The First Look: World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational

Tiger Woods makes his first World Golf Championships start in four years, getting one last tour of a Firestone Country Club venue where he’s won eight times but is hosting its final edition before the event moves south to Memphis. Newly crowned The Open Championship winner Francesco Molinari tees it up for the first time since taking possession of the Claret Jug at Carnoustie. Dustin Johnson’s FedExCup lead also figures to be on the line as the points race tightens near the top. FIELD NOTES: Hideki Matsuyama, whose closing 61 last year matched the Firestone record, also joins Molinari and Johnson atop a roster currently at 72 qualifiers via tournament wins and world rankings. The lineup features 29 of the top 30 in the FedExCup standings. … Berths remain open for Sunday’s RBC Canadian Open winner, plus anyone who cracks the top 50 in Monday’s world rankings. … Spring winners Aaron Wise (AT&T Byron Nelson) and Andrew Landry (Valero Texas Open) are among seven men making their World Golf Championships debut. … Ted Potter Jr., triumphant at Pebble Beach back in February, is playing his first WGC since the 2012 WGC Bridgestone Invitational. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 550 points. STORYLINES: Woods, who barely cracked the top-50 rankings threshold with a share of sixth at Carnoustie, tees it up on the WGC stage for the first time since the 2014 Bridgestone Invitational. His eight wins at Firestone are a PGA TOUR record he shares with himself (Torrey Pines, Bay Hill) and Sam Snead (Greensboro). … Molinari, now No.7 on the FedExCup chart after prevailing at Carnoustie, will pursue a fourth victory worldwide in a 2 ½-month span. He also won the Quicken Loans National and European Tour’s BMW PGA Championship, adding a runner-up finish on each circuit. … With three weeks left in the FedExCup regular season, Akron could produce a new leader. Johnson came to the RBC Canadian Open with just a 47-point lead over No.2 Justin Thomas, with Justin Rose and Bubba Watson also within 200 points. … A winner two years ago in Akron, Johnson also has his eyes on a fifth career WGC crown. … It’s the final WGC chapter to be played at Firestone CC, as the event relocates to Memphis next summer and the Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship settles in Akron. COURSE: Firestone Country Club (South), 7,400 yards, par 70. A PGA TOUR mainstay for five decades and the last of the original WGC venues, Firestone takes one more bow this week before parting ways. Built as a generous perk from Harvey Firestone to employees of his tire company, the club opened in 1929 and eventually stamped its own name as a major stage long before the WGC series was conceived. Robert Trent Jones readied the South for the 1960 PGA Championship captured by Jay Hebert, and the PGA of America brought its showcase event back in 1966 and ’75. The World Series of Golf played its entire run at Firestone, starting in 1962 as a three-man exhibition and becoming an official event in 1976. It moved under the WGC banner in 1999. 72-HOLE RECORD: 259, Tiger Woods (2000). 18-HOLE RECORD: 61, José María Olazábal (1st round, 1990), Tiger Woods (2nd round, 2000 and 2nd round, 2013), Sergio Garcia (2nd round, 2014), Hideki Matsuyama (4th round, 2017). LAST YEAR: Matsuyama captured his second WGC title of the season in dominant fashion, tying the Firestone course record with a 61 in cruising to a five-stroke romp. The Japanese pro erased a two-shot deficit when he chipped in for eagle at the par-5 second hole and never looked back, adding seven birdies before his afternoon was complete. Three came on Firestone’s final three holes, completing the run with a 6-foot birdie at No.18. That left Matsuyama at 16-under-par 264, the event’s lowest total since Adam Scott went one lower in 2011. Zach Johnson (68) led the chase pack, with Charley Hoffman (66) another two shots back in third. Matsuyama’s title joined his win 10 months earlier at the WGC HSBC Champions, when he moved alongside Vijay Singh (2008 WGC Bridgestone) as Asia’s only WGC titleholders. HOW TO FOLLOW TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 1:30-6:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, noon-1:45 p.m. (GC); 2-6 p.m. (CBS). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. (featured groups), 2-6:30 p.m. (featured holes). Saturday-Sunday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. (featured groups). RADIO: Thursday-Friday, 1-6:30 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com).

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