US Open Golf 2011: 9 Golfers Who Have Excelled at Congressional

With the start of the 2011 U.S. Open less than 24 hours away, here are nine golfers who have had some success at Congressional Country Club in the past, and may just experience some success again this week.

What better place for our national championship than at a traditional tree-lined golf course right outside of our nation's capital.

Let the games begin.

Sergio Garcia

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MEMPHIS, TN - JUNE 09: Sergio Garcia of Spain plays a shot on the 7th hole during the first round of the FedEx St. Jude Classic at TPC Southwind on June 9, 2011 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

Although Garcia clearly has not been the same player since the 2008 PGA Championship where he was defeated by Padraig Harrington on the 72nd hole (which happened to be the second time he lost a major to Harrington in two years), he's been showing some signs of life in 2011.

Garcia has eight top-25 finishes in his last 11 starts worldwide.  In addition, Garcia won the Booz Allen Classic at Congressional Country Club back in 2006.

Although he may be a long shot, when it comes to the U.S. Open it's always difficult to completely rule out a ball-striker of Garcia’s caliber, particularly on a golf course where he has experienced some success at in the past.

K.J. Choi

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DUBLIN, OH - JUNE 03: K.J. Choi of South Korea hits his tee shot on the 14th hole during the second round of the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance at the Muirfield Village Golf Club on June 3, 2011 in Dublin, Ohio. (Photo by Scott Ha

Although Choi hasn't finished better than T-47 at a U.S. Open since 2005, he's coming off a T-8 at the Masters and a win at the Players Championship.

Choi may not be long, but he's incredibly accurate with his machine-like butter fade, which is probably why he tends to rise to the top of leaderboards at very difficult golf courses, like Congressional where he won the 2007 AT&T National.

Congressional will play a lot longer than TPC Sawgrass, so the short-hitting Choi will have to be exceptionally accurate if he wants to be in contention on Sunday afternoon.

Anthony Kim

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL - MAY 13: Anthony Kim hits a tee shot during the second round of THE PLAYERS Championship held at THE PLAYERS Stadium course at TPC Sawgrass on May 13, 2011 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

Anthony Kim has had just one top-10 finish since returning from thumb surgery last August.  However, this may just be the week he breaks out of his 10-month slump.

Kim tied for 25th at the 2007 AT&T National at Congressional, won the 2008 AT&T National and tied for third at the 2009 AT&T National. 

Kim has also won the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow, which is a course very similar to Congressional.

Moral of the story—although Kim hails from Southern California and resides in Texas, he seems to play very well at traditional East Coast tree-lined golf courses.

Look for Kim to make a run this week at Congressional. 

Ernie Els

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DUBLIN, OH - JUNE 03: Ernie Els of South Africa hits a pitch shot on the 13th hole during the second round of the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance at the Muirfield Village Golf Club on June 3, 2011 in Dublin, Ohio. (Photo by Scott H

Like many great players that begin to lose their ability to score, Els has been battling demons on the putting greens for most of the 2011 season.  He's even gone so far as to briefly switch to a long putter during the Heritage in late April.

However, Els is not as far removed from success as some seem to think.  He won twice on the PGA Tour last year and won the South African Open earlier this year on the European Tour.

Although it's now been 14 years since Els won the second of his two U.S. Open Championships, that victory did come at Congressional Country Club.

If there's anything that can immediately break a player from their slump, its confidence, and if there’s anything that can boost a player’s confidence, it’s a return to a course where they have experienced success at in the past.

Hunter Mahan

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BETHESDA, MD - JUNE 14: Hunter Mahan watches a shot during a practice round prior to the start of the 111th U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club on June 14, 2011 in Bethesda, Maryland. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

Hunter Mahan may not have a victory at Congressional, but it's clear that he likes the golf course. 

Mahan tied for eighth at the 2007 AT&T National, tied for 12th in 2008 and finished second to Tiger Woods in 2009 after posting a final round 62.

Mahan is one of the best drivers of the ball on tour, which is a marked advantage at any U.S. Open venue.  He also knows that he has what it takes to win the Open.  Back in 2009, had it not been for his ball hitting the flagstick on the 70th hole of the tournament and ricocheting off the front of the green, he would have had an excellent chance either win, or at least place in the top-five.

As we've all seen—ahem, the Ryder Cup—Mahan's short-game is his real weakness.  He can also be a very streaky putter. 

However, if he keeps the ball in the fairway and hits a large number of greens in regulation, Mahan has as good a chance as anyone else this week at Congressional.

Jim Furyk

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BETHESDA, MD - JUNE 14: Jim Furyk hits a shot during a practice round prior to the start of the 111th U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club on June 14, 2011 in Bethesda, Maryland. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

After capturing the 2010 FedEx Cup and Player of the Year Award, Jim Furyk has had an off year by his standards in 2011. 

Furyk has just two top-10 finishes since last year's Tour Championship and has missed the cut in two of his last three events.

That being said, it's difficult to believe that a gritty competitor like Furyk will end his career with only one major championship victory.

Furyk also seems to like Congressional Country Club.  He has finished within the top six at each of the last three AT&T National events held at Congressional and tied for sixth at the 1997 U.S. Open, which was also held at Congressional.

Furyk may not been running like Animal Kingdom coming into this event, but as we have seen time and time again, that doesn’t really matter as long as he gets hot for the next four days.

Robert Allenby

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MEMPHIS, TN - JUNE 09: Robert Allenby of Australia plays a shot during the first round of the FedEx St. Jude Classic at TPC Southwind on June 9, 2011 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

If Robert Allenby were even a decent putter, he would have won 20 PGA Tour events by now. In terms of pure ball-striking, you won't see many players out there better than Allenby. 

However, on and around the greens is where most majors are truly won...except the U.S. Open.

As U.S. Open scores typically don't go too low, it's one major where a player that hits a lot fairways and greens can actually have an advantage over a player with a hot putter.

You could be the hottest putter on the face of the planet, but if you are missing greens at a U.S. Open, you are going to be faced with A LOT of 10 foot par putts.

Allenby could conceivably have an outstanding ball-striking week, complimented by several birdies on the par-fives and wind up with an under-par score with or without having a good week on the greens.

Allenby has also experienced some success at Congressional.  He tied for 6th at the 2007 AT&T National and tied for third in 2008.

U.S. Opens have been won almost solely on pure ball-striking before, and they inevitably be won on pure ball-striking again.

Brandt Snedeker

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MEMPHIS, TN - JUNE 09: Brandt Snedeker hits a shot during the first round of the FedEx St. Jude Classic at TPC Southwind on June 9, 2011 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

Brandt Snedeker winning the U.S. Open, are you kidding me?

Well, he very nearly won the Masters back in 2008 and he defeated world number one Luke Donald in a playoff at the Heritage less than two months ago.

Snedeker has also experienced some success at Congressional in the past with a T-8 finish at the 2007 AT&T National and a T-5 finish at the same event in 2009.

Similar to Choi, Snedeker is a very accurate player and has an excellent putting stroke, which is probably why he has two top-10 finishes in his last three U.S. Opens.

Snedeker just may be the type of guy that hangs around for three days and then uses his pure putting stroke to hold his round together while everyone else around him collapses on Sunday.

Davis Love III

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PLANO, TX - MAY 23: Davis Love III hits his tee shot on the 18th hole during the Open Qualifying Competition at Gleneagles Country Club on May 23, 2011 in Plano, Texas. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images)

Congressional is a big, long tree-lined golf course, very similar to Winged Foot where Davis Love III won the 1997 PGA Championship, and very similar to Quail Hollow, where Love has finished T-22 or better in each of his last three appearances.

Love also has two top-30 finishes in his last two appearances at Congressional.

Yes, Love is getting up there in age, and he has had a lot on his plate in terms of his Ryder Cup responsibilities for the 2012 matches, but he may just have one more major in him, and Congressional is the type of golf course that Love has typically performed very well on.

Will it happen?

Probably not.

But if it does, he may just be captaining himself in the 2012 Ryder Cup matches.

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