Aronimink Golf Club

One day after a neck injury prompted him to withdraw from a tournament in the middle of a round for the first time in his professional career, Tiger Woods fulfilled a commitment Monday to visit Aronimink Golf Club as the AT&T National's defending champion. But the main question on everyone's mind was whether the injury would allow Woods to return to Newtown Square in seven-plus weeks to compete in the PGA Tour event that benefits his charitable foundation. "Oh, if I'm playing, I'm playing here, no doubt," Woods said during a 23-minute news conference.

As one of the four founding members of the Golf Association of Philadelphia in 1897, Aronimink Golf Club, which started out as the Belmont Golf Association, has experienced its share of historic moments in three centuries. The club's first professional, John Shippen, who was 19 when hired in 1898, was the first minority to play in a U.S. Open and likely the first golf pro born in the United States. He grew up on the Shinnecock Indian reservation on Long Island, where his father was a Presbyterian pastor.

  With the 2011 AT&T National entering its final two days, Aronimink Golf Club is completing what could be considered a two-year audition for a future PGA Championship or U.S. Open, which is why club officials have hosted representatives this week from the PGA of America and the U.S. Golf Association. On Thursday, club president Joe Brooks and his fellow officers met with Kerry Haigh, managing director of championships and business development for the PGA of America. USGA representatives toured the Newtown Square layout Friday and spoke briefly with Brooks.

Chet Walsh of Philadelphia Country Club and John Clough of Aronimink Golf Club combined for a 4-under-par 68 to win the Doylestown Invitational Golf Tournament in better-ball-of-partners competition yesterday at the Doylestown Country Club.

Bill Walsh of the Philadelphia Country Club held the 36-hole gross lead with a total of 151 in the Fall Outing of the Philadelphia Seniors' Golf Association yesterday at the Mountain Laurel Resort golf course. Mike Molony of Aronimink Golf Club has the net lead at 140. The three-day tournament ends today. The low two of three rounds are reckoned.

BETHESDA, Md. - To Tiger Woods' way of thinking, people have short memories, as illustrated by the guy who asked him at Monday's AT&T National media day: "How will you know when you're back?" "Well, I won a tournament already," Woods said, sparking laughter from the audience at Congressional Country Club as he referred to his victory in March at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. Woods' win - his seventh at Bay Hill - broke a PGA Tour drought that had stretched back to September of 2009, or shortly before the time his life started to unravel with revelations about his marital infidelity.

Chris Lange of Overbrook Golf Club will defend his Philadelphia Amateur Golf Championship today against David Brookreson, the 1991 holder of the title from Huntingdon Valley Country Club. The 36-hole match play final will start at 8 a.m. at the Aronimink Golf Club. The tournament, in its 98th year, is the most grueling on the Golf Association of Philadelphia circuit because it consists of 144 holes of play, 36 for each of four days.

Dave Brookreson of the host course was named the winner of the 36-hole Lynnewood Hall Challenge Cup yesterday at Huntingdon Valley Country Club after finishing in a first-place tie with Jay Sigel, a former U.S. and British Amateur champion. Brookreson and Sigel each finished the two-day event at 142. After carding a 72 yesterday, Sigel, from Aronimink Golf Club, left to play in another tourney. Brookreson, who later completed a round of 74, was declared the victor by tournament officials because Sigel was unavailable for a playoff.

Mike Gregor of Huntingdon Valley Country Club and Jim Kania of Overbrook Golf Club rose from 10th place to win the second annual Kerwin Cup Invitational Golf Tournament of the Torresdale-Frankford Country Club with a 36-hole score of 4-under-par 136 yesterday. Gregor and Kania followed a 1-under-par 69 on Friday with a 3-under-par 67 yesterday to win by 1 stroke in the better-ball-of-partners event. Each had finished in a tie for the medal prize in the recent 36-hole qualifying round of the Philadelphia Amateur Championship at the Aronimink Golf Club.

Who will win the AT&T National at Aronimink this week? Four involved with the tournament and three Inquirer golf sages chose five players each. Here are their picks: Joe Brooks President, Aronimink Golf Club Ryan Moore Nick Watney Adam Scott Sean O'Hair Jim Furyk Mike Higgins Tournament chairman Ryan Moore Rickie Fowler Arjun Atwal Geoff Ogilvy Trevor...

BETHESDA, Md. - To Tiger Woods' way of thinking, people have short memories, as illustrated by the guy who asked him at Monday's AT&T National media day: "How will you know when you're back?" "Well, I won a tournament already," Woods said, sparking laughter from the audience at Congressional Country Club as he referred to his victory in March at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. Woods' win - his seventh at Bay Hill - broke a PGA Tour drought that had stretched back to September of 2009, or shortly before the time his life started to unravel with revelations about his marital infidelity.

After a breakthrough season last year, Webb Simpson finally appears to be comfortable playing on the PGA Tour. And that's not necessarily a good thing. The way the 26-year-old North Carolina native figures it, sharper golf comes from not being comfortable, from having to overcome nerves in a tough situation. "I think as an athlete, you're so used to feeling nerves and performing under pressure," Simpson said this week in advance of his trip Monday to Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square for an outing with Chase Sapphire card members.

Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square hosts thousands of golfers who hit thousands of balls into water hazards each year. This week, four people from Michigan decided to retrieve some of those strays - by diving into the ponds. According to Willistown police, the four were arrested at the club early Wednesday. In their white van and trailer, police found scuba equipment and about 8,000 golf balls, some marked "White Manor Country Club. " Police said the four claimed they had permission from White Manor to retrieve the balls from the murky water hazards and resell them.

Things just were not going well last spring and early summer on the PGA Tour for Sean O'Hair. He felt his golf game was improving but it didn't show in the results. He had missed 9 of 12 cuts, including the AT&T National at Aronimink Golf Club - his home course - and at the British Open, where he doubled-bogeyed the 36th hole at Royal St. George to finish 1 off the needed number. He felt patience and "staying in the moment" would lead to some success, and it happened rather unexpectedly the week after the British in late July when he captured the Canadian Open in a playoff, his first tour victory in 26 months.

Aronimink Golf Club's two-year audition in the professional golf spotlight took a final bow Sunday, well ahead of the forecast thunderstorms that bumped up the starting time for the fourth round of the AT&T National, but long after it became clear that this year's event was destined to lack the "extra" in extraordinary. It wasn't the fault of the golf course, which rebounded to play fairly on Sunday after enduring a brutal Saturday beat-down, and it wasn't the fault of the local organizers who produced a crisp, efficient tournament.

This is the way it's going these days for Jim Furyk. He began the second round of the AT&T National seeking a subpar number to make the 36-hole cut, but his drive on his first hole - the treacherous 10th at Aronimink Golf Club - came up against a root in the left rough that he did not see. He skulled his second shot across the fairway and wound up with double bogey. And that was pretty much it for the West Chester native. He finished with a 71 for an 8-over 148 total and his fourth consecutive missed cut on the PGA Tour this season.

  With the 2011 AT&T National entering its final two days, Aronimink Golf Club is completing what could be considered a two-year audition for a future PGA Championship or U.S. Open, which is why club officials have hosted representatives this week from the PGA of America and the U.S. Golf Association. On Thursday, club president Joe Brooks and his fellow officers met with Kerry Haigh, managing director of championships and business development for the PGA of America. USGA representatives toured the Newtown Square layout Friday and spoke briefly with Brooks.

Those who truly understand sports, especially at the youth level, know that being a part of athletics should not be solely about winning, but rather a barometer about the ways of life. Hard work, being a good teammate, showing good sportsmanship, those are all trademarks in sports that also equate to life. That is the lesson of The First Tee, which held a fundraiser last night at Merion Golf Club. They piggybacked the event with the AT&T Tournament which is being held at nearby Aronimink Golf Club.

Who will win the AT&T National at Aronimink this week? Four involved with the tournament and three Inquirer golf sages chose five players each. Here are their picks: Joe Brooks President, Aronimink Golf Club Ryan Moore Nick Watney Adam Scott Sean O'Hair Jim Furyk Mike Higgins Tournament chairman Ryan Moore Rickie Fowler Arjun Atwal Geoff Ogilvy Trevor...