July 6, 2008 -- Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland was the venue for the 2nd Edition of the AT&T National hosted by Tiger Woods.

Just outside our nation's capitol, Congressional Country Club was opened in 1924 and has hosted five USGA events, including the 1964 and 1997 US Open and the 1976 PGA Championship. The 2011 US Open will also be contested here.

A club steeped in history and tradition is now creating new traditions. As of last year, this tournament is now played over the July 4th holiday. It is appropriate then, that we salute the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have so valiantly served in our military. Each day the tournament honored a different branch of our armed forces. It began Thursday recognizing the Air Force, Friday the Navy, Saturday the Marines and finishing with the Army on Sunday. Tiger's dad, Earl Woods, was a Green Beret in the US Army during the Vietnam War and served two full tours. The Earl Woods Memorial Pro-Am was held on Wednesday, July 2nd. The tournament got under way on Thursday July 3rd with Fred Couples and two children who's parents are serving in the military, hitting tee shots off Hole #1.

The first round leader was Steve Marino, a hometown favorite, who grew up in nearby Fairfax, VA. Steve birdied three of his opening four holes, did not have a par putt longer than 5 feet. He finished his round with an 8 foot birdie putt. He shot 5 under 65. Tied for second were 3 players at 4 under par, Jeff Overton, Frank Lickliter, and Bob Estes. In the early morning at Congressional, a rain shower softened the smooth greens, and the fireworks on the 4th got an early start. Tom Pernice Jr., tied a tournament record with a 7 under par 63. He had 8 birdies and on 6 of the holes, his furthest distance for birdie was 4ft-3inches. Steve Stricker and John Merrick shot 64's. Jeff Overton, Cliff Kresge, Nick O'Hern and Jeff Maggert had 65's. The second round leaders, Tom Pernice Jr. and Jeff Overton were at 9 under par at 131. Fifteen players were within 6 shots of the lead. Anthony Kim, a rising star, was at 134, 6 under. 83 players made the cut. The cut was 143, 3 over par.

The 3rd round called Moving Day was just that. The course again softened by rain had Hunter Mahon's 64 early in the day showed a sign that low scores were out there. Hunter had 7 birdies in the round and he birdied 3 of the 4 par 3's.

Vaugh Taylor also shot a 64. Moving up the leader board on the 3rd round had Steve Stricker in second with a 4 under 66 and 9 under for the tournament. Tommy Armour also had a 66 and was at 202, tied with Nick O'Hern, who posted a 67 in his 3rd round at 8 under for the tournment. Tied for 6th and 7th and 8th place at 7 under were Tim Herron who shot a 5 under 65 and Robert Allenby posted 67, and Anthony Kim who shot 69. Jeff Overton, who struggled some, came right back with birdies at 16 & 17 is just 2 strokes off the pace.

Tom Pernice Jr. though, was the leader after 54 holes. He shot 69 on Saturday and was at 200, 10 under par. 15 players were within 5 shots of the lead.

Anthony Kim made all the right swings when he needed them most to claim his second victory in five starts. (Photo: Getty Images)

Sunday's final round got underway much earlier than originally scheduled because of anticipated thunderstorms in the area. Players went off in threesomes from the 1st and 10th tees. Sunday yielded a lot of great scores. Peter Lonard shot a 63. D.J. Trahan shot a 64. Fredrik Jacobson, Davis Love, and Rod Pampling shot 65's. Four under 66's were shot by Jim Furyk, Rocco Mediate, Bo Van Pelt, and Alex Cejka. However, this Sunday at the AT&T National belonged to Anthony Kim.

He birdied the 1st hole, took the lead with a birdie at the Par 5 9th hole and never looked back. He played a bogey free round, 5 under 65 and a 2 shot victory over 2nd place finisher Fredrik Jacobson.

I followed the tournament very closely from Thursday through Sunday's end. I saw a great tournament with a bunch of players who had a chance to win, but two things stood out to me. The first thing is the percentage of GIR's greens in regulation at the top of the leader board.

1st Anthony Kim, GIR 12th
2nd Fredrik Jacobson, GIR 7th
Tied for 3rd Jim Furyk, GIR 3rd
Tied for 3rd Robert Allenby, GIR 1st

How can the inconsistent iron player improve his or her ball striking? The golfer must know what a good iron impact feels like. A good start would be to practice chipping correctly and to build from there.

1. Take your address position with a narrow stance.
2. Keep most of your weight on your left foot (for right handers).
3. Position the ball toward the back of your stance at address.
4. Get the hands in front of the ball at address.

As you start swinging the club back, the grip end of the club doesn't move very much, your right elbow folds which allows the club to swing back, then in the forward swing you pivot and your hands lead the club through impact. This is a very small swing, but what you are trying to feel is your hands leading the clubhead through at impact with the shaft of the club forward and maintaining the same shaft angle that you had at setup. To practice, repeat chipping drill several times, then try to practice with your normal setup trying to get the shaft slightly more forward at impact.

The second thing was even before the tournament started, some people thought that the AT&T field was not very strong. With Tiger missing, we all know what he means to the game of golf and the PGA tour. Also missing were a lot of top 10 players. The only two players from the Top 10 in the world ranking were K.J. Choi and Steve Stricker. There were only five of the Top 20, adding Jim Furyk, Masters Champion Trevor Immelman, and Anthony Kim. The PGA tour is where the best players in the world play and no matter who's in the field, you will see the best at their craft. In my opinion, if you were not at Congressional or watching the tournament on T.V., you just might have missed the next superstar in Anthony Kim, no matter who would have been in the field. Congratulations Anthony, a job well done.

P.S. Tiger we all miss you, and wish you a speedy recovery.

Rick Krebs is the PGA Director of Instruction at Turf Valley Resort, Conference Center and Spa in Ellicott City, Maryland. He was named the 2001 Mid-Atlantic Teacher of the Year and has also been cited by Golf Magazine as a Top Regional Teacher from 2003-2007 and as a Golf Digest Top Teacher in the State in 2005-2006. He can be reached at rickkrebsgolf@yahoo.com or by phone at 443-286-1986. You can learn more about Rick at his website, www.rickkrebs.com.