Mammoth Blog

Tiger Woods made his first appearance at Congressional Country Club with a practice round Tuesday morning, perhaps the only normal moment in a week in which he will be pulled in several directions as the host of the AT&T National.

"A few more meetings, a few more appearances here and there that you don't normally do," Woods said before a packed interview room at the Bethesda club. "That's something that you kind of get used to. . . . You understand how to balance your time and try to be as ready as you possibly can. Your workout schedule is kind of thrown off a little bit, your rest periods are thrown off a little bit. But then again, I'll be ready."

Woods is making his first appearance at the AT&T National since 2007, the inaugural event. He missed last year's tournament after undergoing surgery to rebuild his left knee, a procedure that wiped out the second half of his season. Woods will tee off at 1:02 p.m. in Thursday's first round, playing with U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover and veteran pro Charley Hoffman. The same group will begin the second round at 8:12 a.m. Friday from the 10th tee.

Woods is at full strength now, and he said that even with his additional responsibilities -- meeting sponsors and wounded veterans, playing in Wednesday morning's pro-am, participating in a meeting for the Tiger Woods Foundation -- he is here to win.

"I always put in as much as I possibly can to win an event," Woods said. "I love being a greedy host. It is fun to win your own event. It's awfully fun to do that. Hopefully I can do that again this week."
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The tournament is preparing to leave the Washington area for 2010 and '11 -- Aronimink Golf Club outside Philadelphia will serve as the host -- so Congressional can overhaul its greens and then host the U.S. Open in 2011. But Woods reiterated his commitment to both the Washington market and Congressional, which has agreed to host the event from 2012 to '14. Woods and his foundation are also still searching for an appropriate location in the District for a Tiger Woods Learning Center, an after-school educational venue, which he hopes will strengthen his relationship with the community.

"I think the golf course is going to be in better shape with the new greens," Woods said. "I think the relationship that we've built in this community has been fantastic, the connection we have with them and trying to build a learning center here. . . . We want to be here for years to come -- for perpetuity, really. Hopefully we can all make that happen."

The most controversial question to Woods: How in the world he asked Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo to be his partner in Wednesday's pro-am event.

"We're very lucky to have him here," Woods said. "For him to come here to D.C., certainly I didn't realize it would be this big a deal. . . . It's going to be a fun round, but also an interesting one. He's used to being booed. It is what it is."

Other marquee groups for Thursday's first round include Davis Love III, defending champion Anthony Kim and 2003 U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk at 8 a.m. from No. 10; England's Paul Casey, veteran Fred Couples and Ryder Cup hero Boo Weekley at 8:12 a.m. from No. 10; and three-time major winner Vijay Singh with Australians Stuart Appleby and Robert Allenby at 12:50 p.m. from No. 1.

Play begins at 7:10 a.m. Thursday from both the first and 10th tees at Congressional's Blue Course.
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