We look back at 10 of the most memorable moments in the history of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and its predecessors at Firestone Country Club.
A single shot, struck on the final hole when a player has a 10-stroke lead, is rarely a candidate for memorability. But Tiger Woods has specialized in pulling off rare feats. The shot in question here was his 168-yard, 8-iron approach to the final green. Because of weather delays, he and playing partner Hal Sutton were finishing at about 8:30 p.m. Eastern time. And it was DARK. So TV viewers saw Woods swing at the ball, then didn’t see it again until it suddenly appeared on the green, sucking back to about 2 feet. Amid thunderous applause, dozens of tiny flames sprang from lighters, as if this were a rock concert. It wasn’t, of course, but Woods was a rock star.
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Adam Scott had just pulled off one of the biggest wins of his career – maybe even the biggest – by capturing the 2011 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. But usurping Scott’s place in the immediate spotlight of the 18th green was his caddie, Steve Williams, who told CBS, “I’ve caddied for 33 years — 145 wins now — and that’s the best win I’ve ever had.” Considering that Williams had been the longtime looper for Tiger Woods and, before being fired, had carried his bag for 13 major championship wins, the comment seemed odd at best, spiteful at worst.
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Jose Maria Olazabal’s first PGA Tour win set a tough standard for himself. After shooting 61-67-67-67—262 (18 under) at Firestone Country Club, what was he going to do for an encore? (Answer: Win the Masters. Twice.) Astonishingly, it was his first time ever playing at Firestone, one of the most highly respected courses on Tour. Only three players came within 18 shots of him. Even Olazabal seemed a bit dazed by his performance. “I was 12 ahead with 16 holes to go,” he said. “I never had that kind of a lead before. I didn’t know what to do.”
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Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk tied at 12 under in regulation and went into a sudden-death playoff. The result was almost very sudden, as Furyk failed to escape a greenside bunker with his third shot on the first extra hole. He holed his next effort, though, and his par was enough to keep playing. The two played a rotation of the 18th and 17th holes, and Woods finally won with a birdie (to Furyk’s bogey) on their seventh extra hole. Woods had only a 2-foot putt for birdie after sticking his approach from 140 yards.
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There are two reasons this tournament is memorable, both involving Greg Norman. One happened on Sunday, the other on Thursday. After 72 holes, Norman found himself in a playoff with Nick Price and Billy Mayfair. On the first extra hole, in a delicious bit of irony given his record of having been beaten by hole-outs, Norman won the playoff by chipping in from 60 feet. Afterwards, he noted that he had almost withdrawn on Thursday after accusing playing partner Mark McCumber of cheating by removing a blade of grass behind his ball. The $360,000 first prize vaulted Norman past Tom Kite into first place on the Tour’s all-time money list.
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This was the year of transition from World Series of Golf to a World Golf Championships event. Thanks to a third-round 62, Tiger Woods took a five-shot lead into the final round. Phil Mickelson was seven shots back, an afterthought. But playing several groups in front of Woods, Mickelson turned in the low Round 4, a 65. He bogeyed the 18th hole, and that came back to haunt him. Woods birdied the 17th and two-putted for par from 60 feet on 18 to win by one shot
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They don’t call it the BridgeSTONE Invitational for nothing. On the third hole of the final round, a wayward tee shot by Sergio Garcia struck a spectator on the hand, knocking the diamond out of her ring. Fortunately, she eventually found it. Had she not, “I was prepared to buy her one,” Garcia said.
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On the 667-yard, par-5 16th hole, Bubba Watson hit the longest drive of the year on Tour – 424 yards. So, how important is long driving? Well, all we can definitively say based on this incident is that Bubba bogeyed the hole.
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When Tiger Woods destroyed the field in 2013 at Firestone – he beat runners-up Keegan Bradley and Henrik Stenson by seven shots – it tied him with Sam Snead for the most wins – eight – in a single event. Actually it tied him with Snead for the second time, as Woods had also won eight times at Bay Hill. For Woods, the more important distinction was that this was the first tournament where his then-4-year-old son, Charlie, had been able to see him win.
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Four months after Tiger Woods beat Chris DiMarco in a Masters playoff, the two dueled again at Firestone. This time there would be no playoff, as DiMarco was already in the clubhouse when Woods safely reached the 18th green and two-putted for a par and a one-shot win.
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