2015 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational
The 2015 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational was a professional golf tournament held August 6–9 on the South Course of Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. It was the 17th WGC-Bridgestone Invitational tournament, and the third of the World Golf Championships events in 2015. Shane Lowry shot a final-round 66 to win his first WGC event, two strokes ahead of runner-up Bubba Watson.[1][2]
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | August 6–9, 2015 |
| Location | Akron, Ohio, U.S. |
| Course(s) | Firestone Country Club South Course |
| Tour(s) | PGA Tour European Tour |
| Statistics | |
| Par | 70 |
| Length | 7,400 yards (6,767 m) |
| Field | 77 players |
| Cut | None |
| Prize fund | $9,250,000 €8,323,589 |
| Winner's share | $1,570,000 €1,412,760 |
| Champion | |
 Shane Lowry | |
| 269 (−11) | |
Course layout
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yards | 399 | 526 | 442 | 471 | 200 | 469 | 219 | 482 | 494 | 3702 | 410 | 418 | 180 | 471 | 467 | 221 | 667 | 400 | 464 | 3698 | 7400 |
| Par | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 35 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 35 | 70 |
The South Course was designed by Bert Way and redesigned by Robert Trent Jones in 1960.[3]
Field
The field consisted of players drawn primarily from the Official World Golf Ranking and the winners of the world-wide tournaments with the strongest fields.[4]
1. Playing members of the 2014 United States and European Ryder Cup teams.
Thomas Bjørn, Keegan Bradley (2,3), Jamie Donaldson (2,3), Victor Dubuisson (2,3), Rickie Fowler (2,3,4), Jim Furyk (2,3,4), Stephen Gallacher, Sergio García (2,3), Zach Johnson (2,3,4), Martin Kaymer (2,3), Matt Kuchar (2,3), Hunter Mahan (2,3,4), Graeme McDowell, Phil Mickelson (2,3), Ian Poulter (2,3), Patrick Reed (2,3,4), Justin Rose (2,3,4), Webb Simpson (2,3), Jordan Spieth (2,3,4), Henrik Stenson (2,3,4), Jimmy Walker (2,3,4), Bubba Watson (2,3,4), Lee Westwood (2,3,4,5)
- Rory McIlroy (2,3,4) withdrew due to an ankle injury.[5]
2. The top 50 players from the Official World Golf Ranking as of July 27, 2015.
Paul Casey (3,4), Jason Day (3,4), Branden Grace (3,4,5), Bill Haas (3,4), Russell Henley, Charley Hoffman (3), J. B. Holmes (3,4), Billy Horschel (3,4), Thongchai Jaidee (3), Dustin Johnson (3,4), Kevin Kisner (3), Brooks Koepka (3,4), Anirban Lahiri (4), Marc Leishman (3), Shane Lowry (3), Hideki Matsuyama (3), Francesco Molinari (3), Ryan Moore (3,4), Kevin Na (3), Louis Oosthuizen (3), Ryan Palmer (3), Charl Schwartzel (3), Adam Scott (3), Brandt Snedeker (3,4), Brendon Todd (3), Bernd Wiesberger (3,4), Danny Willett (3,4), Gary Woodland (3)
- Chris Kirk (3,4) withdrew due to a hand injury.[5]
3. The top 50 players from the Official World Golf Ranking as of August 3, 2015.
Marc Warren, Robert Streb (4)
4. Tournament winners, whose victories are considered official, of tournaments from the Federation Tours since the prior season's Bridgestone Invitational with an Official World Golf Ranking Strength of Field Rating of 115 points or more.[6]
An Byeong-hun, Bae Sang-moon, Steven Bowditch, Andrew Dodt, Matt Every, Fabián Gómez, James Hahn, Pádraig Harrington, Mikko Ilonen, Søren Kjeldsen, Pablo Larrazábal, Danny Lee, David Lingmerth, David Lipsky, Joost Luiten, Ben Martin, Troy Merritt, Marcel Siem, Gary Stal, Camilo Villegas, Oliver Wilson
- Alex Norén withdrew due to a rib injury.[7]
5. The winner of selected tournaments from each of the following tours:
- Asian Tour: Thailand Golf Championship (2014) – Lee Westwood, already qualified under categories 1, 2, 3, and 4
- PGA Tour of Australasia: BetEasy Masters (2014) – Nick Cullen
- Japan Golf Tour: Bridgestone Open (2014) – Koumei Oda
- Japan Golf Tour: Japan Golf Tour Championship – Liang Wenchong
- Sunshine Tour: Dimension Data Pro-Am – Branden Grace, already qualified under categories 2, 3, and 4
Notably missing from the field is former number 1 player Tiger Woods, who is outside the top 200 in the world rankings and whose last tournament win was his eighth title at the 2013 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
Nationalities in the field
| North America (32) | South America (2) | Europe (26) | Oceania (7) | Asia (7) | Africa (3) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 United States (32) |  Argentina (1) |  England (6) | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Australia (6) |  China (1) |  South Africa (3) |
 Colombia (1) |  Northern Ireland (1) |  New Zealand (1) |  India (1) | ||
 Scotland (2) |  Japan (2) | ||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Wales (1) |  South Korea (2) | ||||
| Ireland (2) |  Thailand (1) | ||||
 Austria (1) | |||||
 Denmark (2) | |||||
 Finland (1) | |||||
 France (2) | |||||
 Germany (2) | |||||
 Italy (1) | |||||
 Netherlands (1) | |||||
 Spain (2) | |||||
 Sweden (2) |
Past champions in the field
| Player | Country | Year won | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | To par | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keegan Bradley | United States | 2012 | 69 | 70 | 69 | 71 | 279 | −1 | T17 |
| Adam Scott | Australia | 2011 | 72 | 69 | 71 | 73 | 285 | +5 | T45 |
| Hunter Mahan | United States | 2010 | 74 | 79 | 72 | 70 | 295 | +15 | 72 |
Source:[8]
Round summaries
First round
Thursday, August 6, 2015
Danny Lee shot a 5-under-par 65 to take the lead by one stroke over Jim Furyk and Graeme McDowell.[9] The greens were firm and difficult and only 21 golfers in the field of 77 managed under-par rounds.[10]
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Danny Lee | New Zealand | 65 | −5 |
| T2 | Jim Furyk | United States | 66 | −4 |
| Graeme McDowell | Northern Ireland | |||
| T4 | Rickie Fowler | United States | 67 | −3 |
| Justin Rose | England | |||
| T6 | Paul Casey | England | 68 | −2 |
| Victor Dubuisson | France | |||
| Koumei Oda | Japan | |||
| Ian Poulter | England | |||
| Webb Simpson | United States | |||
| Henrik Stenson | Sweden | |||
| Robert Streb | United States | |||
| Lee Westwood | England |
Second round
Friday, August 7, 2015
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jim Furyk | United States | 66-66=132 | −8 |
| T2 | Dustin Johnson | United States | 69-67=136 | −4 |
| Shane Lowry | Ireland | 70-66=136 | ||
| Bubba Watson | United States | 70-66=136 | ||
| T5 | Danny Lee | New Zealand | 65-72=137 | −3 |
| Graeme McDowell | Northern Ireland | 66-71=137 | ||
| Henrik Stenson | Sweden | 68-69=137 | ||
| T8 | Jason Day | Australia | 69-69=138 | −2 |
| Sergio García | Spain | 71-67=138 | ||
| Brooks Koepka | United States | 69-69=138 | ||
| Patrick Reed | United States | 71-67=138 | ||
| Justin Rose | England | 67-71=138 | ||
| Webb Simpson | United States | 68-70=138 | ||
| Jordan Spieth | United States | 70-68=138 | ||
| Robert Streb | United States | 68-70=138 | ||
| Lee Westwood | England | 68-70=138 |
Source:[11]
Third round
Saturday, August 8, 2015
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Jim Furyk | United States | 66-66-69=201 | −9 |
| Justin Rose | England | 67-71-63=201 | ||
| 3 | Shane Lowry | Ireland | 70-66-67=203 | −7 |
| T4 | Steven Bowditch | Australia | 73-69-63=205 | −5 |
| Ian Poulter | England | 68-72-65=205 | ||
| Henrik Stenson | Sweden | 68-69-68=205 | ||
| Bubba Watson | United States | 70-66-69=205 | ||
| T8 | Brooks Koepka | United States | 69-69-68=206 | −4 |
| Graeme McDowell | Northern Ireland | 66-71-69=206 | ||
| Robert Streb | United States | 68-70-68=206 |
Source:[12]
Final round
Sunday, August 9, 2015
Shane Lowry's 66 (−4) overtook third round co-leaders Justin Rose and Jim Furyk, who each carded 72 (+2). Runner-up Bubba Watson also shot 66 and finished two strokes behind Lowry.
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par | Money ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shane Lowry | Ireland | 70-66-67-66=269 | −11 | 1,570,000 |
| 2 | Bubba Watson | United States | 70-66-69-66=271 | −9 | 930,000 |
| T3 | Jim Furyk | United States | 66-66-69-72=273 | −7 | 470,000 |
| Justin Rose | England | 67-71-63-72=273 | |||
| 5 | Robert Streb | United States | 68-70-68-68=274 | −6 | 330,000 |
| T6 | Brooks Koepka | United States | 69-69-68-69=275 | −5 | 219,000 |
| Danny Lee | New Zealand | 65-72-70-68=275 | |||
| David Lingmerth | Sweden | 70-71-66-68=275 | |||
| Henrik Stenson | Sweden | 68-69-68-70=275 | |||
| T10 | Rickie Fowler | United States | 67-72-70-67=276 | −4 | 149,500 |
| Jordan Spieth | United States | 70-68-72-66=276 |
Scorecard
Final round
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| Lowry | −7 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −9 | −9 | −10 | −10 | −10 | −10 | −10 | −10 | −10 | −10 | −11 |
| Watson | −5 | −6 | −5 | −5 | −5 | −5 | −5 | −6 | −7 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −9 | −9 | −8 | −8 | −9 | −9 |
| Rose | −9 | −9 | −9 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −7 | −7 | −8 | −7 | −7 | −7 | −7 | −7 | −7 | −8 | −8 | −7 |
| Furyk | −9 | −10 | −10 | −10 | −9 | −9 | −9 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −9 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −7 |
| Streb | −3 | −4 | −5 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −4 | −4 | −5 | −6 | −6 | −6 |
Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
| Birdie | Bogey |
Source[8]
References
- "Shane Lowry wins WGC-Bridgestone Invitational title in Ohio". BBC Sport. August 10, 2015. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
- "Shane Lowry fights off Bubba Watson to win Bridgestone Invitational". The Guardian. August 10, 2015. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
- "Courses". Firestone Country Club. 2013. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
- Bolton, Rob (December 21, 2014). "2014–15 Qualifiers for majors, The Players, WGCs". PGA Tour.
- "McIlroy, Kirk to miss Bridgestone Invitational due to injury". World Golf Championships. July 29, 2015.
- The 'Strength of Field Rating' is a loose term for what the Official World Golf Ranking calls the 'Total Rating Value' (see Event ranking).
- "Warren just secures Bridgestone debut". PGA European Tour. August 3, 2015.
- "WGC-Bridgestone Invitational". ESPN. August 9, 2015. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
- "Danny Lee leads Graeme McDowell by 1 shot at Bridgestone Invitational". ESPN. Associated Press. August 7, 2015. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
- DiMeglio, Steve (August 6, 2015). "Treacherous, firm Firestone greens highlight WGC-Bridgestone first round". USA Today.
- "Bridgestone Invitational: Jim Furyk takes four-shot halfway lead". BBC Sport. August 8, 2015. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
- "Justin Rose finishes with 40-foot birdie putt to tie Jim Furyk at Firestone". ESPN. Associated Press. August 8, 2015. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
- Murray, Scott (August 9, 2015). "2015 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational: final round, as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved August 12, 2015.