Washington's Top Sporting Events 2009

Fredrik Jacobsen at the AT&T National Golf Tournament
Fredrik Jacobsen at the AT&T National Golf Tournament
Photo: Courtesy of Gary Newkirk/Tiger Woods Foundation

1. Legg Mason Tennis Classic
One of the premier summer stops on the men’s professional tennis tour, this 41st annual tournament is expected to draw 72,000 fans to the William H.G. Fitzgerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park from August 1 to 9.

2. Preakness Stakes
The greater D.C. area will look to Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course on May 16, when more than 100,000 fans are expected for the second leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown. Rockers ZZ Top will perform at the new Pimlico Infield Fest before the race.

3. AT&T National Golf Tournament 
The third annual outing of this Tiger Woods-hosted event comes to the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland, from June 29 to July 5. The event will move to Philadelphia for the next two years while the Bethesda course prepares to host the 2011 U.S. Open but will return in 2012.

4. Marine Corps Marathon
In 2008, this 24-year-old race updated its course, which now winds through Georgetown and past the Kennedy Center before ending at the Marine Corps War Memorial. More than 100,000 spectators will cheer on some 30,000 runners October 25.

5. SunTrust National Marathon
This fourth annual race had its biggest outing yet in March, when D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty was among 6,000 runners competing. The race returns March 20, 2010.