NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. -- One of America's foremost Independence Day weekend sporting traditions since its inception four years ago, the AT&T National hosts an accomplished, 120-player field including defending champion Justin Rose, 2010 FedExCup champion and PGA TOUR Player of the Year Jim Furyk, World Golf Hall of Famers and three-time major winners Ernie Els and Vijay Singh, and other standouts Geoff Ogilvy, Adam Scott, Hunter Mahan, Nick Watney and Rickie Fowler June 28-July 3 at Aronimink Golf Club.
All told, next week's $6.2 million AT&T National will showcase 11 PGA TOUR winners in 2011, 11 major champions and several golfers near the top of the FedExCup standings and PGA TOUR money list. The field will fiercely contest Rose for his trophy as well as the $1.116 million check and 500 FedExCup points awarded to this year's champion. The AT&T National is staged at Aronimink Golf Club -- the 7,237-yard, par-70 Donald Ross design, updated by Robert Trent Jones, Sr. -- for the second consecutive year.
Els, the 18-time PGA TOUR winner who won the 1994 and 1997 U.S. Opens and 2002 British Open and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in May, is making his AT&T National debut. Singh is third among active PGA TOUR players with 34 TOUR victories, including the 1998 and 2004 PGA Championship and 2000 Masters, and has top-12 finishes in the three AT&T Nationals he has played.
Other major winners hunting for Rose's trophy next week are 2009 U.S. Open champ Lucas Glover, 2008 Masters winner Trevor Immelman, 2006 U.S. Open winner Ogilvy, 2003 U.S. Open champ Furyk, 2003 Masters champ Mike Weir, 2003 British Open champ Ben Curtis, 2003 PGA champion Shaun Micheel, 1997 British Open winner Justin Leonard and 1995 PGA champion Steve Elkington.
Of this year's PGA TOUR champions in the fifth-annual AT&T National field, K.J. Choi, winner of the inaugural (2007) AT&T National and the 2011 PLAYERS Championship, is No. 2 on the PGA TOUR money list and No. 7 in the FedExCup standings. Mark Wilson, one of two double-winners on TOUR this year, is No. 3 in the FedExCup standings and eighth on the TOUR money list. Watney is No. 4 on the TOUR money list and No. 6 in the FedExCup chase. Gary Woodland won his first PGA TOUR event this year and is No. 9 in the FedExCup race and No. 11 on the TOUR money list. Glover, Harrison Frazar, D.A. Points, Johnson Wagner, Michael Bradley and impressive PGA TOUR rookies Keegan Bradley and Jhonattan Vegas are also vying to capture a second PGA TOUR win in 2011.
Seven-time PGA TOUR winners Scott and Ogilvy, who finished in a tie for second and fourth, respectively, at the Masters in April, lead the Australian contingent into the AT&T National. Talented entries who have had success at next week's event include three-time TOUR winners Anthony Kim - the 2008 AT&T National champ -- and Mahan, the 2009 AT&T National runner-up who is No. 18 on the FedExCup and PGA TOUR money list standings and has placed in the top 12 in each of his three previous AT&T National starts (also T12 in 2008 and T8 in 2007).
Sean O'Hair, a resident of West Chester, Penn., represents the tournament's local rooting interest. Kevin Chappell, another in the fine flock of 2011 PGA TOUR rookies, carries fine form into the AT&T National after tying for third in the recent U.S. Open. Robert Garrigus, third on TOUR in average driving distance (309 yards), tied for third at the U.S. Open and is joined at Aronimink GC by top-15 U.S. Open finishers Fredrik Jacobson (T14), Webb Simpson (T14) and Bo Van Pelt (T14).
The field also includes a pair of highly touted amateurs -- Oklahoma State golfer Peter Uihlein, the 2010 U.S. Amateur champion who won this year's Ben Hogan Award (recognizing the top NCAA golfer) and is slated to play in July's British Open, and UCLA's Patrick Cantlay, who finished tied for 21st (top amateur) at this month's U.S. Open with a score of even-par 284 and finished No. 1 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College rankings after winning four of his 12 NCAA starts as a freshman this past season.
While injury precludes 2009 AT&T National champion Tiger Woods from playing, he will be present in the Philadelphia area next week in support of AT&T National tournament week activities and Philadelphia-area charitable programs as well as the Tiger Woods Foundation.
The AT&T National, which benefits the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, the Boys and Girls Club of Philadelphia, and the Tiger Woods Foundation, catches the PGA TOUR stars in peak form as it is held 11 days after the U.S. Open's final round and eight days before the beginning of British Open week. Pennsylvania's only PGA TOUR event provides a vital opportunity for golfers to build confidence and momentum going into golf's third major.
AT&T National tickets can be purchased online or by calling 1-800-594-TIXX. Tournament week begins with professional practice rounds on Tuesday and the AT&T National Pro-Am Presented by SAP on Wednesday. The four-round, 72-hole showcase tees off Thursday, June 30 with live, daily coverage on Golf Channel (3-6 p.m. ET Thursday and Friday, 1-2:30 p.m. ET Saturday and Sunday). CBS will air live network coverage of the AT&T National from 3-6 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 2 and 3-6:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 3.
Last year at Aronimink Golf Club, Rose fired three sub-par rounds, including a second-round, 6-under-par 64, to shoot a 10-under 270 and clip Ryan Moore by a stroke for the AT&T National crown and his second PGA TOUR win in less than a month. The final field includes many of the world's elite golfers who have achieved highly within the AT&T National and the PGA TOUR:
Justin Rose: Age, 30; Hometown, London, England; 2011 PGA TOUR earnings, $1,342,182; Four weeks after his first PGA TOUR victory at the 2010 Memorial, he won his second event at last year's AT&T National at Aronimink Golf Club by a stroke with a score of 10-under-par 270; Tied for 16th at the 2009 AT&T National and tied for 30th in 2007; Holds three top-10 results in 2011, including a tie for third at the Arnold Palmer Invitational; Finished fourth at the 1998 British Open as a 17-year-old amateur.
Jim Furyk: Age, 41; Hometown, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.; 2011 PGA TOUR earnings, $769,757; 16-time PGA TOUR winner and 2003 U.S. Open champion who tied for third at the AT&T National in 2007 and 2008, tied for seventh in 2009 and tied for 33rd last year; 2010 FedExCup champion and PGA TOUR Player of the Year who won three times last year - Transitions Championship, Verizon Heritage, and THE TOUR Championship. Has two top-10 results in 2011.
Ernie Els: Age, 41; Hometown, West Palm Beach, Fla.; 2011 PGA TOUR earnings, $376,427; 18-time PGA TOUR winner and long-hitting South African makes his AT&T National debut next week; The three-time major champion (1994 and 1997 U.S. Open, 2002 British Open) was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in May; Ranked, No. 23 in the world, Els won twice on the PGA TOUR in 2010 and posted three top-17 results in his first five events this year.
Vijay Singh: Age, 48; Hometown, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.; 2011 PGA TOUR earnings, $1,513,290; 34-time PGA TOUR winner (third-most wins among active TOUR players) and three-time major champion (1998 and 2004 PGA Championship, 2000 Masters) tied for 12th at the inaugural AT&T National in 2007, tied for seventh in 2009 and tied for ninth last year; 2006 World Golf Hall of Fame inductee, 2008 FedExCup champion and former World No. 1 holds three top-10 results in 2011, including a runner-up finish at the Northern Trust Open.
K.J. Choi: Age, 41; Hometown, The Woodlands, TX; 2011 PGA TOUR earnings, $2,996,104; Won the inaugural AT&T National in 2007 and missed the cut the next two years; Won his eighth PGA TOUR title at this month's PLAYERS Championship and is No. 16 in the world rankings, No. 2 on the TOUR money list and No. 7 in the FedExCup race; Was in contention on Sunday to win the Masters the past two years, finishing in a tie for eighth this year and a tie for fourth in 2010.
Nick Watney: Age, 30; Hometown, Las Vegas, Nev.; 2011 PGA TOUR earnings, $2,960,733; Tied for seventh at the 2010 AT&T National, tied for 66th in 2009, and tied for 36th in 2008; Blossoming into one of PGA TOUR's elite golfers, starting 2011 with five consecutive top-10 finishes and claiming his third title this year at the WGC-Cadillac Championship. Ranked No. 15 in the world, No. 4 on the PGA TOUR money list , and No. 6 in the FedExCup standings.
Hunter Mahan: Age, 29; Hometown, Colleyville, TX; 2011 PGA TOUR earnings, $2,121,242; Second to Woods in the 2009 AT&T National where he shot a course record-tying 62 in the final round; He shot a third-round 64 to tie for 12th in the 2008 AT&T National and a fourth-round 65 to tie for seventh in 2007; Ranked No. 20 in the world and 18th in this year's FedExCup standings and PGA TOUR money list with seven top-10 results, including a second at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
Sean O'Hair: Age, 28; Hometown, West Chester, Pa.; 2011 PGA TOUR earnings, $314,951; Tied for 11th in front of his home crowd in the 2010 AT&T National at Aronimink GC, tied for 35th in 2009, tied for 75th in 2008 and tied for 25th in 2007; Three-time PGA TOUR champion's best result so far in 2011 is a tie for 16th at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.