Tiger Woods is still five majors away from beating Jack Nicklaus's record of 18 major championships, but Woods could pass the Golden Bear for career PGA Tour wins with a victory Sunday at the AT&T National, a tournament Woods hosts.

Woods fired a four-under 67 Saturday in sweltering temperatures at Congressional to finish one shot behind Brendon de Jonge, a Virginia Tech graduate from Zimbabwe who is still looking for his first win on the PGA Tour.

Related Photos: Tiger's life in pictures

Starting the day five shots off the lead, Woods climbed into contention with four birdies in the first 10 holes, including a holed pitch shot from the back of the green at the par-5 sixth hole. The shot was similar to the one Woods holed last month at Nicklaus's tournament in Dublin, Ohio. Woods went on to win the Memorial for his second victory of the season, and it tied him with Nicklaus for second on the all-time PGA Tour wins list with 73. Sam Snead holds the record for the most wins at 82.

On the last eight holes, Woods made eight pars to get to six under for the tournament.

It was a miracle any golf was played at Congressional on Saturday. The start of play was delayed six hours after a wind storm called a derecho (duh-RAY'-choh) produced 80 mile-per-hour winds on Friday night in the Washington area, uprooting dozens of trees, knocking out power and damaging hospitality tents.

"It was amazing that we even got it in," Woods said. "The staff, maintenance crew, all the volunteers, picking up twigs and getting everything cleared out so we could actually give it a go today was an amazing effort."

Related Photos: Storm damage pictures from Congressional

Workers spent all morning cutting up large tree trunks and removing limbs scattered across the golf course, while PGA Tour officials made a rare decision to forbid volunteers and spectators from attending the third round due to safety concerns.

"It's too dangerous out here," said Mark Russell, the PGA Tour's vice president of rules and competition, on Saturday morning. "There's a lot of hanging limbs. There's a lot of debris. It's like a tornado came through here. It's just not safe."

Fans will be allowed back on Sunday, and those who had tickets on Saturday can attend the final round. They'll likely all be trying to get a glimpse of Woods as he tries to make history once again.

(Photo: Stan Badz/PGA Tour/Getty Images)

Sorry Beau. There's someone else. And, yes, he's younger.

That's right, another teen phenom is tearing down course records in Dallas, according to Bill Nichols at the Dallas Morning News. Scottie Scheffler, a 16-year-old from Highland Park, Texas, shot two rounds of 61 at two different courses last week -- both course records. Because, you know, anyone can do that once. The first 61 came at Northwood Country Club -- host of the 1952 U.S. Open -- where Scheffler clipped the record held by Hunter Mahan. Later that week, he put up the same number at Dallas Country Club, matching the record set by 2011 U.S. Amateur champ Kelly Kraft.

His coach, for one, doesn't sound surprised. Or particularly impressed:

"He's a phenomenal talent," said Royal Oaks head pro Randy Smith, Scheffler's instructor. "He was just playing for fun. We'd like to see him take that score to a tournament."

Back when he was merely 15 and a sophomore at Highland Park, Scheffler won the Class 4A state title by three strokes. He has been working through a growth spurt of eight inches and 30 pounds over the last year.

"He's growing so much I don't recognize him each time I see him," Smith said. "When you're growing that fast, you just try to maintain some semblance of your swing and stay on top of the equipment to make sure it fits. He'll be fine as soon as he knows how long his arms are."

The Bear mad at the ball?
Jack Nicklaus put on his architect hat -- which is different than, say, his club- or wine-making hat -- to talk about the changes he made to the PGA Centenary Course at Scotland's Gleneagles last Wednesday.

Gleneagles, in preparation for the 2014 Ryder Cup, brought the Bear in to beef up the much maligned course, and Nicklaus managed to get a few shots in at why the course needed changing in the first place, according to The International News.

"When I was asked to do the course more than 20 years ago, in those days it was a pretty challenging golf course.

"With the equipment and the golf ball and everything going so much further, it needed alterations.

"I would prefer golf balls being altered personally but until that happens, alterations need to happen to golf courses.

"I don't think it's going to be a golf course that breaks the back, it's not meant to be that.

"There are plenty of opportunities for birdies - birdies are exciting in the Ryder Cup - but it also makes you play golf," the American added.

Golf and politics don't mix
Might Travelers champ Mark Leishman be kept out of the British because of…immigration law?

Maybe, according to Jay Busbee at Yahoo!'s Devil Ball Golf blog. The Austrialian (who is married to an American, with an American-born son) doesn't have a green-card approved for travel abroad. What the actual consequences of that are, I'm not sure. This is a golf blog. I imagine a Tom Hanks in The Terminal sort of situation, but with much more emphasis on the airport PGA Tour Shop.

Here's what Busbee makes of it:

[Leishman] didn't bother playing in the recent Gleneagles qualifier because he figured he'd be home with his new son, and so didn't bother getting his green card updated. "But I spoke to my lawyers, my immigration lawyers, two days ago, and it's looking like I will hopefully be able to go," he said. "I've been approved for an advanced parole to leave the country."

The trick is that these matters usually take about 30 days to resolve, and we're 21 days out from the start of the British. That's cutting it a wee bit close, yes? Still, nice problem to have.

Finally, something funny
As is our custom, we follow politics with humor. Specifically, humor at the expense of David Duval, courtesy of "America's Finest News Source" (i.e., The Onion). The article is titled "David Duval Still Shilling Nike Golf Products Years After Contract Runs Out," and here's a snippet:

"He's in here about twice a week putting a Nike VR Pro driver in somebody's hands and asking them to take a few swings," said local Sports Authority manager Aaron Camacho, adding that Duval hangs around the store's golf aisles in his full Nike gear for hours at a time. "We've thought about kicking him out, but he's used and read about these products more than any of us on staff, and to tell you the truth, he's purchased more of our Nike stuff than any other customer."

Read the rest and kick off your weekend in high spirits.

Tweet of the Day:

The worst thing about opening days: a foursome that's already a hole+ behind in the 4th fairway. I shall ask Pastor to smite them.

— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) June 29, 2012

There has been a lot of buzz about Canada's newest golf course, Cabot Links in Nova Scotia, which is being touted as the only true Canadian links and the "Canadian Bandon." Several lucky media members are playing the course today before it's official opening in July.

Golf Magazine editor Eamon Lynch is one of the lucky few testing Cabot Links today. He'll be tweeting from the course all day. Follow along below.

PHOTOS: Cabot Links in Nova Scotia

The approach to 13.

— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) June 29, 2012

The blind 2nd shot at the par-5 13th.... View from over the hill to follow.

— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) June 29, 2012

My favorite hole, the 9th, which doglegs left around MacIssac's Pond. Birdie yesterday, today.....

— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) June 29, 2012

The 10th green set against MacIssac's Pond.

— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) June 29, 2012

The 10th green, playing 195 yards today.

— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) June 29, 2012

The Pastor talking about his admiration for Tiger and hoping his "interior life" comes together. Praying for his putting stroke too.

— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) June 29, 2012

The green on the short par-4 8th.

— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) June 29, 2012

What the Pastor's higher authority can't deliver, mine can. Playing through thanks to Marshall Joe.

— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) June 29, 2012

The Biarritz green at the 7th, which is 247 yards from the tips. Into the wind.‬

— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) June 29, 2012

From the 5th tee.‬

— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) June 29, 2012

The Marshall is off to move along the slow group. "Iron fist in a velvet glove," he says. I told him the glove isn't necessary.

— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) June 29, 2012

Groups putting on the shared double green for 4 and 13. Pastor's game betraying signs of doubt and little conviction.‬

— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) June 29, 2012

The 13th green, seen from the 4th fairway. ‬

— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) June 29, 2012

View from 4th tee with the offending foursome. Pastor refuses to smite them. Says he needs them in pew. ‪#selfish‬

— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) June 29, 2012

The worst thing about opening days: a foursome that's already a hole+ behind in the 4th fairway. I shall ask Pastor to smite them.

— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) June 29, 2012

The second green, ending a 620-yard par-5.

— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) June 29, 2012

The approach to the first. The pastor skipped the bunker. Blesses himself.

— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) June 29, 2012

I'm paired up with the local pastor. This is someone's cruel joke. I hope he's hard of hearing. ‪#MilitantAtheist‬ ‪#FoulLanguageUser

— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) June 29, 2012

The opening tee shot @cabotlinks. Blind, beautiful, brawny.

— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) June 29, 2012

Standing by the first tee looking across the 5th green to the Gulf of St Lawrence. ‪#cabotlinks

— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) June 29, 2012

On the first @cabotlinks

— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) June 29, 2012

Looking back down the 18th fairway toward Cabot's version of Ailsa Craig. A hell of a carry.

— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) June 29, 2012

The lodges at @cabotlinks.

— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) June 29, 2012

Proud papas: @cabotlinks owners Ben Cowan-Dewar (left) and Mike 'Bandon Dunes' Keiser greet players on the 1st tee.

— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) June 29, 2012

Every room at Cabot Links has a golf-related quote on the door. This nugget of truth adorns Room 1.

— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) June 29, 2012

Sunset at Cabot Links, Nova Scotia.

— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) June 29, 2012

Golf Magazine's Mike Walker live blogged the second round of the AT&T National, where Tiger Woods shot a three-under 68. Read all about the round below.

SCORES: 2012 AT&T National leaderboard
RECAP: Woods fires 68, moves into contention
PHOTOS: Tiger on day one at Congressional
PHOTOS: Classic pictures of Tiger Woods
PHOTOS: Tiger Woods fans dressed as Tigers

Golf.com is live blogging the opening round of the AT&T National.

Mobile users, copy and paste this URL into a browser: http://bit.ly/M9t83m

LEADERBOARD | PHOTOS

Suzann Pettersen will become the latest golfer to strip down for ESPN Magazine's the Body Issue, according to CBSSports.com (and, well, much of the internet). For comment on this development, I defer to the source of the article, CBS's Shane Bacon:

"Back in my caddie days, I had a few experiences with Suzann in the gym and let me tell you, she's a beast. Her workouts are hard and long and intense and she works really hard on her body to get the best out of it. Having her in the Body Issue seems like a lay-up for ESPN and golf fans should be excited to see a speciman (speciwoman?) in the game."

And there it is.

The magazine hits newsstands July 13. The Norwegian pro, currently ranked fifth in the world, joins the expanding Mt. Rushmore of LPGA players to appear in the annual issue, alongside Belen Mozo, Christina Kim, Sandra Gal and Anna Grzebien.

Furyk Ready to Forget U.S. Open Meltdown
Jim Furyk would, very courteously and with all due respect, request that you stop reminding him of his early-evening misadventures Sunday at Olympic Club. Thank you.

That was the gist of his performance for the press Wednesday before the AT&T National, according to Emily Kay of SBNation. It's making it really hard for him to forget, and that's an important step toward recovery:

"I've always been really good at kinda putting it behind me," Furyk said, adding that those around him have made it harder for him to do that. "I get reminded of it at least two dozen times a day [by] hundreds of hundreds of people just seeing me in public at the grocery story, at a restaurant, and you know, 'I was rootin' for you, I was pullin' for you.'"

Even PGA Tour service personnel have hopped aboard the sympathy train.

"Our commissioner was telling me yesterday that our local dry cleaner was trying to figure out, 'well, why did he hit that shot?'" Furyk recounted. When Tim Finchem noted that Furyk was not trying to shoot himself out of contention, the launderer pressed him further. "'Yeah, but he shouldn't have done it in that situation.'

"Well, no s**t," Furyk said with a laugh, "but you shouldn't break the buttons on my shirt, but it happens once in a while."

Furyk starts his first round at 1:02, alongside Robert Garrigus and Jason Day. Please address your Hallmark "Get Well Soon" cards to the Congressional locker room, c/o Fluff Cowan.

Another Open Closed
Do you want to be Merion's "Jungle Bird" at the 2013 U.S. Open? Tough. All the general admission tickets for the championship rounds are already sold out. And while fences are probably no problem for the real Jungle Bird, well, we're not all quite so avian.

But, as Yahoo's Jay Busbee writes, there are other ways in:

Aside from the usual "secondary" market, you can also buy tickets for the Monday-Wednesday practice rounds. You can also pony up some big bucks for the premium "Trophy Club" and "1895 Club" tickets. Both offer access to food, drink and (most notably) air conditioning in tents located near the 18th hole. Prices range from $50 for single-day practice-round tickets to $385 for Sunday 1895 Club ducats. (You can also get in free if you happen to be a kid or active-duty military, which is nice.)

The 2012 U.S. Open marked the event's 26th straight sell out. In all, 230,000 people graced Olympic's grounds. Since Merion is a smaller site, the USGA paired back ticket allotments - down to 25,000 per day from 33,000. Never too early to start digging your tunnel to the action…

And now for something frightening:
Yahoo came across this add for SkySports, and found it in their dark hearts to share it:

Watching Tiger morph into Monty is like watching the bad guy age after picking the wrong grail in The Last Crusade. I wonder if this will turn me away from golf the way that did from water. Always choose the pewter cup, that's the lesson there. Applied here, it means always stick to a single spokesman's face, even that face belongs to Colin Montgomerie.

Tweet of the Day:

I guess the news has come out! Yes, Iam one of the athletes in ESPN's body issue! It was a different experience but an honor to be asked!

— Suzann Pettersen (@suzannpettersen) June 27, 2012

The similarities between Tiger Woods and Justin Bieber are not immediately apparent.

But Tiger, the greatest golfer of his generation, has at least one thing in common with Bieber. Two things, actually: they both play golf; and they don't like cameras around when they play golf.

According to Jam!Showbiz ("Entertainment and Showbiz from a Canadian Angle!"), the Biebs has quite a temper when it comes to shutters snapping his downswing off track:

The Baby hitmaker had a bad day on the course at Calabasas Country Club, California after a shot landed far from the fairway and he battled to get the ball out of the rough.

The frustrated singer later took to Twitter.com and blamed the paparazzi for interrupting his game by taking his picture.

He wrote, "Dear paps... golf is supposed to be a relaxing sport... u (you) arent (sic) supposed to be in the bushes yelling at me with cameras. Let me finish the game.

"Gonna stay focused. Back at it. Not gonna focus on the negative. Just a little respect would help."

That's right, Justin. It's a Process. Believe in The Process. Stick to The Process. You'll win a major-- …er…break 90 yet. And if you give up on The Process, give Stevie Williams a call. He specializes in managing photographers.

The Mirror has some pictures of Bieber on the links - probably some of the same ones that made him angry. Have a look, if you're so inclinced.

One Hole is an Island
Next, a bit of revenge footage for angry pros. Sawgrass’s famous island green is finally, actually an island. Seven Inches of rain from Hurricaine Debbie left the par-3 almost entirely submerged Tuesday evening.  As Gary Smits of the Florida Times-Union writes:

Suffice to say that even if you were playing in the pouring rain and hit what was left of the green above water, you'd need a poontoon boat to get to the green.

The rain has obviously affected golf courses throughout the area, a bit of a stumbling block after a warm winter and fall lifted revenues and spirits among course owners and operators.

We also found this video, from TPC Sawgrass Agronomy. It appears to be a smaller target than usual.  And listen closely, I think you can hear Len Mattiace laughing manically in the background.

Tweet of the Day: A touch of inspiration for Bieber...

Starting in January 2013, the PGA Tour will end its relationship with Turner Sports, which has managed the business side of the Tour's digital operations since 2006, according to a report in Sports Business Daily.

The Tour decided not to extend its current deal with Turner and will manage pgatour.com in-house. Turner will no longer oversee the site's sales and marketing, and the Tour will continue to produce its own editorial content. The Tour plans to increase its digital sales staff and has hired Omnigon Communications to handle technical support for pgatour.com.

According to the article, the Tour weighed its options for nine months and considered staying with Turner or striking a deal with CBS and NBC, its main broadcast partners.

Turner will continue to manage PGA.com, the official site of the PGA of America, and sell golf content on Yahoo!

“This was a collaborative decision," said Matt Hong, senior vice president and general manager of Turner Sports. "We're not getting out of golf, and we will continue to move forward looking to leverage our existing portfolio across all platforms."

The World Golf Hall of Fame is digging deep to fill out this year’s ballot. According to PGATour.com, the St. Augustine shrine has added a trio of very active golfers to this years ballot:

New to the PGA TOUR ballot are David Duval and Steve Stricker while Padraig Harrington has been added to the International ballot.

The ballots have been delivered to their respective voting bodies, comprised of Hall of Fame members, golf journalists, historians and dignitaries from around the globe. The voting window closes on July 27 and an announcement for the Class of 2013 will be made later this year.

Mickelson Close to Padres Purchase
Phil Mickelson's bid to be a partial owner of his hometown San Diego Padres is getting very serious, according to Scott Miller of CBSSports.com. As Miller reports, Mickelson's consortium, which includes area businessman Ron Fowler, and the O'Malley family (who famously moved the Dodgers out west in the 50s) have entered into an "exclusive negotiating window" with Padres owner John Moores:

The final sale price is expected to be in the neighborhood of $800 million, though that includes $200 million of up-front television money from a new local contract the Padres signed with start-up channel Fox Sports San Diego that is worth $1.2 billion over 20 years. Moores figures to exit with that $200 million as part of the sale price.

Mickelson was born in San Diego and grew up in the city through high school. He still lives in the area, making his home in Rancho Santa Fe, in San Diego County.

Djoking Around
Novak Djokovic, the No. 1 tennis player in the world, looked like he was aiming for total country club dominance Monday during his first round match on the grass courts of Wimbledon. Djokovic pulled out an iron from his tennis bag before taking the court to beat Juan Carlos Ferraro, according to the AP.

As something of an inside joke with a sponsor, Djokovic pulled a kid's golf club out of his racket bag and put it on the sideline when he arrived to face 2003 French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero at the grass-court Grand Slam's main stadium. Then, after a bit of a slow and nervous beginning that included an early break, Djokovic righted himself and beat Ferrero 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 to reach the second round at the All England Club.

"It was a little funny thing," said Djokovic, whose racket maker gave him a bag that has posts to make it stand like a golf bag. "Being creative, that's all. But fans corrected me right away. They said, 'This is not a golf course.' I said, 'OK.'"

Well, it’s not primarily a golf course. But I’ve often dreamed of popping a wedge off the grass at All England’s Centre Court. In the first round, at least. By the end of the fortnight, the courts look like greens only Mike Davis could love.

Here’s a quick video of Djok’s joke, via YouTube.

According to Emily Kay at SB Nation, the faithful were not amused. Perhaps golf’s No. 1 Luke Donald will even the score with one of those stringed-flyswatters at Royal Lytham next month. At this point, he’d try just about anything to win a major.

Irish Sells Out
How excited is Northern Ireland to get this week’s Irish Open? Pumped to capacity, according to the UKPA:

This week's Irish Open at Royal Portrush will be the first sell-out the European Tour has ever had for a regular event.

It is the first time the tournament has been held in Northern Ireland since 1953 and local heroes Rory McIlroy, Darren Clarke and Graeme McDowell are all taking part along with USPGA champion Keegan Bradley and three-major winner Padraig Harrington.

"We are preparing for a crowd around the 100,000 mark for the week," championship director Antonia Beggs said.

Bravo. And the way Northern Irish golfers have played the past couple years, there are plenty of reasons for excitement. And if one of their own takes home the trophy? Well, I don’t know what might happen, but I suspect I’d like to be there to find out.

Tweet of the Day: Oh, the Emerald Isle...

You know the weather getsbad here wenit's 50 blowing 20 sprinkling and the people keep saying"hope the weather holds out like this all week"

— Keegan Bradley (@Keegan_Bradley) June 26, 2012

Each week, 15 staffers from SI Golf+, Golf Magazine and GOLF.com vote for their top 10, awarding 10 points to their first choice and proceeding in descending order to the 10th player, who gets one point. The points are then added and the ranking calculated. This ranking aims to be an of-the-moment measure of who’s playing the best right now. Tell us your top 10 in the comments field below.

RANK (TOTAL VOTES, FIRST PLACE VOTES, LAST WEEK'S RANK)
1. Webb Simpson (127, 7, 1) - Last three finishes: T29, Travelers Championship; 1, U.S. Open Championship; MC, Memorial Tournament
- Official World Golf Ranking: 5

2. Jason Dufner (126, 4, 2) - Last three finishes: T4, U.S. Open Championship; 2, Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial; 1, HP Byron Nelson Championship
- Official World Golf Ranking: 8

3. Lee Westwood (115, 2, 3) - Last three finishes: T10, U.S. Open; 1, Nordea Masters; T33 BMW PGA Championship
- Official World Golf Ranking: 3

4. Tiger Woods (97, 1, 4) - Last three finishes: T21, U.S. Open; 1, Memorial Tournament; T40, Players Championship
- Official World Golf Ranking: 4

5. Matt Kuchar (62, 0, 6) - Last three finishes: T8, Travelers Championship; T27, U.S. Open; T26, Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial
-Official World Golf Ranking: 7

6. Luke Donald (60, 0, 5) - Last three finishes: MC, U.S. Open; 12, Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance; 1, BMW PGA Championship
- Official World Golf Ranking: 1

7. Rory McIlroy (54, 1, 7)  - Last three finishes: MC, U.S. Open; T7, FedEx St. Jude Classic; MC, Memorial Tournament
- Official World Golf Ranking: 2

8. Graeme McDowell (35, 0, 8) - Last three finishes: T2, U.S. Open; MC, FedEx St. Jude Classic; MC, BMW PGA Championship
- Official World Ranking: 11

9. Bubba Watson (33, 0, NR) - Last three finishes: T2, Travelers Championship; MC, U.S. Open; MC, Memorial Tournament
- Official World Ranking: 6

10. Rickie Fowler (25, 0, 9) - Last three finishes: T41, U.S. Open; T52, Memorial Tournament; T5, Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial
- Official World Golf Ranking: 19

Others receiving votes:
Hunter Mahan (23)
Jim Furyk (21)
Dustin Johnson (10)
Padraig Harrington (8)
Justin Rose (6)
Ernie Els (5)
Zach Johnson (5)
Marc Leishman (5)
Branden Grace (4)
Louis Oosthuizen (3)
Phil Mickelson (1)