Tiger Woods' Favorite Iconic Course Firestone Dropped From PGA Tour

Firestone Country Club staged events on the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions — (Image credit: Getty Images)

An iconic golf course and one of Tiger Woods' favorite of all time looks to have dropped off the PGA Tour circuit for the first time in over 70 years.

From the 1954 Rubber City Open, Firestone Country Club has held an event every year since, hosting the PGA Tour and more recently the PGA Tour Champions.

But now that run will come to an end with news that the Senior Players Championship will be moved from the famous old Akron, Ohio layout to Newport Beach in California.

From the trademark 125-foot water tower to the tight, tree-lined fairways that made Firestone such a demanding test of golf - it'll be a course sorely missed on the pro circuit.

And it was one of Tiger's favorite hunting grounds, as he won an incredible eight times at Firestone when it hosted a World Golf Championship tournament.

Woods was utterly dominant at Firestone, finishing no worse than fifth and winning seven times from 11 consecutive visits to the course from 1997 onwards.

It was also the scene of his famous "shot in the dark" on the 72nd hole when he sealed an 11-shot victory at the 2000 WGC-NEC Invitational in almost total darkness.

The PGA Championship has been held at Firestone three times, in 1960, 1966 and for Jack Nicklaus' victory in 1975.

Tiger Woods' all-time shots at Firestone - YouTube

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The NEC World Series of Golf was staged between 1962 and 1998 before transforming into the WGC events, which culminated with the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational finishing in 2018.

From there, the Senior Players Championship was held from 2019 but will be hosted for the final time in July known as the Kaulig Companies Championship.

A new sponsor for the event has been found in Healthcare company Hoag, and it will now be played in March at Newport Beach Country Club from 2027.

It'll be known as the Hoag Senior Players Championship at Newport Beach going forward.

Firestone one of the toughest tests on Tour

Tiger Woods won the last of his eight WGC-Bridgestone Invitational titles at Firestone Country Club in 2013

Iconic golf courses can make events, so it's a shame when one drops off the calendar, as is the case with Firestone Country Club.

It's not just the famous old water tower that will be missed, but the test of golf Firestone provided down the years.

Built in 1929 for the employees of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, Bert Way designed the original South Course that has become the star attraction of the 54-hole facility.

Robert Trent Jones Jr did a redesign in 1960 ahead of the PGA Championship and added 50 bunkers, two ponds, over 500 yards and a ton of extra difficulty.

It soon became a favorite watch on TV and a taxing experience for the best players in the world, with chlaustrophic tree-lined fairways calling for laser-like precision off the tee.

Punishing rough and steep bunkers made wayward drives almost impossible to recover from with slick greens needing well-struck iron shots to hold approaches on the putting surfaces.

Only elite ball strikers could survive at Firestone, which is why Woods won so often at the course, but a look at some of the other champions shows a similar ball-striking theme.

Justin Thomas was the last WGC winner at Firestone, and previous champions Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Hideki Matsuyama, Shane Lowry, Adam Scott and Darren Clarke are all in the elite ball striker category.

If Firestone doesn't find another big tournament to host it'll be a big shame and big loss to the game.

Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website. Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.