WGC-NEC Invitational

The WGC-NEC Invitational is one of the annual World Golf Championships for male professional golfers. It is sanctioned and organized by the International Federation of PGA Tours and the prize money is official money on both the PGA TOUR and the PGA European Tour. The event was established in 1999, and was a successor to the "World Series of Golf", which was also sponsored by NEC.

The World Series of Golf

Up until 1998, there was a tournament called the World Series of Golf, which was also played at Firestone Country Club for many years, and sponsored by NEC. It was founded as a four man invitational event in 1962, but later became a PGA Tour event, and eventually one of the leading events on the Tour. For many years a victory in the World Series of Golf gave a golfer a 10-year exemption on the Tour, which was the same as was granted for a victory in a major championship at that time, and twice as long as is given even for winning a major now. The field consisted of the winners of all the high status men's professional golf tournaments around the world in the previous twelve months. This was quite different from the criteria for the WGC-NEC Invitational listed above, but produced much the same sort of global field.

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