Previously sponsored by NEC, The WGC-Bridgestone Invitational is the third World Golf Championships event contested by the members of both the PGA Tour and European PGA Tour. It has been held at the par-70 Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio since it started in 1976 and is one of the annual World Golf Championships for male professional golfers. It changed sponsor to Bridgestone in 2006.
The WGC-Bridgestone Invitational features a field of 84 of the top ranked players on the American and European PGA Tours. The event has specific eligibility criteria, and targets the participants in the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup. For many years online golf bettors have been able to get great odds on pros like Ernie Els, Geoff Ogilvy, Lucas Gllinks, Adam Scott, Colin Montgomery and Retief Goosen. The WGC-Bridgestone Invitational takes place annually in August and offers a substantial purse of $8 million.
* Members of the last US and European Ryder Cup teams.
* Members of the previous US and International Presidents Cup teams
Holes: 18
Par: 70
Length in yards: Championship 7,283, Member 6,409, Front tee 5,600
Slope: Championship - 132, Member - 124, Front - 123
Designer: Bert Way and redesigned by Robert Trent Jones in 1960
The long par 70 course with seven of its 12 par fours links 450yds is ideal for his big-hitting game and as the fairways are fairly generous he can afford to be wayward off the tee sometimes. The club offers three courses of substantial length and difficulty. They are the North, West and South Courses respectively. |
