WGC-Bridgestone Invitational From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search 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 Japan Golf Tour Format Stroke play Purse $8,500,000 Month played August Tournament record score Aggregate 259 Tiger Woods (2000) To-par -21 Tiger Woods (2000) Current champion Tiger Woods The WGC-Bridgestone Invitational is one of the annual World Golf Championships for male professional golfers. 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. 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. The tournament changed sponsorship in 2006, with Bridgestone taking over from NEC as title sponsor. As a part of the original five-year sponsorship agreement, the event continues to be held at its traditional site of the Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio; the sponsorship has now been extended to 2014. Contents [hide] 1 The WGC-NEC/Bridgestone Invitational 2 The World Series of Golf 3 Winners 4 World Series of Golf winners 5 External links [edit] 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. Playing members of the last named United States and European Ryder Cup teams. Players ranked among the top 50 on the Official World Golf Rankings (one week and two weeks prior to event). Tournament winners of worldwide events since the prior year's tournament with an Official World Golf Ranking Strength of Field Rating of 115 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. 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 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. As his arms rose in victory, he was immediately illuminated by dozens of camera flashes from the gallery and press around the green. [edit] 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 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. [edit] Winners Year Player Country Score WGC-Bridgestone Invitational 2009 Tiger Woods (7) United States 268 (-12) 2008 Vijay Singh Fiji 270 (-10) 2007 Tiger Woods (6) United States 272 (-8) 2006 Tiger Woods (5) United States 270 (-10) WGC-NEC Invitational 2005 Tiger Woods (4) United States 274 (-6) 2004 Stewart Cink United States 269 (-11) 2003 Darren Clarke Northern Ireland 268 (-12) 2002* Craig Parry Australia 268 (-16) 2001 Tiger Woods (3) United States 268 (-12) 2000 Tiger Woods (2) United States 259 (-21) 1999 Tiger Woods United States 270 (-10) *Note: played at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Washington [edit] World Series of Golf winners Year Player Country NEC World Series of Golf 1998 David Duval United States 1997 Greg Norman (2) Australia 1996 Phil Mickelson United States 1995 Greg Norman Australia 1994 José María Olazábal (2) Spain 1993 Fulton Allem South Africa 1992 Craig Stadler (2) 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