AKRON, Ohio — The Bridgestone Senior Players Championship at Akron's Firestone Country Club won't officially begin until Thursday. But at least one prominent golfer in the Akron tournament has already provided a highlight.
In a video posted to Twitter by Akron native, New Club Golf CEO and The Bag Drop podcast host Matt Considine, John Daly can be seen hitting a ball across an Akron highway and onto the football field at Archbishop Hoban High School. Since being posted to Twitter late Monday night, Considine's video has more than 800 retweets and has been reposted by outlets such as Yahoo and Barstool Sports.
This year will mark the fourth year that the Rubber City has hosted the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship at Firestone Country Club, which previously played host to the WGC Bridgestone Invitational from 1999-2001 and 2003-2018. Last month, the event, which is a major on the PGA TOUR Champions Circuit, announced that it will remain in Akron through at least 2026 and will have a yet-to-be-announced new name in 2023, with Kaulig Companies set to take over as the naming rights sponsor.
A two-time major winner (1991 PGA Championship, 1995 Open Championship), Daly is one of the most prominent names playing in this year's event. Steve Stricker returns as the defending champion of last year's event, with a field that includes the following, according to PGATour.com:
Prior year's Schwab Cup standings
- Bernhard Langer
- Jim Furyk
- Miguel Angel Jiménez
- Ernie Els
- Jerry Kelly
- Darren Clarke
- Retief Goosen
- Kevin Sutherland
- Mike Weir
- Doug Barron
- Steve Flesch
- Alex Cejka
- David Toms
- Tim Petrovic
- Scott Parel
- Woody Austin
- Steven Alker
- Rod Pampling
- Steve Stricker
- Brandt Jobe
- K.J. Choi
- Stephen Ames
- Brett Quigley
- Paul Broadhurst
- Wes Short, Jr.
- Paul Goydos
- Kirk Triplett
- Glen Day
- Vijay Singh
- Dicky Pride
- Colin Montgomerie
- Gene Sauers
- Shane Bertsch
- Marco Dawson
PGA TOUR Points List (1 Point for win; 3 Points for major championship win)
- Davis Love III
- Corey Pavin
- David Duval
- Justin Leonard
- Lee Janzen
- Fred Funk
- David Frost
- Jay Haas
PGA TOUR Champions Points List
- Scott McCarron
- Michael Allen
- Jeff Maggert
- Tom Pernice Jr.
Top 11 all-time PGA TOUR earnings (not otherwise exempt)
- Robert Allenby
- Brian Gay
- Bob Estes
- Chris DiMarco
- Billy Mayfair
- Rocco Mediate
- Joe Durant
- John Senden
- Tim Herron
- Billy Andrade
Tournament winners (one-year exemption)
- Cameron Beckman
- Thongchai Jaidee
PGA TOUR Champions major winners (five-year exemption)
- Ken Tanigawa
2022 PGA TOUR Champions earnings (four spots)
- David Branshaw
- Ken Duke
- Rob Labritz
- Scott Dunlap
Sponsor exemption
- Mark Hensby
- Frank Lickliter II
Restricted sponsor exemption
- Olin Browne
- Paul Stankowski
- Duffy Waldorf
- Y.E. Yang
Prior year's Schwab Cup standings (extended)
- Tom Byrum
- David McKenzie
- Kent Jones
PGA TOUR Points List (extended)
- John Daly
- John Huston
- Joey Sindelar
- Jesper Parnevik
Alternates in field after deadline
- Dan Forsman
- Russ Cochran
- Roger Rowland
- Tom Gillis