PGA

• This Week in Golf - August 5th through August 8th

  Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS - BRIDGESTONE INVITATIONAL, Firestone Country Club, Akron, Ohio - The third official World Golf Championship event is on tap this week and several of the top players in the world will return to action.

  Tiger Woods, the defending champion, will look to win the Bridgestone Invitational for the eighth time. He has won this event seven times in 10 starts, all coming at Firestone.

  Thanks to back-to-back rounds of 65 on the weekend, Woods cruised to his seventh title last year. He was three behind Padraig Harrington after 54 holes, but rallied to become the first player in PGA Tour history to win seven times at the same venue, in this case Firestone Country Club.

  San Snead is the only PGA player to win the same event more than seven times. Snead won eight Greater Greensboro Open titles.

  Woods has not played since the British Open and several other notables are returning for the first time since the season's third major.

  Also returning to action for the first time since the British Open at St. Andrews are Ernie Els, Lucas Glover, world No. 2 and 1999 runner-up Phil Mickelson and 2008 champion Vijay Singh.

  Joining those top-flight players in their return to action will be Anthony Kim.

  The 25-year-old has been out since sharing seventh place at the Quail Hollow Championship.

  Three days after the event ended in early May, Kim had surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb. Despite the injury, he posted three top-three finishes in a four-event span, including a third-place finish at The Masters and a win at the Houston Open.

  Overall, the 82-player field will include the top-50 players in this week's world rankings.

  The top American players and the top Europeans have more than just this title on their minds as they are not only trying to round their game into shape for next week's PGA Championship, but they are in the home stretch for trying to qualify for the Ryder Cup.

  Those trying to make the U.S. squad will only be able to collect points this week and next, while those hoping to make the European team have four tournaments remaining.

  Golf Channel is scheduled to have four hours of coverage each of the first two days, as well as early action on Saturday and Sunday. CBS will broadcast four hours of play Saturday and five hours of action on Sunday.

  The European Tour remains in the United States next week for the season's final major, the PGA Championship.

  PGA TOUR TURNING STONE RESORT CHAMPIONSHIP, Atunyote Golf Club, Verona, New York - For those not lucky enough to qualify for the WGC, the PGA Tour offers the Turning Stone Resort Championship.

  This event was promoted to a regular season event after being part of the Fall Series last year.

  There was a $6 million purse last year, which was the highest Fall Series purse by $1 million.

  Last year, it took six extra holes and an extra day to determine a champion. Matt Kuchar and Vaughn Taylor finished regulation at 17-under par and headed to a playoff as darkness set in.

  They managed to play two holes before action had to be halted for the night due to darkness. When they returned Monday morning in much cooler conditions, Kuchar had a chance to win it on the first extra hole of the morning, and third overall, but was unable to convert.

  The duo matched pars on the fourth playoff hole before Taylor had a birdie chance from nine feet on the fifth extra hole. He missed the putt, then found water off the tee at the next.

  Kuchar missed the green with his approach, but got up and down for his par and the win. It was Kuchar's second PGA Tour title and he denied Taylor his third victory.

  This season, Kuchar has collected seven top-10 finishes, including a tie for sixth at the U.S. Open. He qualified for the WGC - Bridgestone Invitational and therefore will not defend his title.

  Headlining the field will be 2007 Steve Flesch champion along with former major champions David Toms, Shaun Micheel, David Duval and Todd Hamilton.

  Golf Channel will have tape-delayed action of all four rounds.

  Next week is the season's final major, the PGA Championship. Y.E. Yang rallied to beat Tiger Woods there last year, marking the first time Woods failed to win when holding the 54-hole lead in a major championship. Woods entered the event 14-0 when holding at least a share of the third-round lead at a major.

  CHAMPIONS TOUR 3M CHAMPIONSHIP, TPC Twin Cities, Blaine, Minnesota - The Champions Tour takes a brief break from major championship golf this week for the 3M Championship.

  Bernhard Langer has dominated the last two weeks on the Champions Tour. He held on for a one-stroke win over Corey Pavin to win the Senior British Open two weeks ago and this past weekend, the German fended off hometown favorite Fred Couples to win the U.S. Senior Open.

  They were his first major championship titles on the senior circuit and his 11th and 12th wins overall on the Champions Tour.

  And wouldn't you know it, Langer is the defending champion at the TPC Twin Cities this week.

  He eagled the final hole to overtake Andy Bean for his fourth win of the 2009 season. Langer has followed that with four more victories this season.

  Coming off back-to-back majors, and with another one looming in two weeks, only seven of the top-10 money leaders are competing this week.

  Golf Channel has coverage from 12-1:30 p.m. (et) on Friday, then from 3-6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

  After a week off, the Champions Tour heads to Oregon for the fourth of five majors, the JELD-WEN Tradition. Last year, Mike Reid birdied the first playoff hole to beat John Cook for his second Champions Tour major title.

  NATIONWIDE TOUR WICHITA OPEN, Crestview Country Club, Wichita, Kansas - The Nationwide Tour remains in the Midwest for the second of three straight weeks for the Wichita Open.

  Chris Tidland fired four rounds in the 60s, including a six-under 65 in the final round last year, to win by a single stroke over two players. It was his second title on the Nationwide Tour.

  The victory helped Tidland finish sixth on the money list last year, which gave him his PGA Tour card for this season.

  He is competing at the Turning Stone Resort this week and will not defend his title.

  Dave Schultz, who shared second place with Chad Collins, will return to Crestview Country Club this week.

  The field this week will include 16 of the top-20 leading money winners. Jamie Lovemark, who tops the Nationwide Tour money list, No. 7 D.J. Brigman, No. 8 Tag Ridings and No. 16 B.J. Staten are taking the week off.

  There is no television coverage for this event.

  The Nationwide Tour heads to Missouri next week for the Price Cutter Charity Championship, where Justin Bolli was a one-stroke winner last year.

  08/02 14:19:11 ET