The PGA Tour heats back up this week after a low-key Canadian Open last week as it hurtles towards a frenzied finish that includes a WGC event, major championship and the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Most of the sport's stars return post-Open Championship for this pre-PGA Championship appetizer.
Let's take a look at this week's contest.
Event information
What: WGC-Bridgetstone Invitational | Akron, Ohio | When: Aug. 3-7
Participants and odds
Odds via Bovada
- Jordan Spieth: 8/1
- Dustin Johnson: 9/1
- Rory McIlroy: 10/1
- Rickie Fowler: 16/1
- Brooks Koepka: 18/1
- Hideki Matsuyama: 18/1
- Jon Rahm: 22/1
- Justin Rose: 25/1
- Henrik Stenson: 28/1
- Jason Day: 28/1
- Adam Scott: 28/1
- Sergio Garcia: 28/1
- Matt Kuchar: 33/1
- Justin Thomas 33/1
Field strength: A+
Stars and superstars all over the board for both this event as well as the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow next week. One thing to note for this week's tournament is that there is no cut, and it's an automatic pay day for those who make an appearance.
Three stories to watch
1. Rory or Jordan: The biggest story going into Quail Hollow is whether Rory McIlroy can upend Jordan Spieth's bid for the career Grand Slam on a course where the former has had loads of success. A different thing I pondered recently is whether Spieth is having a "Rory in 2014" type of summer right now. Spieth has two straight wins and could add two more to it in the next two weeks (McIlroy won The Open, the Bridgestone and the PGA Championship consecutively in 2014).
Spieth could join McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and Dustin Johnson as the only golfers this century to win three or more consecutive events. If we're lucky, we'll get a nice opening act between this duo to the main event next week at Quail.
2. Bubba's … back? After a mediocre (at best) first half of the season, Bubba Watson has played some more consistent golf in the last month. He's made the cut in four straight tournaments and even got involved in the Open Championship leaderboard for a while. Watson has a strong history here -- top 20 in three of the last five years including a runner up in 2015 -- and it would be nice to see him really round into form before the final major of the year.
3. The sleepers: The reality here is that after a west coast swing that saw stars Spieth, Thomas, Matsuyama and Johnson all get wins, we're likely to get a lesser-ranked player as our champ this week. There are some interesting candidates as no golfers has single-digit odds to win. I have a sneaky suspicion that Russell Knox is going to show out in a big way.
Past winners
- 2016: Dustin Johnson
- 2015: Shane Lowry
- 2014: Rory McIlroy
- 2013: Tiger Woods
- 2012: Keegan Bradley
A who's who list of PGA Tour winners. It's still crazy to think that Woods won as recently as four years ago.
Let's look at the picks this week.
Winner: Justin Thomas finished T33 last year in his first appearance at this tournament. His form has been up and down this summer, but if feels sort of like he's about to jump back on one of those heaters he loves to ride. Thomas is one of the biggest bombers on the PGA Tour (12th in driving distance), and this course has produced some pretty massive hitters over the years. I'd love to see a shootout between him and the next guy on this list. Odds: 33-1
Top 10: Jordan Spieth is playing too well right now for me to pick him to finish anywhere other than the top 10, especially in a small-field event like this. Odds: 7-1
Sleeper: Gary Woodland fits the big bomber mold, and he played great at The Open. There are no true sleepers at this tournament because of the small fields, but Woodland qualifies for our purposes. He's finished T19 here in 2014. Odds: 55-1
These are the picks I'm most confident of heading into the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, although I'm far more confident about a Spieth top 10 than either of the other two picks. He's as locked in with his irons as he's ever been in his career, and it should all add up to a surge into Quail Hollow with history at stake.
