Talented Field Takes on Tiger Woods at AT&T National

BETHESDA, Md. - Tournament host Tiger Woods, newly crowned U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover and defending champion Anthony Kim headline a star-filled field at next week's AT&T National.

Woods, the top-ranked player in the world, will welcome 119 of the world’s best golfers to the Blue Course at storied Congressional Country Club in Bethesda for the $6 million event to be played June 30-July 5.

In addition to 14-time major winner Woods, top 25 players set to take on Congressional are Paul Casey, three-time major winner Vijay Singh, former U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk, Sean O’Hair, Kim, Glover and former Masters champion Mike Weir.

The quality of the field is clearly reflected by the fact that it’s loaded with players at the tops of their games, each competing for the winner’s check of $1.08 million.

Woods leads the way among players in the AT&T National field who have already been victorious in tournaments this year. Woods has won at Bay Hill and the Memorial, Casey won the Shell Houston Open, O’Hair won the Quail Hollow Championship, Pat Perez won the Bob Hope Classic, Nick Watney won the Buick Invitational and Mark Wilson won the Mayakoba Golf Classic.

There is one more important name on the list. The newest tournament winner in the field is Glover, the 29-year-old from Greenville, S.C., who won his first major title and added his name to the 109-year-old U.S. Open trophy with a stirring victory Monday on the Black Course at Bethpage State Park.

Ricky Barnes, who battled his way around the difficult Bethpage layout and finished in a strong tie for second behind Glover, has also joined the field for the AT&T National.

Yet another up-and-comer seemingly on the fast track to stardom who will compete at Congressional is 19-year-old Danny Lee, the youngest winner of the U.S. Amateur a year ago, and a pro for only two months.

Ryder Cup stars Furyk, Kim, Hunter Mahan and Boo Weekley are all part of the AT&T National scene at Congressional, and so is the last Ryder Cup captain, Paul Azinger, and 2010 captain Corey Pavin.

Adding further to the quality of the field are sponsor exemptions Notah Begay III, Chris Riley, Olin Browne, Charles Warren, Azinger, Jason Gore, Matt Hill and Billy Horschel.

Hill, 20, the only amateur in the field, won the NCAA Division I Championship last month at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. The former hockey player from Brights Grove, Ontario, is a junior at North Carolina State. 

Hill is the first North Carolina State golfer to win the NCAA championship. Past medalists include Woods (Stanford 1995), Phil Mickelson (Arizona State 1989, 90, 92) and Jack Nicklaus (Ohio State 1961).

Among the top money-winners on the PGA Tour, the AT&T National features Kevin Na, Brian Davis, Charley Hoffman and John Rollins, in addition to Woods, O’Hair, Glover, Watney, Casey and Furyk.

The three-year-old AT&T National, already taking its place among the strongest tournaments on the PGA Tour schedule, occupies an important position in the Fed Ex Cup series.

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