WGC-NEC Invitational Preview

The best golfers in the world tee it up at the beautiful Firestone Country Club.

World Golf Championship LogoThe final major championship of the season is in the past, and it’s time for the golfers to push towards the season-ending Tour Championship in November. Usually the week after a major calls for weaker fields for the most part, but that won’t be the case this week. The World Golf Championship’s second event of the year is on tap and will be played at Firestone Country Club. The field for this event is made up of the following: players from the most recent Ryder Cup and President’s Cup, the top 50 golfers from the official World Golf Rankings, and winners of selected worldwide events.

This basically means the field is one of the best of the entire year, aside from the four major championships of course. The world’s top-ranked golfer, Tiger Woods, once again leads the pack this week. Woods is coming off another strong finish at the PGA Championship, finishing tied for fourth. He has already won four times on the PGA Tour this season, and he is first on the money list as well. Mr. Woods also has a very good track record at the WGC-NEC Invitational. The event began in 1999, where Tiger edged out Phil Mickelson at Firestone Country Club. Woods won the event in 2000 and 2001 as well.

Speaking of Mickelson, he is coming off a win at the PGA Championship at Baltusrol. Lefty had a so-so weekend, but it was enough to earn him a second-career major championship. There is no doubt Mickelson is running high on confidence coming into the week, and he will most certainly be a factor when Sunday rolls around. Phil has finished in the top ten at the WGC-NEC Invitational four out of six times he has played the event.

Most of the media attention will be on Woods and Mickelson, but Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen are also very capable of dominating a tournament. Like Woods and Mickelson, Singh has four wins on the PGA Tour in 2005. He is number two on the money list and is coming off a tie for 10th at the PGA Championship. Vijay finished in the top ten in all four majors this season, but his putting really let him down in each of those tournaments.

Retief Goosen has also been playing good golf as of late. Goosen won The International two weeks ago for his first PGA Tour victory of the season. The steady South African also played great at the PGA Championship and had a legitimate chance of winning before faltering late. Goosen settled for a tie for sixth at Baltusrol and heads into the WGC-NEC Invitational on a roll.

Last year at the WGC-NEC Invitational, it was Stewart Cink who stole the show. Cink led the tournament from wire-to-wire and won by four shots over Tiger Woods and Rory Sabbatini. The win was Cink’s fourth on the PGA Tour. Cink will be back this year, and he will be trying to win the tournament in back-to-back years for the first time since Tiger did it from 1999-2001.

The rest of the 69-player field is also very respectable. The rest of the top-ten golfers will be teeing it up as well, with the exception of Ernie Els of course. This group includes Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, Padraig Harrington, David Toms, and Jim Furyk. Toms moved back into the top ten with a solid finish at Baltusrol this past weekend. The rest of the group really didn’t do much at the PGA Championship.

Firestone Country Club (South Course) is considered by many to be one of the best courses on the PGA Tour. The course measures 7,283 yards and par is 70. The setup is very similar to Baltusrol, which many of the golfers should be familiar with after this past week. Firestone requires accuracy off the tee, as the rough is definitely penalizing. The course is long and will test every single aspect of the golf game.

The 16th hole at Firestone is considered the signature hole on the course. The 667-yard par 5 is a three-shot hole if there ever was one. The tee shot must avoid the bunkers about 290 yards off the tee. The second shot will more than likely be a long-iron shot aimed at putting the players in great position for their approach. The players must keep their second shot short of a pond, however. Once the golfers finally make it to the green, they will be faced with tough pin placements, especially when the pin is located in the front.

The finishing hole isn’t a piece of cake either. The 464-yard par 4 requires a very accurate tee shot. Players who find themselves in the rough will have to struggle to save par. For the players who do find the fairway, they will have to deal with a tree fronting the left side of the green. If the leaderboard is packed together at the top, the 18th hole could very well be the difference in the final round. It is a very respectful finishing hole.

In the PGA Championship preview, I picked Sergio Garcia to win, and he let me down once again. He really struggled with his putting all week, which has been the case for quite some time with the Spaniard. Garcia ended up in a tie for 23rd. My “sleeper” pick, Ben Crane, finished well below that in a tie for 40th. I definitely didn’t have a good week as far as my picks are concerned.

This week, it’s time for redemption. I should probably pick Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson, but that’s just no fun is it? I am going with Jim Furyk to win at Firestone this week. Furyk battled Woods at the 2001 WGC-NEC Invitational, but he finished as the runner-up after seven playoff holes. The course really fits Furyk’s game, and I think he has all the tools to win his second PGA Tour tournament of the season. For my “sleeper” pick, I’m going with Zach Johnson. He barely missed out on being a part of the President’s Cup team, and he had a great finish last week at Baltusrol (T17). I think Johnson will be looking to prove a point this week at Firestone.

The weather definitely played a negative role at Baltusrol last weekend, and hopefully the same won’t happen at Firestone this week. Unfortunately for everyone, there is a chance for thunderstorms every round. The chances aren’t very high, but the possibility is definitely there. The highs should be anywhere from the high 70s to the mid 80s, and the conditions should be perfect for golf as long as the rain and lightning stay out of the area. The field will be playing for a very rich purse this weekend. The overall purse is $7.5 million, with over a million going to the winner.

I think this is a great two-week period for golf fans. The PGA Championship was great, and this week’s WGC-NEC Invitational should be great as well. There have been a lot of good finishes in this tournament’s short history, and this week should provide much of the same. The WGC-NEC Invitational can be seen this week on ESPN and CBS at the following times:

Thu    2:00-6:00pm ET    ESPN
Fri    2:00-6:00pm ET    ESPN
Sat    2:00-6:00pm ET    CBS
Sun    2:30-6:30pm ET    CBS

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