John Daly was seen at Diamond Grille in Akron ahead of the Kaulig Companies Championship, a small sighting that landed in a week already carrying the weight of a likely farewell at Firestone County Club. The tournament returns July 9 to 12, and the first tee time is set for 9:20 a.m. on Thursday.
For Zach Johnson, the visit to Akron is personal. The 50-year-old first-year player on PGA Tour Champions said he hit Diamond Grille the other night and was still feeling the effects, then added that he loves this place and counts it as one of his favorite stops from his PGA Tour days. He said it felt “kind of sad” to be assuming this is the last year the event will be there unless something happens, even as he called it amazing to have a chance to win in what would be the final edition.
Johnson got back to Firestone this week after a seven- or eight-year hiatus, and he has already won twice this season on PGA Tour Champions. That makes this week more than a return visit. It is a real chance to play the course again while the event still has a home.
Firestone’s reputation is doing much of the talking for him. Johnson said the place could be “ready for a major in 48 hours,” and George McNeill was even more direct, saying it could host a major championship today or tomorrow. McNeill called it a “legit gold course,” a “big boy course,” and said, “You’re not going to fake anything around here.”
That is also where the pressure sits. Johnson said he is pretty dang fortunate to come back because it sounds like this probably is not going to happen again in the immediate future, and he added that maybe something could be worked out later but that is out of his jurisdiction. For now, the field gets its first crack at the course Thursday morning, and the question hanging over the week is not whether Firestone can still matter. It is whether this will be the last time the Kaulig Companies Championship gets to prove it there.
