What’s Happening On The PGA Tour.
By Sam Adams
There is a lot going on on the PGA Tour this week and next. We have the WGC Bridgestone Invitational coming up this week.
The Bridgestone is limited to just 76 players and no cut. The top-50 in the world, minus McIlroy and Chris Kirk, will tee it up together. There will be a selection of other elite players who have qualified in various ways such as participation in the Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup, or by winning certain events worldwide over the last year.
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Lee Westwood will make his 52nd WGC start this week – more than any other player. But so far the Englishman is winless in one of the events.
On an interesting note, there will be 11 players from Great Britain and Ireland that will start this week. That totals one seventh of the field. They are: Paul Casey, Jamie Donaldson, Stephen Gallacher, Padraig Harrington, Shane Lowry, Graeme McDowell, Ian Poulter, Justin Rose, Lee Westwood, Danny Willett and Oliver Wilson.
Tiger Woods has been a dominant force at Firestone since he won the inaugural installment of this event back in 1999. He defended his title in 2000 and made it three in a row in 2001. He’s won the event five more times since then. Unfortunately Woods won’t play this year since he failed to qualify in any category for the event this year.
Last year Rory McIlroy followed his brilliant Open Championship victory with a win in this event. Unfortunately his ankle injury will keep him from defending as it did in The Open.
Photo from Club Corp.
Firestone will present a tough challenge to the top players at 7400 yards and par 70. The South Course at Firestone was remodeled by Robert Trent Jones in 1960. In 1976, the course hosted the first World Series of Golf, won by Jack Nickaus. Until 1998 the tournament was known by that name, before it became a WGC event in 1999.
If the weather forecast is accurate for the week we may see some rain midweek then clearing by the weekend. This means that the greens could be receptive and the playing conditions favorable. Under those conditions we could see some good scoring.
Rory McIlroy plans to test his injured ankle this weekend by playing a practice round at Whistling Straits, venue for next week’s PGA Championship.
The Northern Irishman has not played since rupturing the anterior ligament in his left ankle at the start of the July, forcing him to miss the Scottish Open and also making him unable to defend his Open title at St Andrews.
A number of medical experts say the it normally takes about 12 weeks to completely heal. The PGA Championship is next week which is only six weeks since the injury. He has been quoted as saying that he is taking a long term view of this and will do nothing to rush it.
His absence will allow Jordan Spieth to take over the No.1 ranking if he manages a win this week at the Bridgestone.
According to Tiger Woods if he has a strong-enough showing at the PGA Championship, he will consider playing in the Wyndham Championship the following week. He needs to do this in order to attempt to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs.
“Playing well in the PGA, that determines whether or not I play Wyndham [Championship] and obviously the rest of the FedEx Cup playoffs,” Woods said at a media day for the Deutsche Bank Championship.
Tiger Woods tied for 28th in 2010′ but that was two swing coaches ago. He is currently 185th in the FedEx Cup standings and would need to get inside the top 125 after the Wyndham Championship to qualify for the first playoff event, the Barclays.