Tiger Woods' Wins at Firestone and the WGC Bridgestone Invitational
In 1999, the World Golf Championships (WGC) series was launched, and Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, was selected as one of the initial sites. The tournament was known as the WGC NEC Invitational then. And Woods won it in Year 1 of the WGC. Then he went on to win it seven more times.
Here is a brief look back at all eight of Woods' wins in the WGC Bridgestone Invitational, all played on the South Course at Firestone CC.
1999 WGC NEC Invitational
Two weeks after winning the 1999 PGA Championship in his previous start, Tiger Woods won the inaugural WGC tournament at Firestone, then called the WGC NEC Invitational. It was his 12th career win on the PGA Tour.Woods' earned the victory on the strength of a 62 in the third round, one of three rounds of 62 or lower he carded in 1999. He needed that score, too, because in the final round his 71 almost allowed him to be caught by runner-up Phil Mickelson, who shot 65.
Top Finishers
Tiger Woods, 66-71-62-71—270
Phil Mickelson, 69-67-70-65—271
Craig Parry, 71-66-69-69—275
Nick Price, 67-69-68-71—275
Ernie Els, 71-69-67-69—276
2000 WGC NEC Invitational
Just as in his first win in this tournament, at the 2000 WGC NEC Invitational Woods won two weeks after claiming the PGA Championship trophy. He did it with a final score of 259, which was, at this point in his career, Tiger's lowest winning score yet.In the second round, Woods carded a 61, tying his best round on the PGA Tour. Woods won by a tournament record 11 strokes, finishing in near-pitch darkness with a birdie. Then he went and won his next start at the Canadian Open.
Top Finishers
Tiger Woods, 64-61-67-67—259
Justin Leonard, 66-67-71-66—270
Phillip Price, 66-69-66-69—270
Jim Furyk, 65-69-69-68—271
Phil Mickelson, 66-66-69-70—271
Hal Sutton, 68-68-65-70—271
2001 WGC NEC Invitational
This tournament debuted in 1999, and Woods won it. He won it in Year 2. And, here, Woods won it again in Year 3 to make it three in a row. It was the 29th win of his PGA Tour career.This tournament is remembered for the spirited battle between Woods and Jim Furyk. Woods birdied the 16th hole of the final round to tie third-round leader Furyk. Then they both birdied the 72nd hole to force a sudden-death playoff.
But that playoff wasn't very sudden death: it lasted seven holes. Woods and Furyk matched 4s for six consecutive playoff holes. Finally, on the seventh extra hole, Woods won it with a 3 to Furyk's 5.
Top Finishers
Tiger Woods, 66-67-66-69—268
Jim Furyk, 65-66-66-71—268
Darren Clarke, 66-68-68-69—271
Colin Montgomerie, 66-71-66-70—273
Stuart Appleby, 70-64-70-70—274
Paul Azinger, 67-70-65-72—274
Davis Love III, 68-68-70-68—274
2005 WGC NEC Invitational
This was the 45th win of Tiger Woods' PGA Tour career, which tied him with Walter Hagen on the tour's all-time wins list. And, of course, it was his fourth victory in this tournament.Woods was tied for the lead after the second round (with Luke Donald) and third round (with Kenny Perry). But in the final round, his challenger was Chris DiMarco, who, earlier in the season, Woods had beaten in a playoff at the 2005 Masters.
Here, Woods shot 71 in the final round, DiMarco 68, and Woods claimed the one-stroke victory.
Top Finishers
Tiger Woods, 66-70-67-71—274
Chris DiMarco, 67-70-70-68—275
Paul McGinley, 71-66-67-72—276
Ryan Palmer, 72-68-67-69—276
Vijay Singh, 66-71-72-67—276
2006 WGC Bridgestone Invitational
Tiger Woods won this tournament for the fifth time (the first time under its new name, WGC Bridgestone Invitational), and for the second time needed a playoff to do it. After Woods' 68 and Stewart Cink's 69 in the final round, the two were tied at 10-under par. So they continued into a sudden-death playoff. This time, the playoff last four holes before Woods won it with a 3 to Cink's 4.This was Tiger's 52nd career win on the PGA Tour, which tied him with Byron Nelson on the all-time career wins list.
Top Finishers
Tiger Woods, 67-64-71-68—270
Stewart Cink, 70-67-64-69—270
Jim Furyk, 69-65-69-68—271
Angel Cabrera, 70-68-70-65—273
Paul Casey, 69-69-64-71—273
Lucas Glover, 66-69-69-69—273
Davis Love III, 67-65-70-71—273
2007 WGC Bridgestone Invitational
Woods began his history in this WGC tournament with three consecutive victories, 1999-2001. His win this year marked another run of three consecutive victories, 2005-07.Woods finished at 8-under 272, while nobody else in the tournament broke par. The runners-up, eight shots behind, were Justin Rose and Rory Sabbatini. This was Woods' 58th career win on the PGA Tour.
Top Finishers
Tiger Woods, 68-70-69-65—272
Justin Rose, 69-72-71-68—280
Rory Sabbatini, 67-67-72-74—280
Chris DiMarco, 69-70-72-70—281
Peter Lonard, 70-70-73-68—281
2009 WGC Bridgestone Invitational
Woods' seventh win in this tournament was by four strokes over runners-up Robert Allenby and Padraig Harrington. And it was actually Woods' fourth consecutive win in the WGC Bridgestone Invitational. After winning three in row from 2005 through 2007, Woods missed the 2008 tournament recuperating after leg surgery.In fact, in 10 career appearances in this tournament, through this point, Tiger had won seven of them, finished second in another, and twice finished fourth. No finishes outside the Top 4.
This was Woods' 70th win on the PGA Tour. He joined Sam Snead and Jack Nicklaus as the only golfers to reach the 70-win mark in official PGA Tour tournaments.
Top Finishers
Tiger Woods, 68-70-65-65—268
Robert Allenby, 68-69-69-66—272
Padraig Harrington, 64-69-67-72—272
Angel Cabrera, 70-68-68-67—273
Hunter Mahan, 68-69-70-66—273
2013 WGC Bridgestone Invitational
Following several injury- (and scandal-)plagued years, Woods was back on form in 2013. And we all know what that means: Another win at Firestone Country Club. The eighth of his career.Woods matched his career-low PGA Tour round with a 61 in the second round (it was the fourth time he had posted that number in a PGA Tour event). And it was another large margin-of-victory, seven strokes this time. It was career win No. 79.
Top Finishers
Tiger Woods, 66-61-68-70—265
Keegan Bradley, 66-68-71-67—272
Henrik Stenson, 65-70-67-70—272
Jason Dufner, 67-69-67-71—274
Miguel Angel Jimenez, 71-69-65-69—274
Zach Johnson, 69-70-68-67—274
