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Almost 40,000 crammed through the gates of Congressional Country Club Saturday for the third round of the AT&T National. Most were golf fans, or at least came to see the tournament's illustrious host, Tiger Woods.
Others were there just because.
Todd and his girlfriend, Amanda Hultz, camped out "in the shade" by the first hole bleachers while Todd's father, Nathaniel Todd of Bowie, wandered the course.
Other out-of-towners weren't so indifferent.
Mark Nehemiah, 31, made the trip from Lake Charles, La., killing two birds with one stone. He left his friend's apartment complex in Rockville at 8 a.m. to reach Congressional before the masses, and planned to stay until sundown, giving him plenty of time to metro to the 9:15 p.m. fireworks on the National Mall.
A self-described scratch golfer, Nehemiah followed several professionals on Saturday, even letting an out an audible "That's my boy!" when Jim Furyk's approach shot on the fifth hole died two yards from the pin.
But he wore his true allegiance on his sleeve, literally: A tight-fitting Nike T-shirt reading "Change The Game," with Woods' kneeling image plastered on the front. He also sported a baseball cap reading "A Change We Need," on the back, complemented with President Barack Obama's face lining the front.
"I've got to change out of these clothes, that's what I really need," said Nehemiah. "I know it's not that hot out; I'm from Louisiana, 95 [degrees] is room temperature, baby. It's just crowded. Too many bodies."
Kenny Kong, 26, of Gaithersburg also had his day all planned out. At night, he and several of his buddies would watch the Independence Day festivities at Freedom Park in Arlington, Va.
During the day, he'd mix his two favorite pastimes.
"I golf twice a week; call me the Chinese John Daly," said Kong. "Except I'm teeing it off a beer can."
2008 AT&T National champion Anthony Kim shot a 2-under 68 to tie Woods (who shot even par) at 10-under. On Sunday, the two will tee off at 2:20 p.m., marking the first time they have ever been paired together.
"I expect he'll be wearing red tomorrow," said Kim. "There's not too many chances you get to play the best golfer in the world at his tournament."
Michael Allen and Cameron Beckman shot 5-under and 4-under, respectively, to climb within a shot of the lead entering the final round.
Here is a roundup of the best of the action during Saturday's third round:
Best shot
Props to Rod Pampling's 80-foot sidewinder putt at 14 for birdie, but Kim's third shot on the par-4 15th was an absolute work of art. After flubbing his tee shot into the bunker, Kim saved par with an 83-yard chip shot to within 6 inches of the hole. While protocol would normally be an iron from the fairway, Kim struck his approach with a pitching wedge.
"That's something I've been working on a little bit," said Kim, "and never had the guts to hit in a tournament."
Biggest gallery reaction
Beckman's 11-yard eagle putt on 16. It wasn't the loudest reaction of the day; that would have been on any number of Woods shots. But it was the most prolonged reaction. Moments later, spectators realized the shot put Beckman into a temporary four-way tie atop the leaderboard at nine-under with Woods, Kim and Allen.
Best gallery comment
"Drop down and get your eagle on, Tig'!"
A spectator after Woods' 230-foot second shot on the par-5 ninth, an homage to a song popularized by singer/songwriter Nelly. The notoriously stoic Woods appeared unmoved, but did sink the ensuing 25-foot putt to eagle the hole and move to 11-under on the day.
Best fashion statement
Hyun Kim. One of Kong's buddies, Kim actually competed against Anthony Kim (no relation) in several American Junior Golf Association tournaments as a youngster. But the day was about far more than golf to the former; in a custom-designed air hole on one of his sandals, Kim, 26, of Towson inserted a visible drinking flask.
Of course, he didn't plan to break it open at Congressional.
"Oh no, we're waiting until later," he said. "We'd never do such a thing. This is for the fireworks. … Yeah."
Weather: Sunny, then overcast, then sunny again, with temperatures in the mid-70s. Approaching sundown, winds picked up to roughly 5-10 mph.
Attendance: 39, 961 Saturday. A tournament-record 121,095 total.
