[golflover206]

WGC Bridgestone Invitational.
August 21-August 27 2006.
Firestone Country Club. Akron, Ohio, USA.


This event takes place at the Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, and comes the weekend after golf's final major of the year, the PGA Championship. Since the series debut in 1999, World Golf Championships have been held in seven countries. This event should have a rare strong field coming the weekend after a major. Last year, Tiger Woods won his fourth title at Firestone by sinking a 17-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole to beat Chris DiMarco by one shot. Woods finished at 6-under 274 and earned $1.3 million. Players from the most recently named Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup Teams, the top 50 players from the Official World Golf Ranking and winners of selected worldwide events will be invited to this event, but golf bettors can be assured of one thing: Tiger Woods will be the sportsbook favorite. With a strong international field, Sergio Garcia will be a solid golf bet among the international players. Vijay Singh also will get good odds.

Bridgestone Invitational breakdown (updated thru August 10)

• The current event has a field of about seventy-five players, which is roughly half that for a standard professional golf event.
• Some notable players currently on the bubble for qualification include Paul Broadhurst of England, and Tom Lehman and Sean O’Hair of the United States.
• South Africa has five players qualified for this year's event.
• Johan Edfors, who has won three times on the European Tour, will be joined in the field by fellow Swedes, including Memorial Tournament champion Carl Pettersson, Commercialbank Qatar Master winner Henrik Stenson and Robert Karlsson.
• This year marks the eighth playing of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. The Bridgestone Invitational is one of four World Golf Championships, which are sanctioned and organized by the International Federation of PGA Tours. The other World Golf Championships include the Accenture Match Play Championship, American Express Championship and the Barbados World Cup.

International Federation PGA tours:

• the Asian Tour
• European Tour
• Japan Golf Tour,
• PGA TOUR
• PGA Tour of Australasia and Southern Africa Tour.