The world’s top golfers will head this week to the famed Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio for the 2016 staging of the WGC Bridgestone Invitational. A cool $9.5 million is at stake for the world-class field with the champion grabbing not only 500 FedEx Cup points but also the $1.612 million top prize.
Read on below for an in-depth breakdown of this prestigious golf tournament and while you’re at it, you can check out our sleeper picks for the year’s final WGC event.
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Favorites – Jason Day (+550) and Jordan Spieth (+850)
It isn’t a complete surprise to see Jason Day and Jordan Spieth installed as favorites to win this week’s Bridgestone Invitational. Day and Spieth are the two highest-ranked players in the field and they are playing some excellent golf of late.
Day has found the top 25 in nine of his last ten starts, firing off three victories and three other top 10s during that stretch. Spieth, on the other hand, has finished in the top-5 in two of his last six starts, including a victory at the Dean & DeLuca Invitational. With the form that they are in right now, expect Day and Spieth to contend once again this week.
High-Value Sleepers – Brooks Koepka (+1,800) and Shane Lowry (+3,500)
One golfer who loves playing here at Firestone is Brooks Koepka. He broke 70 in all four rounds in his first-ever start at the WGC-Bridgestone last year, en route to an impressive sixth-place finish. Koepka is starting to hit peak form ahead of next month’s British Open, finishing in the top-13 in each of his last three outings. He finished runner-up at the Byron Nelson last month before tying for second at the FedEx St. Jude Classic.
Key to Koepka’s resurgence has been his excellent play with the driver. He is 14th in the PGA Tour in driving distance this season, averaging 303.3 yards per drive. That powerful swing will come in handy when tackling the long 7,400-yard, par-70 Firestone course.
Another golfer who’s primed for a huge performance this week is Shane Lowry. He loves playing at Firestone as evidenced by his tournament win here last year. He shot a 4-under 66 in the final round to beat Bubba Watson by two shots. With the victory, Lowry notched his first win on U.S. soil. He looked to be on his way to a first major win last week but a final-round 76 tanked his U.S. Open chances. Regardless, his runner-up finish at Oakmont was his third top-25 in his last four starts. Look for Lowry to continue his solid play and be in the hunt once again this week.
One long shot who can definitely make a run at the Bridgestone title is Marc Leishman. The Australian has finished in the top-20 in three of his last four starts. The world no. 60 tied for 33rd in the Bridgestone Invitational last year. One advantage that Leishman has against the rest of the field is his excellent touch on the putting greens. He is 16th in the PGA Tour in strokes gained via putting with a .516 average. That will be a major weapon for Leishman when navigating the delicate greens of the Firestone course.
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