The victory at the Memorial and the way he went about it seemed to quiet the critics. And so did, to a certain extent, Tiger Woods' performance at the U.S. Open.

Everyone seems to feel better about the game of the No. 1 player in the world when he is finding fairways and greens, even if there is some muttering about Woods' "failure" to win one of the first two major championships this year.

Mannie Garcia/US Presswire

In the year's first two majors, Tiger Woods twice finished tied for sixth place, including at Bethpage Black last month.

All of which leads us to this week's AT&T National, the tournament at Congressional Country Club that is now in its third year, the one that came together literally at the last-minute in 2007 after the International dropped off the PGA Tour schedule in the spring, and the one, of course, that Woods hosts.

Just days removed from knee surgery a year ago, Woods had to miss the second installment won by Anthony Kim. Woods had tied for sixth in the inaugural event, a tournament he will obviously be highly motivated to win again this week.

If nothing else, the tournament will offer another opportunity to assess Woods' game as he prepares for the British Open, two weeks from now at Turnberry.

It was at the Open Championship two years ago that Woods last finished outside of the top 10 in a stroke-place event. That is a span of 18 official stroke-play tournaments, 17 of which have been played on the PGA Tour.

Since tying for 12th in 2007 at Carnoustie, where Padraig Harrington defeated Sergio Garcia in a playoff, Woods has 10 stroke-play victories (another win came at the 2008 WGC-Accenture Match Play), including two major championships. That alone would get you considered for the Hall of Fame. And in 14 of those events, he finished among the top five.

Understandably, a good deal of focus on Woods' game has come this year since returning from the knee surgery that kept him out for eight months, causing him to miss two major championships in 2008.

In seven stroke-play events this year, Woods has two victories (Arnold Palmer Invitational, Memorial), a fourth-place finish (Quail Hollow), two ties for sixth (Masters, U.S. Open), an eighth (Players Championship) and a tie for ninth (CA Championship at Doral).

Perhaps most remarkable of all are the few times his closest rivals have been able to defeat him over the past two years in medal play.

Only two players -- Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk -- have finished tied or ahead of Woods more than twice. Mickelson has done so four times, including this year's Masters, U.S. Open and the CA Championship (which Lefty won). Furyk has done it three times. U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover has done it twice.

But go down the list of the world rankings and you see how much trouble the top players have had in tying or beating Woods over the past two years in stroke play, dating to his last finish outside of the top 10:

No. 3 Paul Casey (none); No. 4 Kenny Perry (once, 2009 Masters); No. 5 Garcia (none); No. 6 Henrik Stenson (2009 Players Championship); No. 7 Geoff Ogilvy (once, when he won the 2008 CA Championship); No. 8 Steve Stricker, (once, a tie at the 2008 Masters). No. 9 Furyk (three times, the CA Championship and Players Championship in 2009 and the 2008 CA Championship); No. 10 Vijay Singh (once, 2008 CA Championship).

Go down the list and it doesn't get any better.

No. 11 Padraig Harrington has not finished ahead of Woods in that stretch; No. 12 Camilo Villegas has done so once (a tie for fifth at the 2009 CA Championship); No. 13 Sean O'Hair did it one time, winning this year at Quail Hollow; No. 14 Robert Karlsson (zero times) and No. 15 Anthony Kim, in his career, has never finished ahead of Woods.

Granted, Woods missed six months of tournaments over that two-year stretch, and not everybody plays the same events.

Nonetheless, it does suggest that any perceived narrowing of the gap between Woods and the other top players is just not happening.

Groove talk

In casual conversations with several players since the start of the year, the idea of having to get used to new grooves in their irons at the start of the 2010 season didn't seem such a big deal. Many of them said they'd simply figure it out in the offseason. Or that they had begun to tinker but weren't worried.

So why the sudden concern in recent weeks?

Recently there came a movement in which several manufacturers and even players were pushing for the new groove rule to be postponed for a year. Why? So that players could again put off figuring out how they are going to play the game with less spin from shots coming out of the rough?

Last August, the United States Golf Association and Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews announced the significant rules change that would change grooves in irons and wedges, in essence limiting their ability to impart spin from the rough. The thinking has been that this will cause players to try to hit more fairways, perhaps use more lofted wedges or a ball that is softer and spins more.

All may be true, and it's for the players to work out. And while this is obviously not a simple fix for manufacturers, it is not as though they should be surprised, either. The rule change was discussed for the past several years and was announced last August, giving companies ample time to figure out what is happening. And many have.

As for the players, none other than Jack Nicklaus said it should not be a big deal.

"We used to go over to the British Open, changed to a small [British] ball, used different clubs and played the tournament," he said. "It takes you a day or two [to adjust]. They've got plenty of time to adjust to this."

Not surprisingly, Tiger Woods is glad that the rule will not be delayed.

"We've had plenty of time to make our adjustments," he said. "We've known for over a couple years now what this decision was going to be, when it was going to come down, and we've had plenty of time to make our adjustments."

As for the effect the new grooves will have?

"It'll be interesting seeing guys catching flyers and not being able to spin the ball back out of the rough," Woods said. "Their decision on how they play par-5s. whether they will try and drive drivable par-4s now. Short-siding yourself is obviously going to pay a little more of a price, and you know, how many more 64-degree wedges you're going to see with the balls being as firm as they are. Are guys going to start going to a spinnier ball."

A look at this week's venue

Congressional Country Club outside of Washington, D.C., is considered a new venue to most of today's PGA Tour pros, but it has a long history in the game. Designed in 1924, among Congressional's founding members were Calvin Coolidge, Woodrow Wilson and Warren Harding. It has hosted the U.S. Open in 1964 (won by Ken Venturi) and 1997 (Ernie Els) as well as the 1976 PGA Championship (Dave Stockton) and will be the site of the 2011 U.S. Open.

Now in its third year as site for the AT&T National, Congressional plays to 7,255 yards as a par-70. It ranked as the 27th most difficult course out of 54 on the PGA Tour last year, with the 11th -- a par-5 converted to a 489-yard par-4 -- playing the most difficult.

Because of the U.S. Open that is coming to the course in two years, Congressional will do some major renovations following this year's event and will be unavailable to host the AT&T tournament for 2010 and 2011, hence the tournament's move to Aronimink in the Philadelphia area before a scheduled return to Congressional in 2012.

Bob Harig covers golf for ESPN.com. He can be reached at BobHarig@gmail.com.