Bridgestone Invitational field close to being finalized

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AKRON, Ohio -- The field for the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational inched closer to being set as Phil Mickelson committed and six international players, including RBC Canadian Open champion Nathan Green, earned trips to next week's event at Firestone Country Club's South Course.

Mickelson, a two-time winner in 2009, will be making his first start since finishing second at the U.S. Open. He has taken the last six weeks off while his wife Amy and mother Mary were treated for breast cancer at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Green's victory at Glen Abbey Golf Club gave him an automatic berth at Firestone. Five other international players held on to their positions within the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking to earn a spot in the field for the third World Golf Championships event of the season.

Here is a look at players now qualified via their place in the Official World Golf Ranking:

Mickelson is looking to win his second World Golf Championships of the season. He won the CA Championship at Doral in March and has competed in all 10 previous Bridgestone Invitationals, with his best finish coming in 1999 when he tied for second.

Wood

Players currently not qualified have one final chance to earn a spot in the field by moving into the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking by Monday, Aug. 3, or by winning the Buick Open, which meets the tournament's strength of field eligibility requirement.

Of the players ranked between No. 51-75, 11 are already qualified either via victories on their respective Tours or by competing on either the 2007 U.S. or International Presidents Cup teams or the 2008 U.S. or European Ryder Cup teams. Of the 14 remaining players not otherwise qualified, four are in the field this week at the Buick Open while one is competing in the Moravia Silesia Open on the European Tour.

Chris Wood (No. 59), who tied for third at the British Open two weeks ago, is competing this week on the European Tour while Andres Romero (No. 62), Paul Goydos (No. 68), Kevin Na (No. 71) and Ben Crane (No. 72) are all playing in the Buick Open.

The 83 players currently qualified are primarily tournament winners from the tours that make up the International Federation of PGA Tours since the prior year's Bridgestone Invitational (tournament must have a strength of field rating of 115 points or more), playing members of the 2007 U.S. and International Presidents Cup Teams or playing members of the 2008 U.S. and European Ryder Cup teams.

The deadline for players currently qualified to commit to the Bridgestone Invitational is Friday, July 31, at 5 p.m. ET. Wen-Tang Lin and Robert Karlsson have withdrawn.

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.