The field is set for this week’s Bridgestone SENIOR PLAYERS Championship, debuting at Firestone Country Club in Akron this Thursday through Sunday, July 11-14.
This year’s field features 78 of the top PGA TOUR Champions players, including recent U.S. Senior Open winner Steve Stricker, defending champion Vijay Singh, past champion and 2019 Ambassador of Golf recipient Fred Couples and five other World Golf Hall of Fame members including Bernhard Langer, Colin Montgomerie, Mark O’Meara, Retief Goosen and Sandy Lyle.
Halfway through just his second season on PGA TOUR Champions, Stricker has already collected five career wins, including two senior majors. Most recently, the Wisconsin native put up a record-setting performance at the U.S. Senior Open, as his 19-under total was six shots clear of Jerry Kelly and David Toms. Although this will be Stricker’s first appearance at the Bridgestone SENIOR PLAYERS, it will not be his first time competing at Firestone Country Club. The 12-time PGA TOUR winner played in eight World Golf Championship-Bridgestone Invitationals (highlighted by a T2 finish in 2012) in addition to one start at the NEC World Series of Golf in 1996 where he also finished T2.
Singh won the 2018 event in dramatic fashion at Exmoor Country Club near Chicago when he birdied the second playoff hole, defeating Jeff Maggert and ultimately earning his third win on PGA TOUR Champions and his first senior major championship. In addition to being defending champion, the Fijian is also one of only two men in the field to have won a professional event at Firestone Country Club. Singh won the 2008 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, while South Africa’s David Frost won the NEC World Series of Golf in 1989.
Couples, who won the 2011 SENIOR PLAYERS, won the Masters in 1992 when he came from one stroke behind on the final day, ultimately defeating Raymond Floyd by two strokes. His Masters win completed a remarkable stretch where he won three times and finished runner-up twice in six starts. He went on to become No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking after his Masters victory and maintained that position for 16 weeks. It marked the first time an American player achieved the No. 1 ranking since the advent of the OWGR.
In addition to Vijay Singh returning to defend his title, and he will be joined by eight other past champions of the event: Scott McCarron (2017), Bernhard Langer (2014, 2015, 2016), Kenny Perry (2013), Fred Couples (2011), Mark O’Meara (2010), Jay Haas (2009), and Loren Roberts (2007), Bobby Wadkins (2006). The field includes:
– Five World Golf Hall of Fame members
– Nine players who have won the Bridgestone SENIOR PLAYERS Championship
– Two players who have won a professional event at Firestone (Singh, World Golf Championships 2008; Frost, NEC World Series of Golf 1989)
– 59 PGA TOUR winners with 362 total career victories
– 57 PGA TOUR Champions winners with 285 total career victories
– 17 players with a PGA TOUR major victory; 23 with a PGA TOUR Champions major
– Six Charles Schwab Cup champions, spanning 13 years
This year marks the 37th playing of the Bridgestone SENIOR PLAYERS, which is the fourth-oldest event on PGA TOUR Champions. The field is comprised of the top 36 players from the previous year’s Charles Schwab Cup, winners of the Bridgestone SENIOR PLAYERS in the past five years, World Golf Hall of Fame members, top nine available from the PGA TOUR Points List, top four available from the PGA TOUR Champions Points List, top 11 available from the all-time money list, winners of PGA TOUR Champions tournaments within the last year and winners of a senior major in the preceding three calendar years.
The Bridgestone SENIOR PLAYERS boasts one of the strongest fields of the year on PGA TOUR Champions. Other notable commits to the championship are included below:
Michael Allen
Stephen Ames
Billy Andrade
Tommy Armour III
Woody Austin
Michael Bradley
Paul Broadhurst
Mark Brooks
Olin Browne
Bart Bryant
Tom Byrum
Mark Calcavecchia
Russ Cochran
John Cook
John Daly
Marco Dawson
Glen Day
Chris DiMarco
Scott Dunlap
Joe Durant
Danny Edwards
Bob Estes
Steve Flesch
Dan Forsman
Carlos Franco
David Frost
Fred Funk
Doug Garwood
Bob Gilder
Tom Gillis
Paul Goydos
Scott Hoch
John Huston
Lee Janzen
Miguel Angel Jimenez
Brandt Jobe
Kent Jones
Steve Jones
Tom Lehman
Jeff Maggert
Billy Mayfair
David McKenzie
Rocco Mediate
Shaun Micheel
Larry Mize
Scott Parel
Corey Pavin
Tom Pernice, Jr.
Tim Petrovic
Gene Sauers
Wes Short Jr.
Scott Simpson
Joey Sindelar
Jeff Sluman
Jerry Smith
Kevin Sutherland
Ken Tanigawa
Esteban Toledo
Tommy Tolles
David Toms
Kirk Triplett
Scott Verplank
Duffy Waldorf
Willie Wood
In addition to providing enjoyable fan experiences inside the gates of tournaments, the PGA TOUR is also committed to leaving significant charitable footprints outside the gates in the cities it plays, and since its inception has generated nearly $3 billion all-time for charity.
In Northeast Ohio, professional golf events at Firestone County Club have generated more than $28 million for worthy causes. In the pursuit of continuing that legacy with the debut of PGA TOUR Champions in 2019, the Bridgestone SENIOR PLAYERS will be contributing proceeds to six key charities.
To purchase tickets to the 2019 Bridgestone SENIOR PLAYERS, please visit BridgestoneSeniorPlayers.com or call 844-868-7465.
For general tournament information, contact the tournament office at 330-644-2299.
