WGC: Bridgestone Invitational Preview + The Return of Eldrick (Does it Matter?)
Course: Firestone Country Club (South Course); Akron, OH
When: 8/4-8/7
TV: Golf Channel 2-6pm Thurs/Fri, 12-130pm Sat/Sun; CBS 2-6pm Sat/Sun
Defending Champion: Hunter Mahan (268)
You may have heard that Tiger Woods will return to competitive golf at this week’s WGC Bridgestone Invitational. I will pose the question: does it matter? Quite frankly, I will be stunned if Tiger is on the first page of the leaderboard at any point on the weekend. This is not your run-of-the-mill PGA TOUR event. To even qualify for a WGC event, a player has to be in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) or have played in the most recent Ryder Cup. These are the top players in the world, and to expect Tiger to just show up 3 months removed from his last competitive round (which lasted a total of 9 holes) and contend is not very realistic. This isn’t 2008 where Tiger could win the most difficult tournament in the world on one leg. Unless you live under a rock I don’t need to go into details about his fall from grace. He also has gone through a severe knee injury, and the reason he hasn’t teed it up since May is because of an injured achilles’ tendon. If he can prove to himself that he is healthy, and puts in the requisite work on his game, he can once again contend and win events. The sport can survive without Tiger, but it is better overall when he is at least in contention.
With that out of the way, I’d like to take a look at who else is in the field this week. As mentioned above, every player in the field is world-class. In fact, each of the top 10 players in the OWGR will be playing this week. Not everyone in the field is on top of their game at the moment, but it is not out of the realm of possibility for anyone in the field to win. Due to the quality of the field, the tournament usually hangs in the balance until the very end on Sunday afternoon. The signature hole on the South Course is the famous 16th (which is where the picture above is taken). It is a 667 yard par 5, but it plays much shorter than that yardage as it is severely downhill off the tee. The players’ approach shots are over a pond to a green where the Sunday flag location is perilously close to disaster. Oh, I probably should have mentioned that the winner of the event will take home a paltry $1.4 million and 550 FedEx Cup points. Needless to say, the pressure will be intense on the back 9 holes on Sunday for those contending for the win. There are 4 WGC events per year, and they are all very prestigious tournaments to win. The competition will be intense, and I am very much looking forward to watching the coverage this weekend (and having the leaderboard up at work Thursday and Friday!)
Lastly, I wanted to highlight a few players who are coming into this event in good form. Based on his t-2 finish at the Open Championship a few weeks back, I would have included Phil Mickelson on this list. I say would because he inexplicably missed the cut last week at the Greenbrier, and therefore I do not foresee winning this weekend (but hey, you never know.) Nick Watney has had a very strong season, and is leading the FedEx Cup points list. He also won the last WGC event at Doral in March. Steve Stricker has won 2 of the last 4 tournaments he has participated in, including the Memorial Tournament in Columbus in May, and has finished in the top 10 each of the last 2 years in this event. Both Adam Scott and Dustin Johnson have been in good form for the last few months, which is good for them but also good for the sport. Interestingly, Scott now has Steve Williams as his full-time caddie. He had been on Tiger’s bag for the last 12 years, but their relationship had become strained, and Woods just recently relieved Williams of his duties. This would become a huge storyline if both are in contention this weekend, or if they somehow were to be paired together. Finally, Rory McIlroy returns to U.S. soil for the first time since his historic win at the U.S. Open at Congressional in June. He hasn’t contended in any event since, but he has only played a few events. It would be foolish not to include him in this list.
For those of you wondering why I took the time to write about golf, let me explain. I absolutely LOVE the sport. I love to play (even though I’m not particularly good), and I love to watch it. I even watch the European Tour on Saturday and Sunday mornings. I will be previewing 5 more tournaments in the coming weeks, and later in the fall there will be an in-depth preview of the President’s Cup (with the help of a good friend of mine.) If you are reading this just for the hell of it and aren’t much into golf I will suggest that you give it a shot. It is very easy to follow the ball in HD, and the commentators do a very good job of explaining what the players are trying to do. The crowd will be electric this weekend and if you have never watched a tournament before, this would be a good place to start. Trust me, coming from a guy who used to detest soccer and now watches European club soccer, as well as international competitions, sometimes you just have to dedicate a few hours and give something new a try.
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