FanHouse

Tiger Woods saved professional golf in the Washington, DC area with the AT&T National, but he might take his tournament and going home after 2009. The inaugural AT&T was last July, and after next year's event, it'll need a new venue because Congressional, the current host, will use 2010 to renovate all 18 greens in preparation for the the 2011 U.S. Open.

So now what? For starters, Congressional members will soon vote on whether to keep the tournament from 2012-2017, but in the meantime, AT&T National director Greg McLaughlin has been mulling the options:

McLaughlin said yesterday that there had been some thought to playing the event in 2010 at the nearby TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm, now undergoing a $25 million course and clubhouse renovation. But PGA Commissioner Tim Finchem said last week he did not think that course would be ready for a professional event by 2010, and McLaughlin said he will turn his attention elsewhere, most likely outside of the Washington area.

It sounds like courses from Philadelphia to Oregon are under consideration, but, according to the Washington Post's Leonard Shapiro, Baltimore, St. Louis and Minneapolis probably would make the most sense.

Ultimately, I expect Tiger Woods to do what Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus did for their tournaments, Bay Hill and the Memorial: build a course and give it a permanent home.