Washington
06 July 2009
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| Tiger Woods poses with the trophy after winning the AT&T National golf tournament at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland, 5 July 2009 |
Tiger Woods started the day tied with Anthony Kim and was even par through his first five holes. But the world's top player had birdies on the sixth and seventh holes, and finished the first nine holes at 12 under par.
Woods added a birdie on 10. But the 11th hole, where he had struggled all week, again proved difficult when he hit his drive into a ravine. Woods had to drop his ball and bogeyed the hole to fall back to 12 under for the tournament.
Woods said the pressure was on when he learned that Hunter Mahan shot an eight under par to tie him for the lead.
"At the time, I was tied for the lead. And you can go either way," he said. "You can win the tournament or lose the tournament from here. So just keep plodding along and hopefully sneak one or two birdies coming in and get the title."
Tiger regained his form and birdied the 16th hole to go to 13 under par and win the trophy for the first time.
Hunter Mahan finished in second place at 12 under par. Mahan said that shooting eight under par 62 was something he knew he could do.
"You know I felt like I was hitting great all week," he said. "I just couldn't get any putts. And that just kind of beats you up because you are hitting so good and get nothing out of it. To hit the good shots and to make the putts in the final round like I did today, it feels nice."
Defending champion Anthony Kim finished in third place at nine under par after shooting a one over par 71.
The tournament was one of the last U.S. PGA Tour events before the British Open tees off on July 16 in Scotland. Next year, the tournament will be played at Aronimink Golf Club outside of Philadelphia as the Congressional Country Club prepares to host the U.S. Open in 2011.