| WGC-Bridgestone Invitational | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Akron, Ohio |
| Established | 1976 |
| Course(s) | Firestone Country Club |
| Par | 70 |
| Yardage | 7,400 |
| Tour(s) | PGA Tour PGA European Tour |
| Format | Stroke play |
| Purse | $8,000,000 |
| Month Played | August |
| Tournament record scores | |
| Aggregate | 259 Tiger Woods (2000) |
| To-par | -21 Tiger Woods (2000) |
| Current champion | |
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This article describes the golf tournament that evolved from the original World Series of Golf in Akron, Ohio. Akron is a city in the US state of Ohio and the County seat of Summit County. The Firestone Country Club is a private golf club located in Akron, Ohio, United States. The PGA Tour is an organization that operates the main professional Golf tours in the United States. The PGA European Tour is an organisation which operates the three leading men's professional Golf tours in Europe the elite European Tour, the European Stroke play is a scoring system for Golf (compare to Match play) The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been Background and family Woods was born in Cypress, California to Earl (1932-2006 and Kultida (Tida Woods Background and family Woods was born in Cypress, California to Earl (1932-2006 and Kultida (Tida Woods Background and family Woods was born in Cypress, California to Earl (1932-2006 and Kultida (Tida Woods Akron is a city in the US state of Ohio and the County seat of Summit County. For the current World Series of Golf in southern Nevada, see World Series of Golf. Nevada ( is a state located in the western region of the United States of America. The World Series of Golf is an annual Golf competition The competition differs from traditional golf tournaments in that the winner is decided not by the lowest stroke-play
The WGC-Bridgestone Invitational is one of the annual World Golf Championships for male professional golfers. The World Golf Championships are a group of three annual events for male professional golfers created by the International Federation of PGA Tours, which are official money events 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. Top level professional Golf consists of a year round schedule of weekly tournaments played all around the world The PGA Tour is an organization that operates the main professional Golf tours in the United States. The PGA European Tour is an organisation which operates the three leading men's professional Golf tours in Europe the elite European Tour, the European 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. is a Japanese multinational IT company headquartered in Minato Tokyo, Japan.
The tournament changed sponsorship in 2006, with Bridgestone taking over from NEC as title sponsor. ( is a Japanese Rubber conglomerate founded in 1931 by in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan As a part of the five-year sponsorship agreement, the event will continue to be held at its traditional site of the Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. The Firestone Country Club is a private golf club located in Akron, Ohio, United States. Akron is a city in the US state of Ohio and the County seat of Summit County.
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The WGC-NEC/Bridgestone Invitational
The current event has a field of about 75 players, which is roughly half that for a standard professional golf event. Basically, invitations are issued to the top few dozen golfers in the world. The specific eligibility criteria are as follows.
- Playing members of the last named United States and International Presidents Cup teams. The Presidents Cup is a series of men's Golf matches between a United States team and an International Team representing the rest of the world less Europe
- Playing members of the last named United States and European Ryder Cup teams. The Ryder Cup is a Golf trophy donated by Samuel Ryder, which is awarded Biennially in an event called the "Ryder Cup Matches" between teams from
- Players ranked among the top 50 on the Official World Golf Rankings (one week and two weeks prior to event). The Official World Golf Rankings is a system for rating the performance level of male professional Golfers.
- Tournament winners of worldwide events since the prior year's tournament with an Official World Golf Ranking Strength of Field Rating of 100 points or more.
- The winner of one selected tournament from each of the following tours: PGA Tour of Australasia, Sunshine Tour, Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour. The PGA Tour of Australasia is a professional Golf tour for men The Sunshine Tour is a men's professional Golf tour based in Southern Africa The Asian Tour is the principal men's professional Golf tour in Asia except for Japan which has its own Japan Golf Tour, which is also a full The Japan Golf Tour is a prominent Golf tour. It was founded in 1973 and as of 2006 it offers the third highest annual prize fund out of the regular (that is not for
From 1999 to 2001, only the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams were eligible and the fields were about 40 players.
All of the events up to 2005 were held in the United States, all of them except the 2002 edition at Firestone Country Club. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the
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. Background and family Woods was born in Cypress, California to Earl (1932-2006 and Kultida (Tida Woods 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 men's major golf championships, often referred to simply as "the majors" are the four most prestigious annual tournaments in professional Golf. 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.
WGC-Bridgestone Invitational winners
| Year | Player | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Tiger Woods |  United States |
| 2006 | Tiger Woods | United States |
WGC-NEC Invitational winners
| Year | Player | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Tiger Woods | United States |
| 2004 | Stewart Cink | United States |
| 2003 | Darren Clarke |  Northern Ireland |
| 2002* | Craig Parry |  Australia |
| 2001 | Tiger Woods | United States |
| 2000 | Tiger Woods | United States |
| 1999 | Tiger Woods | United States |
*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 | Australia |
| 1996 | Phil Mickelson | United States |
| 1995 | Greg Norman | Australia |
| 1994 | José María Olazábal |  Spain |
| 1993 | Fulton Allem |  South Africa |
| 1992 | Craig Stadler | 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 |