PGA First Look: WGC-Bridgestone Invitational
The PGA First Look is complete with a course preview, odds, salaries, Official World Golf Rankings, and course history.
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Course Preview
Billy Hurley III took down the Quicken Loans National. Not only was it a great story with him being in the Navy, but we saw him dominate down the stretch to claim his first PGA Tour victory. He was ranked in the 600’s in the Official World Golf Rankings before the tournament started. There have been a lot of great stories on the PGA Tour this season, but I don’t think any top Hurley’s win at Congressional.
This week the PGA Tour heads to LeBron’s backyard for the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio. The event will be held at Firestone Country Club, which is a Par 70 that measures just over 7,400 yards. Before we dive to deep into the course, we need to point out that this is a no cut event. This is an invitational that will have a field of only 60 golfers. Without a cut, it becomes imperative to pick the players that are going to finish near or at the top of the leaderboard. Obviously, that’s our goal each and every week, but these no cut events always provide a great opportunity to employ a stars and scrubs approach because all golfers will play four rounds (barring a WD or DQ).
Let’s get back to the course. Over the years, a nice mix of player types have fared well at this event. The winners of the past five seasons all have nice length off the tee, but Jim Furyk, Zach Johnson, and Matt Kuchar all sport excellent records here. While distance never hurts, you do want to hit as many fairways as possible. Rather than focusing solely on distance, I will be using total driving as a key weight in my model. This course features small greens, so golfers either need to be accurate with their irons or they need to be able to scramble.
There are a few more notes about the course that I want to mention. At 7,400 yards, this is the longest Par 70 on tour. There are seven par fours that measure at least 460 yards and there is a par five that measures a ridiculous 667 yards. This will mark the third week in a row where golfers are playing a difficult golf course, so experience could prove to be a big advantage this week. And as always, form coming into the event should be heavily weighted as well.
Cut Rule: With only 60 golfers in the field, there is no cut this week.
Recent Winners of this Event: Shane Lowry (2015), Rory McIlroy (2014), Tiger Woods (2013), Keegan Bradley (2012), Adam Scott (2011)
Key Statistics
1) Strokes Gained Tee to Green
2) Strokes Gained Putting
3) Total Driving
4) Birdie or Better %
5) Scrambling
Salaries, Odds, and Course History (2011-2015)
| Golfer | Salary | S-Rank | Odds | O-Rank | + / – | OWGR | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jason Day | $12,100 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 500 | 53 | 29 | 4 |
| Dustin Johnson | $11,600 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 53 | 500 | 33 | 19 | 48 |
| Jordan Spieth | $11,300 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 49 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Adam Scott | $10,500 | 4 | 22 | 5 | -1 | 8 | 45 | 8 | 14 | 45 | 1 |
| Justin Rose | $10,200 | 5 | 22 | 6 | -1 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 17 | 5 | 33 |
| Bubba Watson | $10,100 | 6 | 24 | 8 | -2 | 6 | 2 | 37 | 27 | 19 | 21 |
| Brooks Koepka | $9,900 | 7 | 19 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 6 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Matt Kuchar | $9,800 | 8 | 25 | 9 | -1 | 17 | 25 | 12 | 27 | 8 | 19 |
| Branden Grace | $9,700 | 9 | 24 | 7 | 2 | 12 | 17 | 23 | 65 | 36 | 500 |
| Jim Furyk | $9,500 | 10 | 27 | 10 | 0 | 18 | 3 | 15 | 9 | 2 | 23 |
| Hideki Matsuyama | $9,300 | 11 | 32 | 13 | -2 | 16 | 37 | 12 | 21 | 500 | 500 |
| Patrick Reed | $9,100 | 12 | 32 | 11 | 1 | 13 | 15 | 4 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Rickie Fowler | $9,000 | 13 | 32 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 21 | 60 | 2 |
| Phil Mickelson | $8,900 | 14 | 35 | 15 | -1 | 20 | 63 | 15 | 21 | 43 | 48 |
| Shane Lowry | $8,700 | 15 | 34 | 14 | 1 | 25 | 1 | 500 | 48 | 500 | 500 |
| Charl Schwartzel | $8,600 | 16 | 39 | 16 | 0 | 24 | 31 | 4 | 21 | 24 | 53 |
| Jason Dufner | $8,500 | 17 | 40 | 17 | 0 | 51 | 500 | 66 | 4 | 7 | 500 |
| Louis Oosthuizen | $8,400 | 18 | 46 | 19 | -1 | 14 | 42 | 61 | 500 | 4 | 37 |
| Zach Johnson | $8,300 | 19 | 42 | 18 | 1 | 19 | 33 | 23 | 4 | 40 | 6 |
| Daniel Berger | $8,200 | 20 | 49 | 21 | -1 | 32 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Marc Leishman | $8,100 | 21 | 55 | 23 | -2 | 39 | 33 | 3 | 500 | 45 | 500 |
| Justin Thomas | $8,000 | 22 | 53 | 22 | 0 | 34 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Bill Haas | $7,900 | 23 | 49 | 20 | 3 | 33 | 25 | 41 | 7 | 19 | 63 |
| Paul Casey | $7,800 | 24 | 63 | 25 | -1 | 27 | 17 | 500 | 27 | 500 | 45 |
| J.B. Holmes | $7,700 | 25 | 71 | 29 | -4 | 21 | 37 | 26 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| David Lingmerth | $7,600 | 26 | 64 | 26 | 0 | 48 | 6 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Russell Knox | $7,500 | 27 | 62 | 24 | 3 | 26 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Danny Lee | $7,400 | 28 | 77 | 33 | -5 | 45 | 6 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Kevin Chappell | $7,400 | 28 | 75 | 31 | -3 | 38 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Harris English | $7,300 | 30 | 82 | 34 | -4 | 52 | 500 | 31 | 14 | 500 | 500 |
| Kevin Na | $7,300 | 30 | 66 | 27 | 3 | 30 | 15 | 23 | 500 | 63 | 500 |
| Brandt Snedeker | $7,200 | 32 | 68 | 28 | 4 | 22 | 33 | 12 | 33 | 50 | 33 |
| Byeong-Hun An | $7,200 | 32 | 74 | 30 | 2 | 28 | 57 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Charley Hoffman | $7,100 | 34 | 95 | 37 | -3 | 36 | 31 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 37 |
| Scott Piercy | $7,100 | 34 | 77 | 32 | 2 | 43 | 500 | 500 | 59 | 19 | 500 |
| Chris Kirk | $7,000 | 36 | 87 | 35 | 1 | 59 | 500 | 41 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Emiliano Grillo | $7,000 | 36 | 89 | 36 | 0 | 41 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Jimmy Walker | $6,900 | 38 | 96 | 38 | 0 | 44 | 53 | 26 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Smylie Kaufman | $6,900 | 38 | 108 | 39 | -1 | 56 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Kevin Kisner | $6,800 | 40 | 114 | 41 | -1 | 29 | 37 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| William McGirt | $6,800 | 40 | 108 | 40 | 0 | 46 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Soren Kjeldsen | $6,700 | 42 | 125 | 42 | 0 | 47 | 12 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Anirban Lahiri | $6,600 | 43 | 174 | 45 | -2 | 61 | 53 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Billy Hurley III | $6,600 | 43 | 142 | 43 | 0 | 169 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Matt Jones | $6,500 | 45 | 175 | 46 | -1 | 85 | 500 | 31 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| James Hahn | $6,400 | 46 | 192 | 47 | -1 | 58 | 42 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Andrew Johnston | $6,300 | 47 | 206 | 48 | -1 | 108 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| K.T. Kim | $6,200 | 48 | 152 | 44 | 4 | 40 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Fabian Gomez | $6,100 | 49 | 256 | 49 | 0 | 71 | 67 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Marcus Fraser | $6,000 | 50 | 283 | 51 | -1 | 81 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| George Coetzee | $6,000 | 50 | 266 | 50 | 0 | 116 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Vaughn Taylor | $5,900 | 52 | 309 | 53 | -1 | 121 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Brian Stuard | $5,900 | 52 | 313 | 54 | -2 | 150 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Jim Herman | $5,800 | 54 | 300 | 52 | 2 | 80 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Nathan Holman | $5,800 | 54 | 384 | 55 | -1 | 182 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Steven Bowditch | $5,700 | 56 | 413 | 58 | -2 | 124 | 12 | 44 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Davis Love III | $5,700 | 56 | 406 | 57 | -1 | 187 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Younghan Song | $5,600 | 58 | 384 | 55 | 3 | 130 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Michio Matsumura | $5,600 | 58 | 566 | 59 | -1 | 310 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
Color Coding
Course history in BLUE indicates a top ten finish.
Course history in GREEN indicates a top 25 finish.
Course history in YELLOW indicates a top 50 finish.
Course history in RED indicates a finish outside the top 50.
Legend
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| S-Rank | Each golfer’s salary rank compared to the field, with one being the most expensive. |
| O-Rank | Each golfer’s odds rank compared to the field, with one the biggest favorite. |
| + / – | The difference between a golfer’s salary and odds rank. The bigger the number, the better. |
| OWGR | Official World Golf Ranking |
| 2011 – 2015 Columns | Course history at this event over the last five seasons. |