Tiger Reigns Supreme at AT&T National

From his home at the White House in Washington, D.C., President Barrack Obama runs the most powerful government and country in the world.

But, across the Potomac River on the fairways and greens of Congressional Country Club, Tiger Woods reigns supreme on the PGA TOUR in the world of golf.

It did not take the Chief Justice and his eight compatriots on the Supreme Court to render a decision in the case of "Tiger Woods vs. The Field" at Congressional Country Club on this beautiful Fourth of July weekend in our nation's capital.

It did not take Diana Ross and The Supremes to belt out some more lyrics:

There ain't no mountain high enough
Ain't no valley low enough
Ain't no river wide enough
To keep me from getting to you.

Even the modern version of the "Dreamgirls" or rather the "Dreamguys," Anthony Kim and Hunter Mahan, know the truth.

Nobody can get to Tiger Woods—at least not yet.

They will simply have to wait and try again to upstage the Commander-in-Chief of golf—Tiger Woods.

His schedule was seemingly easy: Organize a golf tournament, host a golf tournament, and win a golf tournament.

It seems to be that simple for Tiger with 68 victories on the PGA TOUR in 245 career starts—a 27.8 percent success rate.

The 33-and-one-half-year-old ultimate golfer has now won 46 of 49 tournaments when leading or co-leading after 54 holes. That is a whopping 94 percent "get-her-done" success rate.

The competition was intense, and the drama high as the week unfolded to a new challenge and ultimate climax for Tiger Woods.

On Sunday, as Tiger was struggling again on the difficult par-four 11^th hole while Hunter Mahan drained another birdie putt on the 18^th green to shoot an eight-under 62 and to post a score of 12-under for 72 holes.

Tiger bogeyed No. 11, after going bogey-bogey-double bogey-bogey for the record, and found himself tied for the lead with Mahan after leading by three strokes a few holes earlier.

Being tied with a guy in the clubhouse and having to play six more holes is a tough challenge even for Tiger Woods.

Plus, his playing partner Anthony Kim had straightened out his driving problems and was only two strokes behind.

Woods knew Kim could get hot at any moment, as evidenced by his eight-birdie 62 on Thursday and 11 birdies in the second round at The Masters.

With only one birdie hole remaining—the par-five 16^th hole—Tiger realized he was in a dog fight with one guy sitting in the clubhouse not having to fight and the other playing alongside him.

In the end, he won, but it was a bit of a struggle.

He bunkered his short approach to the par-four 12^th hole, but he tapped in for par after a masterful sand shot. On the 191-yard par-three 13^th hole, his five-iron went right but he saved par again. He missed a makeable birdie putt on No. 14 and two-putted for par on No. 15 to set the stage for the do-or-die birdie on the par-five uphill 16^th hole.

His drive on No. 16 was in the left rough with a decent lie. He hit a safe five-wood where he was aiming—short right of the green in the rough, avoiding a long bunker shot. His chip was heavy, and due to a green slow, he was left with a 20-footer for birdie.

After backing off his putt once because he was being distracted by photographers and a moving marshal, he settled in and drilled the uphill putt in the hole for a birdie-four.

He played conservatively over the final two par-four holes, and he was able to hit both fairways. With excellent iron shots, he easily two-putted for par, turning his one stroke lead into a one-stroke victory.  

The sovereign swing king posted one under for the final six holes after being bedeviled by the par-four 11^th for the fourth day in a row. His three-under 67 was good enough to best Mahan's 62 and Kim's 71 on Sunday afternoon at Congressional, which is the site of the 2011 U.S. Open.

I wonder why Tiger choose to stage his tournament here?

In between Kim's 62 on Thursday and Mahan's 62 on Sunday, Woods was assaulted by the aging middle of the PGA TOUR.

Soon-to-be-40-year-old Rod Pampling shot 62 on Friday and played with Tiger in the last group on Saturday. The Aussie's weekend of 71-75 dropped him into a tie for 20^th place.

50-year-old Michael Allen, winless now in 338 PGA TOUR events, shot 65 on moving day to inch within one stroke of Tiger before closing with a 74 and a T-11 fate.

For the defending champion Anthony Kim, all he needed to do was beat Tiger Woods in one round and hope that nobody in the field did what Mahan did in the final round.

Kim and Woods have competed in the same stroke-play event on the PGA TOUR on 17 occasions. Tiger has finished ahead of Kim in every one of those 17 events.

With Diana Ross' lyrics "R-e-s-p-e-c-t" likely playing in his head, Kim stuttered-stepped to a stop while approaching the 18^th green in order to allow Tiger the walk of a champion.

After all, with 15 tournament victories to surpass Sam Snead (record 82 wins} as the most prolific winner in golf and five more Major wins to surpass the Nicklaus standard of 18, Tiger Woods has certainly earned every bit of the respect he commands today.

Earlier this year, he won Arnold Palmer's Invitational at Bay Hill and Jack Nicklaus' Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village.

Now, he has won his own tournament.

Woods reigns supreme in D.C.

Next, he takes it to Turnberry in his quest for his fourth British Open crown.

Stay tuned.

Andy Reistetter is a freelance golf writer. He follows the PGA TOUR, volunteering for tournaments and working part-time for NBC Sports, CBS Sports, and The Golf Channel. He resides in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, near the PGA TOUR headquarters and home of The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach. He enjoys pursuing his passion for the game of golf and everything associated with it. He can be reached through his website www.MrHickoryGolf.net or by e-mailing him to [e-mail]