It will be a family affair for Tommy Fleetwood at Firestone Country Club this week as the Englishman makes his first appearance at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
Fleetwood tops the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex after recording victories at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in January and the HNA Open de France last month.
The 26 year old also recorded his best finish at a World Golf Championships event in March, coming second in the WGC-Mexico Championship behind World Number One Dustin Johnson - who defends his title in Akron this week.
Fleetwood is one of 12 European Tour Members playing in this event for the first time and he is joined in Ohio by his Dad, who has long been an admirer of the tournament.
Fleetwood said: "My Dad has always wanted to go to this one so this one's cool for him to get to come here.
"Everything feels good, I'm enjoying coming to work, I'm enjoying coming to the courses and it's perfect weather, perfect conditions and you're with the best players in the world so it's very enjoyable.
"It's been quite soft and if you hit it well, like most courses, you can score. But on this one it feels like it punishes you for anything a little bit off-line, or if you get the wrong side of the green, so there is a massive emphasis on hitting it in the right spots and it's a proper test of golf."
Also making their debuts at Firestone CC this week are Matthew Fitzpatrick and Tyrrell Hatton.
Ryder Cup star Fitzpatrick sang the praises of this week's host course but said he knows a difficult test awaits the star-studded field.
"It's a fantastic golf course, a great layout," he said.
"It's going to be tough - the rough is up. It doesn't seem that way until you're actually in it - it's pretty thick so you've got to make sure you really hit the ball well.
"It's great. Obviously I've seen it a lot on TV when I was younger and it's obviously nice to be a part of it now."
World Number 22 Hatton is also a big fan of the course.
He said: "I really like the course. It's in fantastic condition and it's the kind of course that suits my eye. I really like parkland courses and tree lined. It looks great.
"Hopefully I can have a good week. All you can ever do is try your best and some weeks you play great and other weeks you don't, so hopefully this is a good week for me.
"It's a pretty good field this week. It's a fantastic tournament to be a part of and I'm looking forward to getting started."
