INQUIRER Sports

BETHESDA, Maryland ? Tiger Woods won the AT&T National, making a 20-foot birdie on the 16th and closing with a 3-under 67 to hold off Hunter Mahan for a one-shot victory Sunday at Congressional.

Woods made it a hat trick of victories in tournaments hosted by PGA Tour stars, this one the most meaningful of all because it was his own.

He closed with a 3-under 67 at the AT&T National for his third victory of the year, the others coming at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill and Jack Nicklaus? Memorial Tournament.

?Whether it?s my tournament, Jack?s, Arnold?s ... it really doesn?t matter. You go out there with the same intensity to win,? Woods said.

The challenge came from a rising star, just not the Californian anyone expected.

Mahan made six birdies on the back nine for a 62, tying the course record that Kim set Thursday. The final birdie on the 18th gave Mahan a share of the lead, and he had to wait more than an hour to see if Woods could top him.

Woods twice scrambled for par to stay tied for the lead, then looked as though he squandered a good birdie chance on the par-5 16th when his chip from the rough came out heavy and stopped 20 feet from the hole. Backing off once, he rolled in it, then walked stoically to the hole, nodding his head.

He closed with routine pars to finish at 13-under 267. The 68th victory of his PGA Tour career moved him to the top of the money list and the FedEx Cup standings for the first time this year.

Whether it gives him any momentum will be determined in two weeks at Turnberry.

All three of Woods? victories this year have come in his final start before a major, and he finished four shots behind in both the Masters and the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black two weeks ago. /AP