2003 WGC-NEC Invitational
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | August 21–24, 2003 |
| Location | Akron, Ohio, U.S. |
| Course(s) | Firestone Country Club |
| Tour(s) | PGA Tour European Tour |
| Statistics | |
| Par | 70 |
| Length | 7,283 |
| Field | 85 players |
| Cut | None |
| Prize fund | $6,000,000 |
| Winner's share | $1,050,000 |
| Champion | |
 Darren Clarke | |
| 268 (–12) | |
The 2003 WGC-NEC Invitational was a golf tournament that was contested from August 21–24, 2003 over the South Course at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. It was the fifth WGC-NEC Invitational tournament, and the second of four World Golf Championships events held in 2003.
Darren Clarke won the tournament to capture his first WGC-NEC Invitational and his second World Golf Championships title.
Field
- 1. 2003 United States and International Presidents Cup teams
- United States: Chris DiMarco (3,4), Fred Funk (3,4), Jim Furyk (2,3,4,5), Jay Haas (3,4), Charles Howell III (3,4,5), Jerry Kelly (3,4), Justin Leonard (3,4), Davis Love III (2,3,4,5), Phil Mickelson (2,3,4), Kenny Perry (3,4,5), David Toms (2,3,4,5), Tiger Woods (2,3,4,5)
- International: Robert Allenby (3,4), Stuart Appleby (3,4), K. J. Choi (3,4), Tim Clark, Ernie Els (3,4,5), Retief Goosen (3,4), Stephen Leaney (3,4,5), Peter Lonard (3,4), Adam Scott (3,4), Nick Price (3,4), Vijay Singh (3,4,5), Mike Weir (3,4,5)
- United States: Paul Azinger, Mark Calcavecchia, Stewart Cink, Scott Hoch (3,4), Hal Sutton, Scott Verplank (3,4)
- David Duval did not play.
- Europe: Thomas Bjørn (3,4,5), Darren Clarke (3,4), Niclas Fasth, Pierre Fulke, Sergio García (3,4), Pádraig Harrington (3,4,5), Bernhard Langer (5), Paul McGinley, Colin Montgomerie (3,4,5), Jesper Parnevik, Phillip Price (3,4,5), Lee Westwood
- 3. Top 50 from the Official World Golf Ranking as of August 11
Rich Beem (4), Ángel Cabrera (4), Michael Campbell (4), Paul Casey (4,5), Fred Couples (4,5), Ben Curtis (4,5), Bob Estes (4), Nick Faldo, Brad Faxon (4), Trevor Immelman, Fredrik Jacobson (4), Jonathan Kaye (5), Len Mattiace (4), Rocco Mediate (4), Chris Riley (4), John Rollins (4,5), Eduardo Romero (4), Justin Rose (4), Jeff Sluman (4)
- 4. Top 50 from the Official World Golf Ranking as of August 18
Chad Campbell, Alex Čejka (5), Shaun Micheel (5)
- 5. Tournament winners of worldwide events since the 2002 WGC-NEC Invitational with an OWGR Strength of Field Rating of 100 points or more
Stephen Allan, Bob Burns, Jonathan Byrd, Ben Crane, Robert-Jan Derksen, Steve Flesch, Dan Forsman, Ignacio Garrido, Philip Golding, Peter Jacobsen, Robert Karlsson, Craig Parry, Ian Poulter, Rory Sabbatini, Gene Sauers, Steen Tinning, Kaname Yokoo
- Phil Tataurangi did not play.
- 6. The winner of selected tournaments from each of the following tours
- Japan Golf Tour: Japan Golf Tour Championship (2003) – Toshimitsu Izawa
- PGA Tour of Australasia: Australian PGA Championship (2002) – tie between Peter Lonard (qualified in categories 1, 3, and 4) and Jarrod Moseley
- Sunshine Tour: The Tour Championship (2003) – Hennie Otto
- Asian Tour: Volvo Masters of Asia (2002) – Kevin Na
Round summaries
First round
| # | Player | Country | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Ben Curtis |  United States |
64 | –6 |
| Sergio García |  Spain
| |||
| T3 | Darren Clarke | Northern Ireland |
65 | –5 |
| Tiger Woods | United States
| |||
| T5 | Davis Love III | United States |
66 | –4 |
| Chris Riley | United States
| |||
| David Toms | United States
| |||
| Scott Verplank | United States
| |||
| T9 | Fred Couples | United States |
67 | –3 |
| Ernie Els |  South Africa
| |||
| Niclas Fasth |  Sweden
| |||
| Retief Goosen | South Africa
| |||
| Jeff Sluman | United States
|
Second round
| # | Player | Country | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Chris Riley | United States |
66-67=133 | –7 |
| David Toms | United States |
66-67=133 | ||
| T3 | Fred Funk | United States |
72-62=134 | –6 |
| Vijay Singh |  Fiji |
69-65=134 | ||
| T5 | Darren Clarke | Northern Ireland |
65-70=135 | –5 |
| Brad Faxon | United States |
68-68=135 | ||
| T7 | Retief Goosen | South Africa |
67-69=136 | –4 |
| Davis Love III | United States |
66-70=136 | ||
| T9 | Ernie Els | South Africa |
67-70=137 | –3 |
| Dan Forsman | United States |
69-68=137 | ||
| Peter Jacobsen | United States |
73-64=137 | ||
| Jonathan Kaye | United States |
68-69=137 | ||
| Hal Sutton | United States |
68-69=137 | ||
| Tiger Woods | United States |
65-72=137 |
Third round
| # | Player | Country | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Darren Clarke | Northern Ireland |
65-70-66=201 | –9 |
| 2 | Jonathan Kaye | United States |
68-69-65=202 | –8 |
| 3 | Chris Riley | United States |
66-67-70=203 | –7 |
| T4 | Davis Love III | United States |
66-70-68=204 | –6 |
| Tiger Woods | United States |
65-72-67=204 | ||
| T6 | Brad Faxon | United States |
68-67-70=205 | –5 |
| Steve Flesch | United States |
71-67-67=205 | ||
| Retief Goosen | South Africa |
67-69-69=205 | ||
| Hal Sutton | United States |
68-69-68=205 | ||
| T10 | Robert Allenby |  Australia |
69-69-68=206 | –4 |
| Fred Funk | United States |
72-62-72=206 | ||
| Jim Furyk | United States |
69-69-68=206 | ||
| Vijay Singh | Fiji |
69-65-72=206 |
Final leaderboard
| # | Player | Country | Score | To par | Winnings ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Darren Clarke | Northern Ireland |
65-70-66-67=268 | –12 | 1,050,000 |
| 2 | Jonathan Kaye | United States |
68-69-65-70=272 | –8 | 550,000 |
| 3 | Davis Love III | United States |
66-70-68-69=273 | –7 | 360,000 |
| T4 | Chris Riley | United States |
66-67-70-71=274 | –6 | 235,000 |
| Tiger Woods | United States |
65-72-67-70=274 | |||
| T6 | Robert Allenby | Australia |
69-69-68-69=275 | –5 | 163,333 |
| Jim Furyk | United States |
69-69-68-69=275 | |||
| Vijay Singh | Fiji |
69-65-72-69=275 | |||
| T9 | Brad Faxon | United States |
68-67-70-71=276 | –4 | 116,750 |
| Trevor Immelman | South Africa |
70-68-70-68=276 |