BETHESDA, Md. – Brendon de Jonge is a soft-spoken man. He would make a big statement on Sunday if he could pick up his first PGA Tour win at the AT&T National.
The Virginia Tech product leads the tournament by a shot at 7 under, one clear of Tiger Woods, Bo Van Pelt and Seung-Yul Noh.
‘Winning here would be that much more special, obviously being a huge Virginia Tech contingent around here, and it’s obviously a great tournament with a great field, so that would be a good feather in your cap,’ he said.
His second consecutive round of 2-under 69 was played with a small gallery of no more than four, he said. That may have included your GTC writer. This was not the smallest gallery of his career however.
‘One, probably,’ he responded, when asked if he had ever had a smaller one.
The lack of fans took some getting used to, he admitted.
‘It was really strange out there, and it took a little while to get used to,’ he said. ‘It felt like you were playing a Tuesday practice round or a qualifier.’
After getting over the initial discomfort, de Jonge said Congressional was playing the easiest it had all week. There is potential for a big storm this evening to soften the course further. De Jonge hopes to have the crowds storm back on Sunday to help him to victory.
‘It’s nice to have people out there,’ he said, ‘and get the buzz and kind of feed off adrenaline.’