PGA AT&T National Preview

After spending two weeks in the rain-soaked Northeast, the PGA Tour will head south to Washington D.C. for the AT&T National which is being hosted this week by Tiger Woods.

The sun is expected to shine, war veterans have been given free tickets to the event and many of the top players in the world will be on hand for a Fourth of July shootout.

Here are five players to watch this week at Congressional.

Hunter Mahan

Hunter Mahan is close, and he has been for a long time now.

Mahan already has 10 top-25 finishes this year and has finished within the top-10 at each of his last two events, including the US Open.

Mahan tied for 12th at last year’s AT&T National and after finishing off last week’s Travelers Championship with rounds of 63 and 64 on the weekend, Mahan will head to Washington D.C. as hot as anyone on tour.

Jim Furyk

Jim Furyk has finished within the top-10 in nearly half of the tournaments he’s entered so far in 2009.

Furyk’s last event was the US Open, where he finished tied for 33rd. But, prior to the Open, he finished inside of the top-10 at The Players Championship, The Crowne Plaza Invitational and finished second to Tiger Woods at Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament.

Furyk also tied for third at last year’s AT&T National.

Furyk’s scoring average of 69.7 currently ranks eighth on tour and with the level of consistency he’s displayed so far this year, there’s no reason to believe he won’t once again contend this week at the AT&T National.

Anthony Kim

With all the hype surrounding Anthony Kim late last season and at the start of the 2009 season, it’s tough to believe that it’s been a year since the 24-year-old last won a PGA Tour event.

Kim’s victory at last year’s AT&T National was his second of the 2008 season and catapulted him from the category of a good young player, to golf‘s next big superstar.

But so far, 2009 been a struggle for Kim.

Kim has suffered a plethora of injuries this year, most of which were sustained during off-the-course activities such as falling off a horse and falling down a flight of stairs at a friend’s house.

But, in recent weeks, Kim seems to be healthier and striking the ball a lot better.

Kim tied for 16th at the US Open and tied for 11th last week at the Travelers Championship.

If you’ve been to a PGA Tour event lately, you might notice a tall man decked out in Nike gear following Anthony Kim’s every move.

That man is Anthony Kim’s personal trainer, who Kim has hired to live and travel with him.

Could this represent a new-found commitment to the game?

Time will tell.

Mike Weir

Mike Weir already has four top-10 finishes this year.

Weir’s last appearance was two weeks ago at the US Open, where he flirted with Johnny Miller’s single round scoring record of 63 during the opening round and went on to finish 10th in the field.

Two weeks prior to the Open, Weir also tied for 10th at The Memorial.

For most of the PGA Tour, it’s all about getting on a streak and riding it out for as long as possible.

Right now, Mike Weir appears to be right in the middle of a hot streak.

Tiger Woods

Newsflash—Tiger Woods didn’t win the US Open.

Wow! Something must be terribly wrong with Tiger Woods, right?

Take it easy everyone.

Tiger doesn’t win every event he plays in and he still managed to finish tied for sixth at the Open despite being part of that morning wave whose scores were, on average, more than two strokes higher than those with afternoon tee times in the first round.

Woods has won two out of eight stroke-play events since his return and he hasn’t finished outside of the top-10 since the 2007 British Open at Carnoustie.

Hmm, maybe Tiger won’t contend this week at Congressional.  Maybe he’ll even miss the cut.  After all, there’s something terribly wrong with Tiger’s game right now, isn’t there?

You go ahead and take that bet and see how it works out for you.

I, on the other hand, will continue taking the safest bet the game of golf has seen since Byron Nelson won 18 events during the 1945 season.