The 2018 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational will be the last edition of the tournament to take place at Firestone Country Club. The Akron venue has hosted many memorable moments over the years, including a historic victory for Darren Clarke in 2003.
It’s now 15 years since the the Northern Irishman won the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, becoming just the second player ever to win multiple WGC titles.
Clarke arrived at Firestone in the midst of an impressive season that featured four top five finishes, including the 2003 WGC Match Play where the 34 year old lost in the Quarter-Final to Peter Lonard. He had enjoyed success at Firestone before, finishing third in 2001 and entered the week ranked 17th in the world.
On Thursday, Clarke hit the ground running. An opening round, five-under par 65 saw him tie with Tiger Woods, one shot back of Sergio Garcia and recent Open champion Ben Curtis. After a Friday 70 and a round of 66 on Saturday, Clarke moved one clear of the field with 18 holes to play.
Sunday started with a bang for the 14-time European Tour winner. A 15 foot eagle putt on the second hole was followed by birdie three at the fourth hole and the Northern Irishman was five shots clear. It wasn’t all plain-sailing for Clarke however. A bogey at the short fifth came at the same time that Woods birdied the seventh and eighth hole and suddenly his lead was just two with the World Number One in close pursuit.
Clarke, who faced down Woods at the 2000 WGC Match Play and beat him 4&3 in the final, then showed why he was in the peak of his career with impressive birdies at the ninth, 11th and 13th holes. Bogeys at 15 and 16 meant little as the 35 year old romped home to a four-shot victory, the second largest winning margin in the history of the event.
“I was very calm all day” Clarke said after his round. “I suppose at 35 I am experienced enough to know what I should and shouldn’t be doing. It is great to see progress in my swing, my short game, my mental side and for everything to culminate in this win.”
The win meant Clarke became just the second player to win multiple WGC titles. Adding to his 2000 WGC Match Play victory, the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational put Clarke alongside Tiger Woods, who has six WGC victories at the time.
“It’s fantastic to win another World Golf Championships event,” he said. “To be only the second player to win two of these behind Tiger is pretty good. Any time you follow anything Tiger has done is pretty good, so I’m delighted. I don’t know which one was tougher. Obviously the match play was head-to-head against the best players in the world so that was never going to be easy. But today I was competing against more guys. I managed to get off to a very good start and I played it pretty well I think.”
The victory vaulted him to 13th in the Official Golf World Rankings and second in the Race to Dubai rankings, behind eventual winner Ernie Els.
Clarke would continue his winning ways shortly after, going home to Northern Ireland a month later and capturing the Benmore Developments Northern Ireland Masters on the Challenge Tour.
The 2003 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational would be the 10th of Clarke’s 14 career victories on the European Tour and one of only two wins on US soil.
