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World Golf Championship Leaves Akron For Memphis - Seniors To Arrive 2019

Time is running out for the Bridgestone Invitational World Golf Championship at Firestone CC (Mark Urycki /ideastream)

This August is your last chance to see the Bridgestone Invitational World Golf Championship at Firestone Country Club in Akron. Next year the WGC moves to Memphis, home of the new sponsor’s headquarters. But PGA officials came to Firestone this morning to announce that Akron still gets a tournament. 

The CEO of Bridgestone Americas, Gordon Knapp, says his company is committed to Akron. But it appears to have been outbid for the tournament by FedEx.  

“And when we realized we weren’t going to be able to renew the tournament,” Knapp said, “we were absolutely committed to making sure we would continue with a world-class tournament here in NE Ohio. And just for the record, we didn’t look anywhere else.”

The company will sponsor the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship from 2019 to 2022. After that, it’s unclear if Firestone gets a tournament, but PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan acknowledges the course is very popular with players.

“This is a remarkable golf course,” he said.

 Colin Montgomerie and Scott McCarron say senior players are thrilled to play Firestone again. [Mark Urycki /ideastream]

Hall of Fame golfer Colin Montgomerie says the seniors players are ready for July of next year.

“Everybody is extremely excited to be coming here next year. Everybody on our tour – I think to a man — has played here at one stage and they’re very excited about coming here to play Firestone, one of the classic, iconic courses you have here in the states,” Montgomerie said.

The World Golf Championship is one of the few with a $10 million purse, drawing the 50 best golfers in the world, and as many as 100,000 fans each year. It also raises about $1 million a year for local charities.

 Commissioner Monahan predicts the Seniors Championship will be broadcast to 330 million households around the globe.