The third of four of the World Golf Championships is upon us in the form of the Bridgestone Invitational at the revered Firestone County Club in Akron, Ohio.
There are only 74 players in the field and it’s quite an elite field:
- Members of the 2012 Ryder Cup Teams (and in even years, the Presidents Cup teams).
- The Top-50 players in the Official World Golf Rankings. The only ones in this category not playing are Louis Oosthuizan due to injuries and Hunter Mahan due to the birth of his daughter.
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Tournament winners, whose victories are considered official, of tournaments from the Federation Tours since the prior year’s Bridgestone Invitational (with an Official World Golf Ranking Strength of Field Rating of 115 points or more). Jordan Spieth is resting up from his whirlwind season that saw him win the John Deere and get into the British Open. Surely he’s targeting the PGA Championship next week and the playoffs two weeks after that.
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The winner of the following tournaments from each of the following International Tours:
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Japan Golf Tour Championship (2013) and Bridgestone Open (2012) from the Japan Golf Tour
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Australian PGA Championship (2012) from the Australasian Tour
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Dimension Data Pro-Am (2013) from the Southern Africa Tour
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Thailand Golf Championship (2012) from the Asian Tour
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Keegan Bradley is the defending champion and played a practice round with his mentor and friend, Phil Mickelson. He had a quip for his friend and Mickelson had one right back, “I know you’re the ‘Champion Golfer of the Year’ but I’ll teach you how to play Akron if you want.” And he only responded with, ‘I won there when you were nine years old.'”
As the season winds down, all the players are trying to manage themselves for the final run to the Tour Championship/FedExCup. They’ve take anywhere from none to three weeks off so that they can be fresh for the grand finale.
It’s a big deal and well worth attending or watching. It’s the best of the best playing the best of the best.