The World Golf Championships third leg is set to begin Wednesday, Aug. 3 at the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. One week remains for players to gain entry, as the field will consist of event winners from this year and the top-50 players in the Official World Golf Rankings.
In recent news, Tigers Woods has committed to take part, more than two moths after withdrawing from the Players championship with knee and ankle injuries. He has won this particular event seven times and he lost in the first round at the Accenture Match Play Championship and finished tied-10th at the Cadillac Championship.
Woods decision is definitely surprising and he will be without longtime caddie Steve Williams, who he fired after being on his bag for more than 13 years. It’s expected that the 14-time major champion will have longtime friend Bryon Bell next to him for his first tournament since May 12.
Luke Donald and Nick Watney will also be among the field, as both have each won a leg of the four-round event earlier this year.
Donald rose up to No. 1 in the OWGR rankings with his play at the Accenture Match Play Championship, outplaying a field of 64 golfers, closing out Germany’s Martin Kaymer after 16 holes. He still holds the top spot and is closely followed by fellow Englishman Lee Westwood.
Watney sits just outside of the top 10 world rankings at No. 11 and will try to conjure up another win against a talented field like he did in May at the Cadillac Championship. He finished with a 16-under 272 and earned $1.4 million.
Most of the media’s eyes will once again be focused on Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, who failed to deliver back-to-back major wins, finishing tied-25th in the British Open at Royal St. George’s.
McIlroy will be a popular bet in his first start back on North American soil after capturing a dominating win in the U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club. He set the 36-hole, 54-hole and 72-hole scoring records for the long-standing event.
He will be making his 11th career start in a World Golf Championships event and will be walking the course at the Bridgestone Invitational for the third time.
The event will also welcome Open Champion Darren Clarke, who said he’d be more than happy to be paired up with Woods in the first round.
“He’s been a very good friend for a long time,” Clarke commented. “He offered some advice during Open week and I appreciated that.”
Clarke won this event in 2003, but seemed to suffer a hangover after winning his first major championship, missing the cut at the Irish Open this week.
Other previous winners for this event that may be in the field are Craig Parry (2002), Stewart Cink (2004) and Vijay Singh (2008).=