This was the week Dean Wilson was to have been the defending champion of the only PGA Tour victory in his resume — the International — at the Castle Pines Golf Club in Colorado last year.

Instead, Wilson is playing in the AT&T National hosted by Tiger Woods starting today at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md.

"Tiger's Tourney" replaced the International on the PGA Tour calendar earlier this spring, ending a 21-year run for the unique Stableford event where only eagles and birdies mattered.

So no International, no title to defend for Wilson.

Don't feel bad. He doesn't.

"No big thing, not being a defending champion," replied the laidback Kane'ohe native in a telephone interview from his Las Vegas home before heading to the Nation's Capital to celebrate the Fourth of July.

He's got the championship trophy, his biggest paycheck, memories to cherish and a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour. That's all that matters. And the playoff victory over Tom Lehman, then the U.S. Ryder Cup captain, also got him into his first Masters and a ticket back home to Hawai'i for the Mercedes-Benz Championship at Kapalua, Maui.

"Obviously, it's disappointing," Wilson said about the International coming to an abrupt end. "It was always a successful tournament over the years."

Previous champions included two-time winners Phil Mickelson and Davis Love III, Greg Norman, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen. No Tiger, but he hasn't been enamored of the event, skipping it since 1999.

His no-show has been cited as one of the reasons why the International sagged in TV ratings. But, then, it's the same dose of reality for the other tournaments where Tiger's also a no-show.

So it's no surprise that the AT&T National figures to be a big hit this week because it's "Tiger's Tourney," a benefit for his charity foundation.

When announced as the replacement for the International, the inaugural tournament created some resentment among the PGA Tour players because it's a limited-field event, only 120 players, with Wilson being among them.

The field might be limited, but it won't be an event with limited appeal, thanks to Tiger and Phil battling it out this week.

Still, for Wilson, "it's just another tournament, but with a smaller field. It's more elite because it's got Tiger's name on it."

Besides being his tournament, it helps being Tiger's buddy.

Among the special exemptions doled out were to Notah Begay III, his ex-Stanford teammate; Chris Riley, who's trying to find his game again on the Nationwide Tour where it's not exactly the Life of Riley; and 49-year-old John Cook, the 1992 United Airlines Hawaiian Open champion, who's currently languishing 184th on the PGA Tour money list.

Wilson should be well rested, coming off a two-week break after playing in the U.S. Open at the Oakmont Country Club near Pittsburgh. And he needed the break, he said.

"Oakmont's the toughest course I've ever played," said Wilson, who finished tied for 51st. "The USGA has a knack of setting up a golf course that's borderline unfair. That's not the way it should be."

Still, Wilson's 2 for 2 in cuts made in the majors this year with the British Open at Carnoustie and the PGA Championship at Southern Hills, Okla., to go. He's the first player from Hawai'i to make the cut in the Masters, by the way.

Entering the second half of the golf season, Wilson is still looking for another tournament to defend. But he's pleased with how 2007 is going.

"So far, so good. I've had some good tournaments, some bad tournaments. I'm pretty much on the same path as last year," said Wilson, who finished 22nd on the 2006 money list with $2.5 million in earnings.

Right now, he's 65th on the money list with $884,641 with three top-10 finishes: the FBR Open, the Verizon Heritage and the Stanford St. Jude Championship, where a T-5 finish has led to his biggest paycheck of the year ($225,000) so far.

Wilson figures he's on track because he didn't win the International until mid-August when the event was held last year.

That first PGA victory produced the biggest paycheck of his career — $990,000.

That was a big thing. No wonder just being a defending champion isn't that big a deal for him. If anything, Wilson should commiserate with Ben Curtis, who won the Booz Allen Classic and the 84 Lumber Classic last year only to have both events canceled this year.

Bill Kwon can be reached at bkwon@aloha.net.