Brennans Caddy Report-ATT National

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:14:19

After spending a couple weeks in Ontario where Mike had a very successful charity experience it was time to get to Bethesda, Maryland on Monday and get back to work. Mike came in and got some good time in with his teachers and on Tuesday we played 18 holes with Dean Wilson, Eric Axley, and Charlie Wi. All four of these golfers work with the same teachers, so it was helpful for them to go out and get a round in together. It's an important part of the season now as we are playing 5 of next 6 weeks in a row, with two (almost three) of the events being majors: the British Open, the PGA Championship and the Canadian Open .

This is a great time to be in the Washington DC area as it's the 4th of July week and the city just happens to have one of the best fireworks celebrations in the country. The significance of playing so close to the United States Capital during the week of Independence Day will not be lost on any golfer and will only serve to heighten the atmosphere surrounding this tournament.

This week is a special week as we are playing at the AT&T National which is Tiger's tourney so that has a little special feel to it. This is the inaugural running of this tournament which is being played at the Congressional Country Club in Maryland, one of the finest golf courses in the United States. This is only the 12th time an event has been held at the Congressional Golf Course in the entire history of the PGA Tour, which had previously been home to the 1997 US Open.

The course is one of the toughest and best courses we play. The set up this week is almost as tough as a US Open. The course itself is very difficult and with the rough this week it is going to be really tough just like at Oakmont where if you missed the fairway, even by a couple feet, you were in big trouble.

This tournament may have one of the highest winning scores on the tour in a long time. The only help the golfers might have is that the greens just don't have the speed that they normally do which will make it a bit easier to putt and with the forecasted rain the greens may continue to soften up.

In 2005 when we played here the 18th hole was a par 3. This has since been changed as they have added a new hole on number 10 and the old 17th is now the finishing hole. This was a very good change which will make the finish much better.

The weather is going to be a little shaky this week with afternoon thunderstorms which are to be expected here when the weather gets hot and humid. I really don't think the winning score will be that many under par as this is such a tough test of golf!

Thanks for reading and enjoy the week!

Brennan Little