DID YOU KNOW – WGC – BRIDGESTONE INVITATIONAL
• When Rory McIlroy won the 2014 WGC – Bridgestone Invitational, it was his first WGC title. He became the 11th different European Tour Member to triumph in a WGC event. To date there have been 15 victories by European Tour Members in WGC history, the last two coming from McIlroy, the latest being the 2015 WGC – Cadillac Match Play Championship.
• A total of 35 European Tour Members are competing in the 2015 tournament. Of the 35 Members, seven will be playing in the WGC – Bridgestone Invitational for the first time. They are: Byeong Hun An, Andrew Dodt, Brooks Koepka, Anirban Lahiri, David Lipsky, Gary Stal and Marc Warren. Of those seven, only Byeong Hun An will be playing in any of the WGC events for the first time.
• The 2014 WGC - Bridgestone Invitational will be played for the 17th time, 16 of them at Firestone Country Club’s South Course. The only year it was not staged at the Ohio venue was in 2002 when Sahalee CC has that honour.
• Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood will be playing in their 17th WGC – Bridgestone Invitational. The trio have the honour of being the only players to have competed every year since the first one in 1999.
• At aged 45 years and 163 days, Vijay Singh is the oldest winner of a WGC event when he won here at Firestone in 2008.
• In 2007 Tiger Woods created a European Tour record by wining the tournament for a third consecutive season. He became the first player to win the same event for three consecutive years on two different occasions, having already won the event in 1999, 2000 and 2001, then in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
• Tiger Woods won the event for an eight time in 2013; the first time a player has won an official European Tour event on eight occasions.
• Tiger Woods has a remarkable record in the WGC – Bridgestone Invitational. He has played in the tournament 14 times, won it on eight occasions. The American has competed in the event 13 times over Firestone’s South Course. Apart from his eight victories (all of which have come at the Akron venue), he was second in 2004, tied fourth in 2003 and tied eighth in 2012. (The only year the tournament was played away from Firestone, at Sahalee in 2002, he was fourth).
