The Firestone Invitational opens up some interesting scenarios for the future of golf.
Once a year the World Golf Championships head to the Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, to play in the Bridgestone Invitational. It's not a Professional Golfers Association stop.
The other tournament that also occurs there annually is the Firestone Invitational, where Ohio captured fourth place Tuesday.
The professional golfers and the Bobcats both play at the same country club, but different courses. Jordan Spieth, Bubba Watson: They play on the famed south course with a par 70. Ohio plays on the north course designed by Robert Trent Jones, which is a par 72.
Even though they may not play on the exact same course, there are some parallels between the two invitationals.
The first can be made between Peyton White and Jason Day. Day, a professional golfer, shot a 3-under, the same score White shot over three rounds. In Day’s final round he shot four birdies. White shot six birdies in his final round.
Day shot less bogeys (three), though, than White, who shot four. White finished in the top 10 in the tournament and tied for ninth, compared to Day, who finished in a tie for 12th.
Ty Herriott and Patrick Reed each shot 2-under-par to finish the tournament.
Reed, a professional, shot five birdies in his final round, compared to Herriott’s four. Herriott birdied the seventh hole, and Reed bogeyed.
Collegiate and professional golf share some of the same characteristics. Both schedules are set up like a tour, going around to multiple tournaments throughout the year across the country.
In collegiate golf, it's a team and individual sport. Players are trying to shoot their best to put their team in the higher position. Yet, at the same time, they compete individually.
According to Ohio coach Bob Cooley, the closest a Bobcat has ever made it to the tour was one shot off getting into Qualifying school, which is a way to get onto the PGA Tour.
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