"He won't even go over there and look at it. I don't think he wants to play there."

Leonard Shapiro says the folks at Congressional don't want to see Tiger's AT&T National anywhere near Washington in 2010 or 2011 so they can sell those corporate chalets for the US Open. Oh but Ponte Vedra thinks otherwise...

Another Congressional source indicated the PGA Tour still would like to persuade the Woods Foundation to play the event in 2010 and 2011 at newly renovated TPC Avenel, about a mile from Congressional. The club is owned by the tour and had been the site for Washington's annual tour event since 1987, when the course first opened for play. Avenel is undergoing a $24 million course and clubhouse renovation scheduled to be completed in November.

Something tells me the USGA was on the phone to the club after word got out they were using the 2009 AT&T to pay for the greens reconstruction. And you wonder why they went to Chambers Bay?

They're upbeat at Avenel:

"It's going to be a lot different golf course for the pros," said Mike Sullivan, Avenel's general manager. "It would be ideal for us to have the [Woods] tournament here; we'd love to have it. All we can do is prepare and be ready."

Another Congressional source said Woods, who has not played in a PGA Tour event at Avenel, has heard so many negative comments about the course, "he won't even go over there and look at it. I don't think he wants to play there."

Sullivan confirmed Woods has never visited Avenel but said: "Maybe once we get some grass on it, we can persuade him to take a ride around here. It might change his perception."

Key word: might.