Tomorrow is the start of the 2014 WGC Bridgestone Invitational at the South Course at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. This is the third out of four World Golf Championship (WGC) events played during the season. WGC events are really unique and elite tournaments for a few reasons. They typically give out more prize money than majors, offer a lot of World Golf Rankings points, and feature a lower number of players in the field.
As for the Bridgestone Invitational in order to be "invited" a player must have done one of the the following. i) play on the previous Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup team (whichever was more recent). ii) Rank in the top 50 in the World Golf Rankings. iii) Be a winner of one select tournament on other tours (Japan Tour, Sunshine Tour, etc.). The tournament's purse is also $9 million.
Firestone Country Club is also one of the tougher courses that players will play during the golf season and usually ranks within the top 5 courses of average shots over par. It's also a long course; 7400 yards and only a par 70. However this has not seemed to deter Tiger Woods over the years, who has won this tournament eight times, his last win coming just last year. He's no doubt a favourite going into the tournament.
Finally here are our favourites for the winner this week:
1) Graeme McDowell: He's played really well in the past two weeks and in the previous two WGC events, including a T10 last week. We're always picking him when he plays.
2) Miguel Angel Jimenez: He may be the oldest player in the field this week, but he did tie for 4th place last year. He also has to do well this week to hopefully ensure a Ryder Cup spot.
3) Adam Scott: A T5 at the Open Championship among others means that his game is in a good spot at the moment. He also knows what it takes to win this tournament, having won it in 2011.
Stay tuned Friday for our Weekend Update of the 2014 Bridgestone Invitational,
-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews
The Presidents Cup and the Ryder Cup are exceptions in the world of professional sport because players do not receive prize money despite contests being high-profile and bringing in substantial sponsorship and television revenue. European Ryder Cuppers do not receive any prize money, but they receive gifts from their captains funded by the Ryder Cup pool.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting and sharing Jeffery, I did not know that European players received gifts!
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