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WGC Invitational
Professional golf tournament
Professional golf tournament
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | WGC Invitational |
| image | WGC_St_Jude_Invitational_logo.png |
| imagesize | 250px |
| establishment | 1999 |
| tour | PGA Tour |
| European Tour | |
| format | Stroke play |
| purse | (final year) |
| month_played | August |
| org | International Federation of PGA Tours |
| final_year | 2021 |
| aggregate | 259 Tiger Woods (2000) |
| to-par | −21 as above |
| final_champion | MEX Abraham Ancer |
European Tour | to-par = −21 as above The WGC Invitational was a professional golf tournament that was held in the United States. Established in 1999 as a successor to the World Series of Golf, it was one of three or four annual World Golf Championships (WGC) until 2021, when the number of WGC events was reduced to two.
Under sponsorship agreements, the WGC Invitational was titled as the WGC-NEC Invitational (1999–2005) and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational (2006–2018). During this time, it was hosted at Firestone Country Club in Ohio, except for 2002 when it was hosted at Sahalee Country Club in Washington. With a change of sponsor in 2019, the tournament became titled as the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational and was relocated to at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee.
The WGC Invitational was sanctioned and organized by the International Federation of PGA Tours and the prize money was official money on both the PGA Tour and the European Tour. Tiger Woods had the record number of wins with eight. The winner received a Wedgwood trophy called The Gary Player Cup.
Sponsorship
From 1999 through 2005, the WGC Invitational was sponsored by NEC. NEC had also sponsored the World Series of Golf from 1984 to 1998. The tournament changed sponsorship in 2006, with Bridgestone taking over as title sponsor. As a part of the sponsorship agreement, the event continued to be held at the South Course of Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. In August 2013, the Bridgestone sponsorship was extended through 2018.
The 2018 event was the last held in Akron. In 2019, FedEx became the title sponsor and relocated the tournament to Memphis, Tennessee.
Venues
Prior to 2019 the event was hosted at the South Course of Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, with one exception – the 2002 event, which was played at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Washington. Between 2019 and 2021, the tournament was held at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee.
Qualifying criteria
The event had a field of about 75 players, roughly half the number for a standard professional golf event. Invitations were issued to the following:
- Playing members of the last named Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup teams (whichever was played last).
- Players ranked among the top 50 on the Official World Golf Ranking (one week and two weeks prior to event).
- Tournament winners of worldwide events since the prior year's tournament with an Official World Golf Ranking Strength of Field Rating of 115 points or more.
- The winner of one selected tournament from each of the PGA Tour of Australasia, Sunshine Tour and Asian Tour and two selected tournaments from the Japan Golf Tour.
From 1999 to 2001, only the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams were eligible and the field was about 40 players. Prior to 2011, both Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams were eligible.
World Series of Golf
Main article: NEC World Series of Golf
From 1976 through 1998, the PGA Tour event at Firestone Country Club was the "World Series of Golf," and was sponsored by NEC beginning in 1984. It was founded as a four-man invitational event in 1962, comprising the winners of the four major championships in a 36-hole event. the competitors played in one group for $75,000 in unofficial prize money, televised by NBC.
In 1976, it became a 72-hole, $300,000 PGA Tour event and its field was initially expanded to twenty; the victory and $100,000 winner's share went to Nicklaus. The largest first prize at a major in 1976 was $45,000 at the PGA Championship.
The World Series of Golf quickly became a leading event on the tour. For many years a victory in it gave a 10-year exemption on the PGA Tour, the same as was granted for a victory in a major championship at that time, and twice as long as is given even for winning a major now. The field consisted of the winners of all the high status men's professional golf tournaments around the world in the previous twelve months. This was quite different from the criteria for the WGC Invitational listed above, but produced much the same sort of global field.
Winners
| Year | Tour(s) | Winner | Score | To par | Margin of | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| victory | Runner(s)-up | Purse ($) | Winner's | |||||||||
| share ($) | Venue | WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational | WGC-Bridgestone Invitational | WGC-NEC Invitational | ||||||||
| 2021 | EUR, PGAT | MEX Abraham Ancer | 264 | −16 | Playoff | USA Sam Burns | ||||||
| JPN Hideki Matsuyama | 10,500,000 | 1,820,000 | Southwind, Tennessee | |||||||||
| 2020 | EUR, PGAT | USA Justin Thomas (2) | 267 | −13 | 3 strokes | USA Daniel Berger | ||||||
| USA Brooks Koepka | ||||||||||||
| ENG Tom Lewis | ||||||||||||
| USA Phil Mickelson | 10,500,000 | 1,785,000 | Southwind, Tennessee | |||||||||
| 2019 | EUR, PGAT | USA Brooks Koepka | 264 | −16 | 3 strokes | USA Webb Simpson | 10,250,000 | 1,745,000 | Southwind, Tennessee | |||
| 2018 | EUR, PGAT | USA Justin Thomas | 265 | −15 | 4 strokes | USA Kyle Stanley | 10,000,000 | 1,700,000 | Firestone, Ohio | |||
| 2017 | EUR, PGAT | JPN Hideki Matsuyama | 264 | −16 | 5 strokes | USA Zach Johnson | 9,750,000 | 1,660,000 | Firestone, Ohio | |||
| 2016 | PGAT | USA Dustin Johnson | 274 | −6 | 1 stroke | USA Scott Piercy | 9,500,000 | 1,620,000 | Firestone, Ohio | |||
| 2015 | EUR, PGAT | IRL Shane Lowry | 269 | −11 | 2 strokes | USA Bubba Watson | 9,250,000 | 1,570,000 | Firestone, Ohio | |||
| 2014 | EUR, PGAT | NIR Rory McIlroy | 265 | −15 | 2 strokes | ESP Sergio García | 9,000,000 | 1,500,000 | Firestone, Ohio | |||
| 2013 | EUR, PGAT | USA Tiger Woods (8) | 265 | −15 | 7 strokes | USA Keegan Bradley | ||||||
| SWE Henrik Stenson | 8,750,000 | 1,500,000 | Firestone, Ohio | |||||||||
| 2012 | EUR, PGAT | USA Keegan Bradley | 267 | −13 | 1 stroke | USA Jim Furyk | ||||||
| USA Steve Stricker | 8,500,000 | 1,400,000 | Firestone, Ohio | |||||||||
| 2011 | EUR, PGAT | AUS Adam Scott | 263 | −17 | 4 strokes | ENG Luke Donald | ||||||
| USA Rickie Fowler | 8,500,000 | 1,400,000 | Firestone, Ohio | |||||||||
| 2010 | EUR, PGAT | USA Hunter Mahan | 268 | −12 | 2 strokes | USA Ryan Palmer | 8,500,000 | 1,400,000 | Firestone, Ohio | |||
| 2009 | EUR, PGAT | USA Tiger Woods (7) | 268 | −12 | 4 strokes | AUS Robert Allenby | ||||||
| IRL Pádraig Harrington | 8,500,000 | 1,400,000 | Firestone, Ohio | |||||||||
| 2008 | EUR, PGAT | FIJ Vijay Singh | 270 | −10 | 1 stroke | AUS Stuart Appleby | ||||||
| ENG Lee Westwood | 8,000,000 | 1,350,000 | Firestone, Ohio | |||||||||
| 2007 | EUR, PGAT | USA Tiger Woods (6) | 272 | −8 | 8 strokes | ENG Justin Rose | ||||||
| ZAF Rory Sabbatini | 8,000,000 | 1,350,000 | Firestone, Ohio | |||||||||
| 2006 | EUR, PGAT | USA Tiger Woods (5) | 270 | −10 | Playoff | USA Stewart Cink | 7,500,000 | 1,300,000 | Firestone, Ohio | |||
| 2005 | EUR, PGAT | USA Tiger Woods (4) | 274 | −6 | 1 stroke | USA Chris DiMarco | 7,500,000 | 1,300,000 | Firestone, Ohio | |||
| 2004 | EUR, PGAT | USA Stewart Cink | 269 | −11 | 4 strokes | ZAF Rory Sabbatini | ||||||
| USA Tiger Woods | 7,000,000 | 1,200,000 | Firestone, Ohio | |||||||||
| 2003 | EUR, PGAT | NIR Darren Clarke | 268 | −12 | 4 strokes | USA Jonathan Kaye | 6,000,000 | 1,050,000 | Firestone, Ohio | |||
| 2002 | EUR, PGAT | AUS Craig Parry | 268 | −16 | 4 strokes | AUS Robert Allenby | ||||||
| USA Fred Funk | 5,500,000 | 1,000,000 | Sahalee, Washington | |||||||||
| 2001 | EUR, PGAT | USA Tiger Woods (3) | 268 | −12 | Playoff | USA Jim Furyk | 5,000,000 | 1,000,000 | Firestone, Ohio | |||
| 2000 | EUR, PGAT | USA Tiger Woods (2) | 259 | −21 | 11 strokes | USA Justin Leonard | ||||||
| WAL Phillip Price | 5,000,000 | 1,000,000 | Firestone, Ohio | |||||||||
| 1999 | EUR, PGAT | USA Tiger Woods | 270 | −10 | 1 stroke | USA Phil Mickelson | 5,000,000 | 1,000,000 | Firestone, Ohio |
Notes
References
References
- "Tournament History". European Tour.
- "PGA Tour Media Guide". PGA Tour.
- Heath, Elliott. (7 August 2017). "The Best Trophies In Golf". Golf Monthly.
- Ridenour, Marla. (August 4, 2013). "PGA Tour, Bridgestone extend contract to keep tournament at Firestone C.C. through 2018". Akron Beacon Journal.
- Wright, Branson. (April 12, 2018). "WGC-Bridgestone Invitational will leave Firestone in 2019".
- (July 9, 2018). "2019 Dates Announced". PGA Tour.
- (August 27, 1998). "World Series of Golf back for final time". The Augusta Chronicle.
- (August 29, 1976). "Now golf has a real World Series". Eugene Register-Guard.
- (September 6, 1976). "Nicklaus silences his doubters". Palm Beach Post.
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