WGC Bridgestone Invitational History and Past Winners

The WGC Bridgestone Invitational began life in 1962 as a four-man invitational tournament held at the Firestone Country Club. The field expanded, and by 1976, it was an official PGA Tour event known as the World Series of Golf. Thanks to the strength of field, it was considered just a step below the Majors, with a victory granting a 10-year exemption on Tour. The field at that time consisted of tournament winners from the various international tours.

NEC sponsored the event from 1984 to 2006, when it was taken over by Bridgestone.

Since it became known as the WGC Invitational (either as WGC-NEC or WGC Bridgestone) in 1999, Tiger Woods has owned the event, winning seven times.

The current field is composed of 75 players, who fit the following criteria:

Playing members of the last named United States and International Presidents Cup teams.
Playing members of the last named United States and European Ryder Cup teams.
Players ranked among the top 50 on the Official World Golf Rankings (one week and two weeks prior to event).
Tournament winners of worldwide events since the prior year’s tournament with an Official World Golf Ranking Strength of Field Rating of 115 points or more.
The winner of one selected tournament from each of the following tours: PGA Tour of Australasia, Sunshine Tour, Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour.

A list of past winners follows: