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Stat attack!: WGC-Bridgestone Invitational preview

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Tiger Woods of the USA looks on with Joe LaCava on the first fairway during a practice round ahead of the 143rd Open Championship at Royal Liverpool on July 13, 2014 in Hoylake, England. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)

The WGC-Bridgestone Invitational is a tournament of haves and have-nots. Foremost among the haves, of course, is Tiger Woods, who has won at Firestone CC’s South course eight times. He won the Bridgestone three straight times from 1999 to 2001 and from 2005 to 2007. He is also the defending champ, having shot 15-under 265 to beat Keegan Bradley and Henrik Stenson by seven strokes in 2013. The poster boy for the have-nots is probably Ernie Els, who has made 14 Bridgestone starts but does not have a top-10 finish at Firestone since 2001. (He also didn’t have any top-10s at the tournament’s predecessor, with nothing better than a T-16 in six starts in the World Series of Golf.)

With a win in 2012 and a runner-up in 2013, Bradley is quickly becoming a have. Bubba Watson, who has not finished better than T19 in four starts, is close to joining the have-nots. Here’s a sampling from both categories.

Players with successful records at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational

PlayerStartsTop 10sBest
Keegan Bradley32Won in 2012
Luke Donald95T-2 in 2011
Jason Dufner22T-4 in 2013
Jim Furyk149Second two times
Rory McIlroy53T-5 in 2012
Tiger Woods1412Eight wins

Players who have struggled at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational

PlayerStartsTop 10sLast top 10
Ernie Els1422001
Sergio Garcia1311999
Dustin Johnson50None
Graeme McDowell80None
Ian Poulter110None
Charl Schwartzel 50None
Bubba Watson40None

The winners the last five years have been dominant on and around the greens, with each champion finishing no worse than 11th in the field in greens in regulation and strokes gained/putting. It’s a feature of most of the players on the hot list. Consistency in the short game. When they’re on at Firestone, as they’ve most always been, they hit plenty of greens and make their putts. The have-nots list is littered with talented, but erratic players who have a history of hot and cold play.

Statistics of WGC-Bridgestone Inviational winners: 2009-2013

YearWinnerGIRProximity to holeScramblingStrokes gained/putting
2013Tiger Woods73.61% (2)25' 8" (1)73.68% (4).849 (11)
2012Keegan Bradley68.06 (T-11)29' 5" (12)60.87 (T-25)3.017 (1)
2011Adam Scott70.83 (T-9)28' 7" (12)80.95 (2)1.838 (4)
2010 Hunter Mahan69.44 (T-8)32' 4" (31)72.73 (8)1.765 (4)
2009Tiger Woods70.83 (T-2)29' 0" (5)71.43 (T-6)1.322 (4)

It will be interesting to see if Sergio Garcia can play his way off the have-not list. Garcia is fourth on tour in GIR at 69.59 percent. It’s his best GIR percentage since 2005, when he led the PGA Tour at 71.81 percent. But he is also putting well this year, ranking 27th in strokes gained/putting, his third straight season in the top 30 after three years ranking outside the top 100. Garcia is one of four players on Tour who are in the top 30 in both stats, and his combined rank of 31 – similar to total driving, I’ve added a player’s rank in GIR and SG/P to get this figure – trails only Adam Scott.

PGA Tour leaders in combined GIR and strokes gained/putting

PlayerGIR rankSG/Putting rankCombined total rank
Adam Scott131427
Sergio Garcia42731
Jimmy Walker29635
John Senden251237
Matt Kuchar411152
Daniel Summerhays391655
Charley Hoffman105161

It’s also worth noting how many major champions have also won the WGC-Bridgestone Invitaional. Only Craig Parry (2002) and Hunter Mahan (2010) are not also major champions. Parry’s victory came at Sahalee, the only time Firestone has not hosted the championship.

Major champions who have won the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational

PlayerBridgestone winsMajor wins
Tiger Woods1999-01, 2005-07, 2009, 201314 majors
Keegan Bradley20122011 PGA
Adam Scott20112013 Masters
Vijay Singh20083 majors
Stewart Cink 20042009 British
Darren Clarke20032011 British

Another notable feature of the WGC-Bridgestone Championship is how often the tournament is not close. There have been just two playoffs in the event – Tiger Woods winning both, in 2001 over Furyk and in 2006 over Cink – and eight times in 15 years the winner has won by four strokes or more.

Largest winning margin at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational

YearWinnerMargin
2000Tiger Woods11 strokes
2007Tiger Woods8 strokes
2013Tiger Woods7 strokes
2011Adam Scott4 strokes
2009Tiger Woods4 strokes
2004Stewart Cink4 strokes
2003Darren Clarke4 strokes
2002Craig Parry4 strokes

Perhaps all these winners were channeling their inner Jose Maria Olazabal, who famously won the 1990 World Series of Golf at Firestone by a whopping 12 strokes. That year Ollie shot 18-under 262, including a course-record 61 in the first round. That mark has since been tied by Woods in 2000 and 2013.


Can Woods turn around his season by winning – or at least contending – in Ohio? If history is an indication, probably not. Woods has finished outside the top 10 twice at the Bridgestone, finishing T-78 in 2010 and T-37 in 2011. Like this year, Woods was injured, and those were the two worst years of his career and the only times he did not win on Tour. Woods’ ball-striking stat – a number that combines his rank in total driving and greens in regulation – is amazingly similar to 2010 and 2011, showing he’s not quite ready to contend.

Tiger Woods’ key statistical ranks since 2009.

YearFairways
hit
GIRSt.G/
putting

Total
driving

Ball
striking
Money
201416018735191191198
201369242217161
2012 5529356122
20111863745187187128
201016516710919319368
2009861621261

Like this year, Woods didn’t play enough rounds in 2010 and 2011 to qualify for a statistical ranking. The figures above show where he would have ranked if his small sample size were imported into the official tour statistics. But the comparison to 2010 and 2011 is telling. The back injury has taken its toll, no question. It’s likely we won’t see the healthy Woods of 2012 and 2013 until next year.

One final thought: Phil Mickelson is the only player in the field who also won the World Series of Golf at Firestone, having taken the title in 1996. Lately, he’s a contender for our have-nots list, with just one top 20 finish in his last 11 starts (T-4 in 2008). He was in the top 10 at Firestone every year from 1995 to 2001.

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