Akron, OH- ---- Masters champion Phil Mickelson will return to Northern Ohio in two weeks for the 18th consecutive year to compete in the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, tournament officials today announced. Mickelson, who officially committed to the event today, has competed at Firestone Country Club every year since 1992 and will return to action for the first time...
Phil Mickelson “Phil Mickelson is one of the most popular figures in all of sports and we are thrilled he will again compete here in Akron,” said Bridgestone Invitational Executive Director Donald Padgett III. “We’ve had a number of commitments from the world’s best players, Mickelson included, and are confident one of the strongest fields of the season will again gather here at Firestone and put on an entertaining week of competition for golf fans throughout our region and around the country.”
No stranger to the South Course at Firestone Country Club, Mickelson has compiled an impressive track record over the years in Akron. One of only five players to compete in all 11 editions of the Bridgestone Invitational, Mickelson has collected five top 10s with his best result a runner-up finish in 1999. He finished T58 in 2009. Though he has never won the Bridgestone Invitational since it became a World Golf Championships event in 1999, Mickelson has recorded a victory at Firestone Country Club’s South Course, winning the 1996 World Series of Golf.
One of only five players with multiple victories in World Golf Championships events along with Darren Clarke, Ernie Els, Geoff Ogilvy and Tiger Woods, Mickelson claimed two of the four World Golf Championships events in 2009, notching one-stroke victories at both the CA Championship and the HSBC Champions. Mickelson claimed the third green jacket of his career in April, but needs a second victory to extend his streak of consecutive seasons with multiple victories to seven.
Players not already qualified for the Bridgestone Invitational have just two more weeks of competition, including this week’s RBC Canadian Open on the PGA TOUR, to earn a spot in the field in Akron. The field will again include playing members of the last named Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup teams, winners of tournaments from around the world since the 2009 Bridgestone Invitational whose victories are considered official and have an Official World Golf Ranking strength of field rating of 115, and the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking as of Monday, July 26 and Monday, August 2.
---------- Staff Report