The PGA will be leaving Firestone next year due to a change in sponsorship.
The WGC Bridgestone Invitational, which is part of the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) tour, will be leaving Firestone in 2019. The invitational will be moving to Tournament Players Club (TPC) Southwind in Memphis. This decision was announced by the PGA Tour Commissioner, Jay Monahan, in April this year and ends an almost two-decade relationship between Firestone and the invitational. It was based on a sponsorship change and a swop over to a new sponsor for this leg of the tour, namely, Forex.
Monahan had the following to say, “You’ve got to have a sponsor. Bridgestone’s strategy was changing and involving. Once we realized continuation with the WGC wasn’t going to happen, we worked hard and they really worked hard as a great partner did and does to try and do everything they could to keep professional golf here again in Northeast Ohio.”
The WGC Bridgestone Invitational has been hosted at Firestone since 1999 and is a sentimental favourite of many fans and famous golf players alike. GolfDigest reported Tiger Woods’ sentiments: “It’s always been one of my favourite golf courses on the entire tour, and it’s unfortunate that it is leaving.”
