Bridgestone Inv. to showcase some of golf's youngest stars

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While golf veterans like Kenny Perry, Tiger Woods and last week's winner Steve Stricker continue to show good form in 2009, there is also a youth movement throughout the world of golf, and several of the game's rising stars will be on hand when the best players from across the globe come to Firestone Country Club for the Bridgestone Invitational, Aug. 4-9, in Akron, Ohio.

Already qualified are New Zealand's Danny Lee, Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy, Spain's Alvaro Quiros, Germany's Martin Kaymer, Colombia's Camilo Villegas, and U.S. twentysomethings Anthony Kim, Sean O'Hair, Lucas Glover, Nick Watney and Dustin Johnson.

Danny Lee, the 18-year-old sensation from New Zealand who won the 2008 U.S. Amateur Championship at Pinehurst No. 2, made his professional debut at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans after bowing out of the amateur ranks with a missed cut (74-81) at the Masters Tournament. The European Tour's 2009 Johnnie Walker Classic winner has made four of eight cuts on the PGA TOUR since turning professional, his best finish a T7 at the AT&T National.

McIlroy, 20, not only made the cut in his first five PGA TOUR events this season, but he finished in the top 20 in each of them. McIlroy won the 2009 Dubai Desert Classic on the European Tour and ranks fifth on the European Tour's Race to Dubai standings behind six top-5 finishes. Earlier this year, he finished T5 and T20 at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship and World Golf Championships-CA Championship, respectively, in his first two World Golf Championships starts.

Last week, 24-year-old Martin Kaymer won for the second straight week on the European Tour as he added The Barclays Scottish Open title to his resume. Kaymer won the previous week at the Open de France ALSTOM. He now has four career European Tour titles.

Early in the PGA TOUR season, Watney (28) and Dustin Johnson (25) won in back-to-back weeks at the Buick Invitational and the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Watney and Johnson were later joined by O'Hair (27), who won the Quail Hollow Championship. All three players have now won multiple events on the PGA TOUR.

Glover, 29, outlasted final-round charges by the top-two players in the Official World Golf Ranking and all the rain Mother Nature could produce to claim the U.S. Open Championship at Bethpage State Park. Glover entered the final round one shot off the 54-hole lead and carded a 3-over-par 73 as he holed a short par putt on the 18th hole for a two-stroke victory. The victory was Glover's second on the PGA TOUR after claiming the 2005 FUNAI Classic at Walt Disney World Resort.

The four twentysomethings have combined for 16 top-10 finishes in 2009, and all four players are also currently in the top 20 in the FedExCup standings with Glover (No. 7), O'Hair (No. 9) and Watney (No. 10) each inside the top 10.

"There are so many talented young players right now across the globe," said Executive Director Don Padgett. "Fans coming to the Bridgestone Invitational will get a good look at the future of golf worldwide when they see some of the game's best up-and-coming players here at Firestone Country Club."

The 2009 Bridgestone Invitational will have an interesting feel with both Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh returning to the event hoping to defend the championship they won during their last appearance. Singh won last year's tournament by edging out Lee Westwood, Phil Mickelson and Retief Goosen for his first World Golf Championships victory. Woods has won the Bridgestone Invitational six times (1999-2001 and 2005-07), but he missed the 2008 event after knee surgery. Woods has 15 career victories at World Golf Championships events. In 2007, Woods shot a final-round 65 to win by eight strokes over Justin Rose and Rory Sabbatini.

For a limited time, purchase a Firestone Clubhouse Badge or a Weekly Championship Ticket Book and receive a free dozen Bridgestone Golf balls at Northeast Ohio Dick's Sporting Goods or Golf Galaxy. To learn more about the ticket packages available for the Bridgestone Invitational, call the Championship Office at 330-664-2299, toll free 1-877-942-4849 or visit www.worldgolfchampionships.com.