The WGC-Bridgestone Invitational Golf gets underway this weekend and the big news is that Tiger Woods is back. The defending champion is Hunter Mahan, who shot the lowest final round in tournament history — 6-under 64 — to win by two shots over Ryan Palmer at 12-under 268. Jim Furyk also shot 64 but finished five shots back.
Returning from an unexpected three-month break due to knee and Achilles injuries suffered at the Masters, Woods prepared for the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational with a new caddie by his side and with a business-as-usual approach — even if much has changed since the last time he was in public view on a golf course.
Woods has dropped from eighth to 28th in the world ranking, fired his long-time caddie, Steve Williams, and is attempting to come back at a place where he’s enjoyed enormous success — and one of his greatest failures as a pro.
And yet Woods sounded upbeat during a 25-minute news conference Tuesday morning.
Saying he hasn’t felt this good in “years,” Woods stuck to his typical mantra that nothing has changed regarding his expectations, despite not having finished a tournament since the Masters in April. At the Bridgestone, he is playing the first two rounds with Darren Clarke (1:40 p.m. ET on Thursday, 9:50 a.m. ET Friday).
Tiger is not the only great golfer in this tournament as a few other have the potential to win.
One off those players is Luke Donald. The world’s No. 1 has cooled off considerably of late, going T-45, MC, T-17 after a run of eight straight top-10s on the PGA Tour. I’m not sure if this is the week for him to bounce back. His only week areas this season are driving distance (160th) and GIR (78th), arguably the two most important stats at Firestone. Regardless of who wins, this will be a great tournament to watch with Tiger in the mix.
Tee off with online sportsbook BetMania and bet on the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.