The PGA Tour returns to Akron, Ohio’s Firestone Country Club this week for the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, it won’t be hard to pinpoint a tournament favorite. No one has dominated Firestone’s South course like Tiger Woods. The track is strictly private, but if you’re looking to walk in Tiger’s shoes at courses he has virtually owned, here’s where to plant your peg.
Torrey Pines (South)
La Jolla, Calif.
Tiger Woods owns eight Tour titles, including a memorable U.S. Open triumph, at this cliff-top, city-owned spread that stretches 7,600 yards in its brawn- and beauty-filled journey along the Pacific.
Signature moment: Tiger’s 12-foot birdie putt (top left) on the 72nd hole to earn a playoff spot against Rocco Mediate at the 2008 U.S. Open. The putt is one of the greatest of his career. $122-$297; torreypinesgolfcourse.com
Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge
Orlando, Fla.
Eight PGA Tour wins and a victory at the 1991 U.S. Junior Amateur give Tiger a lock on this layout in the city he used to call home. The Dick Wilson/Arnold Palmer design— bunker-strewn, with doglegs that boomerang around lush lakes—is quintessential Florida.
Signature moment: In 2009, eight months after undergoing reconstructive knee surgery, Woods nailed a curving 12-footer on 18 to close out his first post-op win, nipping Sean O’Hair by a stroke. $100-$325; bayhill.com
Cog Hill (#4)
Lemont, Ill.
In 1964, Dick Wilson and Joe Lee sculpted this rolling, boldly bunkered layout (known as “Dubsdread”) in the southwestern Chicago suburbs, and 44 years later Rees Jones toughened it even further. In 14 appearances between 1997 and 2009, Woods took home five trophies here.
Signature moment: Tiger made the 12th of September (2009) a day to remember, when, at the BMW Championship, he blistered the newly strengthened track with a course-record, nine-under-par 62. $47-$155; coghillgolf.com
Poipu Bay Golf Course
Koloa, Kauai, Hawaii
Whipped by seaside gusts and walloped by Pacific panoramas, Robert Trent Jones Jr.’s Poipu Bay dishes out an exclamation point–filled back nine, notably at cliff-top holes 15, 16 and 17. Woods captured the PGA’s Grand Slam of Golf seven times here, including five straight from 1998-2002.
Signature moment: In 2002, in the most dominant performance in the event’s history, Woods twice lapped the field. He posted 66-61 to beat Justin Leonard and Davis Love III by 14 shots. $179-$209; poipubaygolf.com
