The 2017 WGC Bridgestone Invitational will be a star-studded event, which will make it that much harder to pick a potential winner. To help with this predicament, let’s see who some top golf experts have picked to win/contend for the title at Firestone this weekend.
*Find the complete list of the 2017 WGC Bridgestone Invitational betting linesHERE!
Golf Digest
Golf Digest came up with a few expert picks for the WGC Bridgestone Invitational, and two notable inclusions on their list were Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose.
They were quick to note that we shouldn’t be quick to overreact with Rory’s decision to change caddies and that the Northern Irishman will be just fine. McIlroy had his ups and downs at The Open, but despite his struggles, he still ended up a very strong T4 .
It’s also hard to ignore McIlroy’s strong history at Akron. He won it all the last time he took part at the Bridgestone Invitiational back in 2014, and also has four top-10 finishes in his last five starts at the course. He’s well worth his +850 odds to win it all again this year.
Rose’s record at Firestone isn’t too shabby either. The Englishman has three top-5 finishes in his last four starts at Firestone, and despite his recent rut post-Masters playoff loss, he should be good value at +2,500 to claim another tournament win.
PGATour.com
Top 5 in WGC Bridgestone Invitational Power Rankings
Jordan Spieth
Brooks Koepka
Rickie Fowler
Jon Rahm
Dustin Johnson
As he is wont to do every tournament, PGATour.com writer Rob Bolton has compiled his power rankings of the WGC Bridgestone Invitational prior to the tournament. And to the surprise of no one, he has recent Open winner Jordan Spieth at the top. With wins in his last two starts, as well as back-to-back top-10 finishes at Firestone, it’s hard to bet against Spieth, who is the +700 favorite to make it a hat-trick of wins at Akron.
The majority of his top five is pretty straightforward, with big names like Rickie Fowler and Dustin Johnson included. However, Bolton is keeping the faith with Jon Rahm despite the 22-year-old missing the cut at the Memorial and the US Open, and finishing just T44 at The Open. However, he did have an impressive six-stroke win on the European Tour last month, so maybe he does represent good value at +2,200 to win the tournament.
Golfshake
Derek Clements of Golfshake has offered his analysis for the Bridgestone Invitational, and he concluded that McIlroy is the man to beat at Firestone. Clements saw a lot of positives to take from Rory’s play at Royal Birkdale despite some rocky patches to start. The fact that he remained in contention was a testament to McIlroy’s abilities.
Clements acknowledges that McIlroy is too inconsistent to be completely trusted, but he believes the Northern Irishman is the most naturally gifted golfer on the planet, and if he’s at his best – like he was at Firestone back in 2014 – he’s going to be close to unbeatable.
