Woods' event could move to Philadelphia area for 2010-11

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PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Members at Aronimink Golf Club in suburban Philadelphia are to vote next week on whether to accept a proposal to host Tiger Woods' AT&T National in 2010 and 2011.

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Anthony Kim was this year's winner of the AT&T National at Congressional Country Club just outside of D.C.

During that time, current tournament host, Congressional Country Club, will be undergoing renovation for the 2011 U.S. Open.

The Oct. 15 vote comes after nearly a year of discussions between Aronimink board members and officials from the tournament and the Tiger Woods Foundation, which benefits from the event.

"It looks very favorable right now," said Greg McLaughlin, the tournament director and executive director of the foundation. "They keep telling me everyone is excited about it, so I'm cautiously optimistic that we'll receive a favorable report."

The AT&T National will be played at Congressional in 2009. The greens at the Bethesda, Md., club are to be renovated in 2010, and the U.S. Open will be played there the following year.

One Aronimink official was excited about the prospect of hosting Woods' event, which will be the first professional golf in the Philadelphia area since the Senior PGA Championship in 2003.

"The club has had an interest, over the decades, of hosting professional golf," Aronimink general manager Dick Naumann said. "It has been five years. So, the thought was, we should start looking for something.

"This came around, and it's kind of a perfect fit."

Donald Ross-designed Aronimink, annually ranked as one of the top courses in the USA, was the site of the 1962 U.S. PGA Championship won by Gary Player and host to the 2003 Senior PGA won by John Jacobs. It also hosted the U.S. Amateur in 1977 and the U.S. Junior Amateur in 1997.

Philadelphia had a PGA TOUR event from 1963 to 1980, and 2000 to 2002.

Aronimink was to host the 1993 U.S. PGA Championship but withdrew because it didn't have any minority members at the time.