for bringing the tournament here everywhere he went. We were awestruck, to tell you the truth."

The AT&T National will return to Congressional next year. But the club will host the U.S. Amateur championship in August 2009 and the U.S. Open in June 2011. Both events are run by the U.S. Golf Association, and officials have said they would prefer not to have a regular tour event at Congressional in those years.

One source connected to the tournament said that representatives of Woods's foundation have looked at potential sites inside the Beltway that would allow Woods, a budding golf course architect, to build his own course or renovate an existing facility.

The source said that Woods might even be interested in taking an existing military course, either at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland or Fort Belvoir in Virginia, and do the sort of makeover that transformed Bethpage Black on Long Island, a public course in general disrepair, before the 2002 U.S. Open. Architect Rees Jones, who also did a makeover at Congressional before the 1997 Open, handled the Bethpage project.

"Look, if there's land available inside the Beltway, please call me," McLaughlin said. "At this time, we're not contemplating building our own golf course designed by Tiger, but we certainly would not ever rule it out long-term if the right partnership could be put in place. We're open to any and all situations and we're keeping an open mind for all future sites."

The tournament drew more than 139,000 spectators over six days to the Bethesda golf course, including 75,000 on a weekend when temperatures soared into the 90s. McLaughlin said it was too early to determine the charitable contribution to Woods's foundation, though he indicated the initial goal was to raise $1 million and "we're still hopeful and optimistic we're in that range." Woods donated his own prize money for finishing tied for sixth, $208,500, to the foundation.

McLaughlin confirmed that he and Woods had several informal discussions last week with Congressional officials about the future of the tournament at the club beyond 2008.

"We reiterated to the club's representatives, from the general manager to the club president to everyone on the board of directors our great satisfaction with the club," McLaughlin said. "We've said from day one we want to play it here, and we told them again we'd like to stay here as long as the club will have us. We've been very, very up front in saying from the start that this is where we want to hold it. And they've been honest with us in respect to the course's availability."

Stuart Long, the president of Congressional, said yesterday the club was extremely pleased with the event and that "members who came were just ecstatic. . . . For the amount of time we had to put it all together, it did better than we ever anticipated. We didn't have a single hitch."

Long said he and the club's board of directors would prefer to see how the second year of the event comes off before making any further commitments, and that ultimately the members would decide. He also said it would be impossible to hold Woods's event at Congressional in 2011 and suggested that might be the year when the tournament has to temporarily move out of town, perhaps to Baltimore, Richmond or Philadelphia.

"The U.S. Open will pretty much take the whole corporate market away from them that year," Long said. "It would essentially take the money out of the market."

McLaughlin did not rule out the tournament moving temporarily to TPC at Avenel, the longtime site of the old Kemper Open and Booz Allen Classic. But he also said no decision would be made at least until a $20 million renovation of the course and clubhouse is completed. That project is likely to start in August and almost certainly would not be finished in time for the 2009 tournament.

There are other options, including Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, the host for three previous Presidents Cup competitions.

McLaughlin also said he was surprised when he heard PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem mention last week that he also thought the tournament may have to leave town for a year.

"We haven't made any plans at all regarding what happens after 2008," he said. "But there's no question, after the week we just had here, that Tiger wants this tournament in Washington. The challenge is, there are very limited opportunities that we know of, and we have to look at everything.

"I can also tell you that Tiger had a great time. He was as busy as I've ever seen him at an event, but he embraced his role as a host in as fine a fashion as possible. He did everything I asked him to do, everything the sponsor asked him to do in terms of meeting club members, functions with AT&T, and also still trying to play and practice and win his own event. At the end of the day, Tiger was not only pleased, he was proud, as an organizer and as the host. His only regret was that he didn't win it."