AT&T National

AT&T National

The AT&T National is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in the Washington D.C. area. Held during the Fourth of July weekend, the event is hosted by Tiger Woods and benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation. The first AT&T National was held July 5–8, 2007, at the Blue Course of the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland. The event returned to Congressional in 2008 and 2009 and has been held midway between the U.S. Open and the British Open to ensure a strong field of competitors.

The event was officially announced on March 7, 2007, to replace The International, which tour officials had abruptly cancelled on February 8, 2007. The AT&T National does not use the modified Stableford scoring system used by The International in Colorado.

The D.C. area hosted a regular tour event for over a quarter century. The Booz Allen Classic arrived in 1980 but was terminated after the 2006 event. Originally named the Kemper Open, it was played at Congressional from 1980–86, then moved to the nearby TPC at Avenel in 1987. Congressional hosted the tournament in 2005, while Avenel was undergoing renovations.

Congressional originally agreed to host the event for the first two years, and after opting out of hosting the 2009 U.S. Amateur, agreed to host the event in 2009 as well. The Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania hosted the 2010 and 2011 events, due to Congressional being reconfigured for the 2011 U.S. Open. The tournament is scheduled to return to Congressional from 2012 to 2014.

Other courses that were originally considered for the new tournament were in the Kansas City, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, and Portland areas. Possible sites for the 2010 and 2011 events were the TPC at Avenel in neighboring Potomac (former site of the Booz Allen Classic) and Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia, (four-time host of the Presidents Cup).

CBS and Golf Channel carry the AT&T National, which is the third event on the PGA Tour to be sponsored by the telecommunications giant. The others are the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and the defunct AT&T Classic (formerly the BellSouth Classic).