Make no mistake however: Congressional is still going to be as tough as old rope. Reigning US Open champion Graeme McDowell played the course for the first time at a USGA media day in early May and tweeted: "Congressional 7574 yards Par 71 US Open set up. No-one will break par."
Once back in the clubhouse, his assessment was just as foreboding.
"I'm hoping I got the wrong tee at eleven," he said, describing the 494-yard par-four, which features a creek down the right side of the fairway. "I can't really see much positive to say about that golf hole. If you're selling par-fours, I think I'm buying."
It’s just as well McDowell wasn’t around for U.S. Open’s previous stops at Congressional because in many ways it’s a whole new golf course that, like Twitter, the social media of choice for McDowell and friends, is made for the new generation. The layout will be the second-longest in the championship’s history. If all the back tees are used, it will be some 350 yards longer than when Ernie Els won in 1997 and more than 500 yards longer than when Ken Venturi overcame the stifling heat for his 1964 victory.
"We want the US Open to be a rigorous test," Davis said on the day. Congressional , which was originally designed by the relatively unknown Devereux Emmet, opened in 1924 and has been a favorite of many of the sport’s biggest names and some of America's most famed politicians (it's an easy drive from Capitol Hill), but, like many storied courses across the country, it has needed tinkering to keep up with the times.
