WGC-Bridgestone Invitational

WGC-Bridgestone Invitational

Tournament information
Location	Akron, Ohio
Established	1976
Course(s)	Firestone Country Club
Par	70
Length	7,400 yards
Tour(s)	PGA Tour PGA European Tour Japan Golf Tour
Format	Stroke play
Prize fund	$8,500,000
Month played	August
Tournament record score
Aggregate	259 Tiger Woods (2000)
To par	-21 Tiger Woods (2000)
Current champion
Adam Scott
2011 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational

The WGC-Bridgestone Invitational is one of the annual World Golf Championships for male professional golfers. It is sanctioned and organized by the International Federation of PGA Tours and the prize money is official money on both the PGA Tour and the PGA European Tour. The event, sponsored by NEC through 2005 and known as the WGC-NEC Invitational, was established in 1999 as a successor to the World Series of Golf, which was also sponsored by NEC.

The tournament changed sponsorship in 2006, with Bridgestone taking over from NEC as title sponsor. As a part of the original five-year sponsorship agreement, the event continues to be held at its traditional site of the Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio; the sponsorship has now been extended to 2014.

The WGC-NEC/Bridgestone Invitational

The current event has a field of about 75 players, roughly half the number for a standard professional golf event. Invitations are issued to the following:

• Playing members of the last named Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup teams (whichever was played last).
• Players ranked among the top 50 on the Official World Golf Rankings (one week and two weeks prior to event).
• Tournament winners of worldwide events since the prior year's tournament with an Official World Golf Ranking Strength of Field Rating of 115 points or more.
• The winner of one selected tournament from each of the PGA Tour of Australasia, Sunshine Tour, Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour.

From 1999 to 2001, only the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams were eligible and the field was about 40 players. Prior to 2011, both Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams were eligible.

All of the events up to 2005 were held in the United States, and all except the 2002 edition at Firestone Country Club.

The most frequently shown finish in the event's history occurred in 2000, when the final round was delayed and Tiger Woods capped a record 11-stroke win by sticking his approach on the final hole to within 2 feet in near-total darkness. As his arms rose in victory, he was immediately illuminated by dozens of camera flashes from the gallery and press around the green.

The World Series of Golf

Up until 1998, there was a tournament called the World Series of Golf, which was also played at Firestone Country Club for many years, and sponsored by NEC. It was founded as a four man invitational event in 1962, but later became a PGA Tour event, and eventually one of the leading events on the Tour. For many years a victory in the World Series of Golf gave a golfer a 10-year exemption on the Tour, which was the same as was granted for a victory in a major championship at that time, and twice as long as is given even for winning a major now. The field consisted of the winners of all the high status men's professional golf tournaments around the world in the previous twelve months. This was quite different from the criteria for the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational listed above, but produced much the same sort of global field.

Winners

Year	Player	Country	Winner's score	To Par	Margin of victory	Winner's share ($)
WGC-Bridgestone Invitational
2011	Adam Scott	Australia	62-70-66-65=263	-17	4 strokes	1,400,000
2010	Hunter Mahan	United States	71-67-66-64=268	-12	2 strokes	1,400,000
2009	Tiger Woods (7)	United States	68-70-65-65=268	-12	4 strokes	1,400,000
2008	Vijay Singh	Fiji	67-66-69-68=270	-10	1 stroke	1,350,000
2007	Tiger Woods (6)	United States	68-70-69-65=272	-8	8 strokes	1,350,000
2006	Tiger Woods (5)	United States	67-64-71-68=270	-10	Playoff	1,300,000
WGC-NEC Invitational
2005	Tiger Woods (4)	United States	66-70-67-71=274	-6	1 stroke	1,300,000
2004	Stewart Cink	United States	63-68-68-70=269	-11	4 strokes	1,200,000
2003	Darren Clarke	Northern Ireland	65-70-66-67=268	-12	4 strokes	1,050,000
2002*	Craig Parry	Australia	72-65-66-65=268	-16	4 strokes	1,000,000
2001	Tiger Woods (3)	United States	66-67-66-69=268	-12	Playoff	1,000,000
2000	Tiger Woods (2)	United States	64-61-67-67=259	-21	11 strokes	1,000,000
1999	Tiger Woods	United States	66-71-62-71=270	-10	1 stroke	1,000,000

^POPlayoff winner
*Note: played at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Washington

World Series of Golf winners

Year	Player	Country
NEC World Series of Golf
1998	David Duval	United States
1997	Greg Norman (2)	Australia
1996	Phil Mickelson	United States
1995	Greg Norman	Australia
1994	José María Olazábal (2)	Spain
1993	Fulton Allem	South Africa
1992	Craig Stadler (2)	United States
1991	Tom Purtzer	United States
1990	José María Olazábal	Spain
1989	David Frost	South Africa
1988	Mike Reid	United States
1987	Curtis Strange	United States
1986	Dan Pohl	United States
1985	Roger Maltbie	United States
1984	Denis Watson	Zimbabwe
World Series of Golf
1983	Nick Price	Zimbabwe
1982	Craig Stadler	United States
1981	Bill Rogers	United States
1980	Tom Watson	United States
1979	Lon Hinkle	United States
1978	Gil Morgan	United States
1977	Lanny Wadkins	United States
1976	Jack Nicklaus	United States

External links

• Official site