The World Golf Championships pick up again this week at the Bridgestone Invitational at historic Firestone Country Club. I liked it better years ago when you said “Firestone” and you knew what it meant. But that’s another rant. This week gives us 49 of the top 50 golfers in the world at a classic course. Any guess who the favorite is? Of course it’s Tiger. He is fresh off his fourth win of the year, is primed to capture a major championship at the PGA next week and he has won here six times already. It would appear that everyone else is playing for second place. But, as the saying goes “That’s why they play the game.” You never know what may happen on a golf course. There are plenty of guys who can take Tiger down if he has an off day or two. These golfers will make it interesting this week, whether they win or not.
Phil Mickelson returns after six weeks off to tend to his family. It must mean that his mom and wife are doing well. There isn’t a person in this world that hasn’t been touched by cancer and Phil will be feeling the love from the crowd. Can he win? I don’t think he really cares. He’ll be tweaking that swing and preparing for The PGA.
Can Jim Furyk continue to come up short all year? He hasn’t won since The Canadian Open in 2007 and is playing too well not to get another win sometime soon. He is fourth in scoring average and sixth in putts per round.
Retief Goosen has found his game again and has finished second, T5 and T16 in his last three outings. He could be ready for his second win of the year.
Hunter Mahan is still a hot golfer. Ok, so he missed the cut at the Open, but so did Tiger. Prior to that he finished second, T4, T6, T14 and T27. He is in the top ten in scoring average, birdie average, and All-Around. It’s just a matter of time before he breaks through with a big win.
An unknown to US fans is Englishman Ross Fisher. He is 23rd in the world and has played well at the majors. He was fifth at the US Open and T13 at The Open Championship. He could be a player that sneaks up and steals it from the big names.
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