Congressional Eyes 2026 Return?

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Barry Svrluga in the Washington Post with a story on the club and its prospects of a future Open date.

But move out 15 years, and consider the following scenario: It is 2026, the United States is celebrating its 250th birthday, and the USGA brings the U.S. Open back to the nation’s capital.

“There’s such an appeal to that point,” USGA Executive Director Mike Davis said. “First of all, to get to the middle Atlantic, to get to the nation’s capital, infrastructure-wise, it works. There’s lots of land. It’s great to do an event. It’s good for spectators. The golf course certainly is a great test, and so there’s no reason we wouldn’t come back.”

There just aren't many compelling reasons to come back, either.

Congressional Ready For A Visit From President Obama

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No one on property knows whether the President of the United States will visit the U.S. Open at Congressional, but the USGA has prepared just in case with a specially built tower behind the 16th green.

The tower has been in place all week and looked like a television location until a fronting shield was removed before today's final round. The location offers two areas of access for the President's arrival and departure as well as telecommuications hookups.

Here are a few glimpses of the tower:

 

"The greens are soaking wet, and so are the fairways. It's target golf. It's not really a U.S. Open."

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Tough and honest words from Graeme McDowell Saturday after the round. He certainly wasn't trying to take away from Rory's performance (read the rest of the unbylined AP story or the transcript), nor is it a knock on the maintenance effort. But he was merely pointing out how different this course is compared to typical U.S. Open setups.
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“When I qualified, I was so excited that I was going to see him."

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Great Rory and U.S. Open read from Jeff Rude, who tells us about qualifier Scott Pinckney and a friendship with Rory McIlroy that was rekindled this week:

So Pinckney waited for McIlroy to register on Monday. And waited. And waited. He said he kept going to the registration desk, asking, “Has Rory registered yet?”

Soon after, they met by chance on a clubhouse elevator. The scene smacked of something out of a sappy movie.

That night, they went to dinner, with Pinckney’s father joining. The next morning, they went to a shopping mall together, just the two of them. They had coffee there. They shopped. Pinckney said he bought some underwear briefs. McIlroy, who looks like he doesn’t need to shave, bought shaving cream.
“He hasn’t changed,” Pinckney said. “He’s completely down to earth. It was like nothing had changed, like we were best of friends.”

Quick Rory And Golf Course Observation For Saturday

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Obvious question of the day: can Rory hang on this time?

We can't possibly know how much pressure the 22-year-old is feeling, but looking at Congressional's architecture and setup this week, the early speed horse has an advantage over the late chargers even if the Championship Committee follows through with their expected late-charge-friendly Sunday setup. (Something I explain more about in this Golf World Daily prognostication.)

In other words, the combination of soft greens and the Rees Jones pre-vent design makes this course much easier to hold a lead on than Augusta National.