Fantasy Golf Tournament Preview- WGC Bridgestone
OVERVIEW
The last no-cut event of the regular PGA Tour season is here. This is the final year Firestone will host the WGC Bridgestone as it heads to Memphis next year. The course is a typical country club layout with tree lined fairways and typical greenside bunkering. The fairways are fairly generous, but accuracy off the tee is still pretty vital as the rough should be fairly thick (as it usually plays this way). The greens are small in size, which also puts an emphasis on the proximity of approaches. Looking at past winners, we see a cream of the crop in the last five years with the exception of Shane Lowry, who caught fire the week of the WGC as his form leading in was non-existent. Speaking of form leading in, I added the champion’s form leading into this event below to better help us identify any trends that we wouldn’t normally see for this week. Depending on how well this is received by our subs, it may stick for the remainder of the year. There are two things I’m picking up from that section this week – The winner didn’t play the week prior to the event and in three of the last five years, the betting favorite or co-favorite has won. Obviously, there’s not much to go off of there, so I dug a bit deeper. Hideki had played this event four previous times, DJ played six, Lowry twice, Rory five times (3 finishes inside the Top 10), and Tiger had played in this event thirteen times finishing inside the top 10 ten times, won this event three straight times (twice) and has won this event eight times over his career. He’s obviously the outlier player of the group, but his game at the time helps us identify the type of player who should succeed here. Players who are long off the tee have an advantage, as do superior ball strikers. Putting is the differentiator this week (as it is most weeks).
TOURNAMENT BACKGROUND
o The Course
• Firestone Country Club (South course)
• Par 70
• 7,400 yards
• Bentgrass + Poa greens
o Location: Akron, Ohio
o Past Champions:
• 2017: Hideki Matsuyama -16 over Zach Johnson (by 5 strokes)
• 2016: Dustin Johnson -6 over Scott Piercy
• 2015: Shane Lowry -11 over Bubba Watson
• 2014: Rory McIlroy -15 over Sergio Garcia
• 2013: Tiger Woods -15 over Keegan Bradley & Henrik Stenson (by 7 strokes)
o Past Champion (Odds) & Form Leading In:
• Hideki (20/1): DNP – 14th – DNP – 14th
• DJ (9/1): DNP – Win – 5th – 3rd
• Lowry (125/1): DNP – DNP – MC – 31st
• Rory (8/1): DNP – Win – 14th – DNP
• Tiger (5/1): DNP – 6th – DNP – DNP
KEY STATS TO TARGET
o Strong Emphasis – SG: T2G, Bogey or Worse, Birdie Or Better
o Important – SG: APP, GIR, Scrambling, SG: Putting, App 200+ yards, 50-125 yards
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