WGC-BRIDGESTONE INVITATIONAL

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 five-year sponsorship agreement, the event will continue to be held at its traditional site of the Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio.

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 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.
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.

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.