Francesco Molinari and Renato Paratore are in the qualified field of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational (August 3-6), the third of the four seasonal tournaments of the World Golf Championships, scheduled on the South Course of the Firestone CC, in Akron, Ohio and which anticipates one week the PGA Championship (August 10-13, Charlotte, North Carolina) the last major of the year. The Turinese will participate for the seventh time in the event, while Paratore will be making his debut in one of the eight races reserved for the world's elite (four majors, four WGCs).
It will be an event of great technical caliber and full of competitive spirit due to the presence of 49 of the top 50 in the world ranking (the only absent Brandt Snedeker, n. 36) who will certainly not spare themselves, perhaps thinking of the next major, since a WGC title always effect and prestige in the palmares.
The outgoing champion is Dustin Johnson, world number one, who seems on the road to complete recovery, even if he still has no continuity, as he demonstrated last week in the Canadian Open (eighth). The favorite is certainly Jordan Spieth, winner of the Open Championship and the previous tournament in which he took part (Travelers Championship), perhaps the only one of all the players who could be conditioned by the PGA Championship, where he will have the opportunity to complete the "grand slam" at just 24 years old, having already achieved the other three majors. However, it is difficult to hypothesize that he can express himself with the handbrake on. Rory McIlroy is under observation, who didn't shine at the Open Championship, but still finished fourth and therefore probably on the verge of regaining his rightful role.
If Spieth expresses himself as at Royal Byrkdale it will be difficult to find an antagonist for him in both races, however chances cannot be denied to Hideki Matsuyama, Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson, Brooks Koepka, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Matt Kuchar and Rickie Fowler, although not all are at the top. A step behind Jason Day, Alex Noren, Justin Rose, Adam Scott and Paul Casey, while Jon Rahm, sixth in the ranking, is still to be discovered, but perhaps this is the right opportunity to prove wrong to those who don't think he still has the pace to the big tournaments.
Francesco Molinari, number 20 in the ranking, obtained 15th place as his best finish in Akron in 2011. Few times in the field in three months, after the second place in the BMW PGA Championship he finished 38th in the Open de France and exited on the cut in the last two majors. Probably a hiccup, because he has the potential to compete with any opponent.
Renato Paratore, currently 119th in the world ranking, got the pass with the splendid success in the Nordea Masters. If he doesn't suffer emotional shocks, which are not in his ropes, he will be able to assert his qualities in an event in which the nervousness of the cut to overcome is avoided, which will not be there for the 76 competitors in the race. As with previous WGC events, the prize pool is $9.750.000.
