Week 30 Approach Shots: Bridgestone Invitational

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The third of four World Golf Championships events takes place this week with the world's best players arriving in Akron, OH, for the Bridgestone Invitational. Vijay Singh is the defending champion, with the Fijian using the tournament as a springboard to a strong finish to his 2008 season and ultimately his FedExCup title. Singh returns to Firestone Country Club's South Course, where he hung on a year ago to defeat Stuart Appleby and Lee Westwood by a stroke.

Quick Facts

WHAT: 34th of 37 Regular Season events WHEN: Aug. 6-Aug. 9 WHERE: Akron, Ohio COURSE: Firestone C.C. (South Course) FEDEXCUP POINTS: 550 for winner Round 1 TV: GOLF 2-6 p.m./8:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET Round 2 TV: GOLF 3-6 p.m./8:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET Round 3 TV: CBS 2-6 p.m. ET Round 4 TV: CBS 2-6 p.m. ET RADIOTV: 12-6 p.m. Thurs. to Sun. on SIRIUS XM Key Links: Tee times | Leaderboard | Tournament page VIDEO: Opening Shot

Playing in the event for the first time since 2007 is Tiger Woods, who has won the Bridgestone Invitational six times, including three in a row from 1999 to 2001 and again from 2005 to 2007. Woods is coming into the tournament a winner after capturing last week's Buick Open.

Besides Woods, 49 of the top-50 players in the Official World Golf Rankings are competing. Robert Karlsson is out with an injury. Also returning to action is Phil Mickelson, who missed several tournaments this summer as he tended to his wife Amy, who has cancer.

SINGH'S SEASON: Like last year, Vijay Singh heads into the late summer looking for his first win of the season. In 2009, Singh has posted three top-10 finishes, including a tie for seventh at the AT&T National. He has won at least one tournament in the last seven seasons. Singh is 65th in the FedExCup standings. At No. 2 in the International Presidents Cup Team standings, he is a lock to make his eighth appearance in the event that takes place later this season. Singh has won 22 times since turning 40, a PGA TOUR record.

LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN: With Tiger Woods missing the 2008 event due to knee surgery, Woods is playing his first Bridgestone Invitational since his victory in 2007. In that tournament, Woods trailed Rory Sabbatini by one stroke through 54 holes and fired a closing, 5-under 65 to win by eight strokes over Sabbatini and Justin Rose. The victory was Woods' sixth at Firestone Country Club's South Course. Only Sam Snead has more victories in a single tournament. Snead won the Greensboro, NC, event eight times.

ON FIRE AT FIRESTONE: Jim Furyk has six top-10 finishes at the Bridgestone Invitational in nine attempts and has only once finished outside the top 25. He tied for 27th in 2008.

A FINE FIELD: Five players in the field for this year's event have competed in all 10 previous installments of the Bridgestone Invitational. They are Stuart Appleby, Darren Clarke, Padraig Harrington, Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood. This group has combined for one victory (Clarke, in 2003), three second-place finishes, one third and 13 top 10s. Appleby is also playing in his 32nd career World Golf Championships event this week. He is the only player to compete in every tournament since the series' inception in 1999.

FIRST AT FIRESTONE: There are 16 first-time participants in the field for the Bridgestone Invitational. The players competing in Akron for the first time are Cameron Beckman, Christian Cevaer, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Brian Gay, Yuji Igarashi, Dustin Johnson, Anthony Kang, Soren Kjeldsen, Chih Bing Lam, Danny Lee, Shane Lowry, Rory McIlroy, Pat Perez, Alvaro Quiros, Marc Turnesa and Camilo Villegas.

CHAMPIONSHIP RUN: Five players have finished in the top 10 in the previous two World Golf Championships this season, the Accenture Match Play Championship and the CA Championship. Following the Bridgestone Invitational this week, the fourth World Golf Championships event of 2009 will take place in Shanghai, China, as the HSBC Champions joins the series for the first time. Here is the complete list:

ON-COURSE OBSERVATIONS: PGA TOUR Network correspondent Brian Katrek is on the scene at Firestone Country Club for this week's satellite radio coverage (XM 146/SIRIUS 209). Reports Katrek:

Firestone is very tough golf course; the South Course has held majors before and could hold a major right now. It's very straight, very straightforward -- not a lot of tricks out here -- but it is a tough driving course for sure. The straight fairways are one of the reasons why it's so tough. You can't cut yardage. You have to drive it straight down the center, and if you hit it offline, you're going to be punished.

• I would say that the rough is up this year; it is definitely long, but that's only going to be half the problem. More often than not, if you drive it offline here, it's not the rough that's going to get you -- its the trees. Big old trees line every fairway, so your recovery shot is dictated by what kind of trees you have in your way. It's a classic course, though, and in great shape. This week is going to be a tougher test of driving the ball than next week at Hazeltine.

• All eyes are on Tiger Woods. He only hit 54 percent of his fairways last week, and he still won. He's going to have to drive it better this week just to stay in contention, and he knows it -- he's won here six times.

• If he can get the ball in the fairway here, then he will be in prime position going into the PGA Championship next week. As for other favorites? The course favors straight drives of the golf ball, and that's why you see the names you see in the list of past champions, although most of the names are Tiger. Vijay is an exceptionally straight driver of the ball, and Zach Johnson is a name to look for even though he's never won here because he's an exceptionally straight driver of the golf ball, too.

• I would look for Cink, who is one of the names that's not Tiger Woods who has won here. He won once (2004) and was runner-up to Tiger in 2006. And he just won a major in his last start. I wouldn't expect there to be any hangover -- I would expect him to come out and play well this week.

Weather forecast for the Bridgestone Invitational

THURSDAY, Rd. 1 FRIDAY, Rd. 2 SATURDAY, Rd. 3 SUNDAY, Rd. 4 Partly cloudy Temp: 81 high/62 low Cloudy Temp: 80 high/66 low Scattered t-storms Temp: 81 high/72 low Scattered t-storms Temp: 86 high/70 low

DTN/Meteorlogix is the official weather provider of the PGA TOUR. For more information, click here

Bridgestone Invitational snippets

FEDEXCUP UPDATE: Tiger Woods' lead in the FedExCup points race is probably safe this week with Steve Stricker needing to win to have even a chance to pass him, but places five through 10 could see a shakeup with extra points available this week and the Top 20 players all entered. SURPRISING STAT: When Vijay Singh won last year's Bridgestone Invitational, he became the first player in his 40s to win a World Golf Championships event. A second could come from a group this week that includes Woody Austin, Darren Clarke, Retief Goosen, Yuji Igarashi, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Jerry Kelly, Davis Love III, Prayad Marksaeng, Steve Stricker, David Toms and Scott Verplank. GIVING BACK: The Bridgestone Invitational annually generates proceeds of over $900,000 that is distributed to charitable efforts through out Northeast Ohio. Through the years, over $18 million has been given to more than 200 worthy causes seeking to improve the quality of life in Northeast Ohio. THURSDAY DOMINANCE: It's never a surprise when Tiger Woods gets off to a good start and thats particularly true at Firestone South. In nine opening rounds at the Bridgestone Invitational, Woods has shot 68 or less all nine times.

A victory this week earns you ...

• Fully Exempt for the remainder of 2009 and all of 2010-11 • 550 FedExCup points: A win could create additional opportunities to play in the 2009 PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup • A spot in the following events in order of play: 2009 PGA Championship, 2010 SBS Championship, 2010 PLAYERS Championship

This week's Kodak Challenge hole

HOLE: The par-5, 667-yard 16th at Firestone South DESCRIPTION: The 16th is the signature hole at Firestone. The extension of the tee now brings the bunkers into play, which are approximately 280 to 290 yards off the tee. A long iron second shot down the hill must avoid a creek on the right and stay short of the pond that guards this small green. The front right pin is the most challenging. (Click here for tour)