BETHESDA, Md. — Except for the massive grandstands and endless stream of shuttle buses, so much about Congressional looks somewhat similar to Hunter Mahan from the last time he was here.

Mahan closed with a 62 two years ago and finished one shot behind Tiger Woods.

That was in the AT&T National, a regular PGA Tour event situated on the calendar between two majors.

This is the U.S. Open.

The memories of the AT&T National were still fresh, however, after Mahan played a practice round upon arriving over the weekend. So when asked whether anyone could shoot a 62 this week — no one has done better than 63 at a U.S. Open, and the last time was eight years ago at rain-softened Olympia Fields — Mahan actually thought about it.

And then he thought some more.

“Yeah,” he finally concluded. “At this point, it seems possible.”

Left unclear was whether “at this point” referred to Monday, when it was the first full day of practice for the U.S. Open, when scores don’t count and the greens are not quite as firm as they tend to be when the competition gets under way on Thursday.

But it was the overall look of Congressional, which is getting favorable reviews as a a stern but fair test. That’s different from what Mahan has seen at other majors, such as Oakmont in 2007, his first U.S. Open as a pro. Mahan tied for 13th that week, despite never posting a round better than 2-over 72 all week.

“Some U.S. Opens you get to, there’s no hope,” he said. “But here, you’ve got three par 5s ... I think there’s a lot of birdie holes. Now, you’re going to have to play unbelievably. Usually, it’s not possible at all. But you could see a really good round out here.”

Three players in the 156-man field at the U.S. Open have won at Congressional. Only one of them knows what it takes to win a U.S. Open. That would be Ernie Els, who captured his second U.S. Open title in 1997 at Congressional.

When the AT&T National came to Congressional in 2007, K.J. Choi won over Steve Stricker. A year later, Anthony Kim closed with a 65 for a two-shot win over Fredrik Jacobson. Woods had rounds of 64-66-70-67 when he won in 2009. He won’t get another crack at Congressional this year because he is not playing due to left leg injuries.

“The course definitely plays different than when I won in 2007,” Choi said. “The tee shot ... when you’re standing on the tee box, the holes played different. You have to attack differently. They’ve pulled it back 20, 30 yards on some of the holes, so you actually have to draw your shots, where in 2007, I could fade my shots.”

Even so, the experience of winning has helped Choi feel like he knows his way around. He knows where he can miss, and where the big numbers are waiting if he misses in the wrong spot.

“I think the key point is whether you’re able to hit your second shots and stop it on the green, stick it to the green, stick it to the pin within four or five yards,” Choi said. “Once you’re able to do that, I think you have a better advantage.”