Piercy cools off at Bridgestone Invitational

• By Randall Mell
• Aug 3, 2012 4:02 PM ET

AKRON, Ohio – Scott Piercy likes it hot.

When he left his long birdie putt short at the last hole Friday at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, it marked the end of a run of 13 consecutive rounds in the 60s. That’s as close to cooling off as he has been the last month.

Through his tie for 12^th at the Greenbrier Classic, his third-place finish at the John Deere Classic and his victory at the RBC Canadian Open, Piercy has been scorching courses in some record-breaking heat waves across tournament venues.

“I’m just comfortable in the heat,” said Piercy, who was born and raised in Las Vegas. “It would be nice if it were August all year.”

Piercy was tied for 23rd at the WGC-Bridgestone when he signed his scorecard Friday. His run is making for a whirlwind summer. He was supposed to be defending his first PGA Tour title at the Reno-Tahoe Open this week, but his Canadian Open title got him a berth in his first World Golf Championship event this week.

When Piercy tees it up at Kiawah Island next week, it will be his sixth consecutive tournament. He won’t slow down, either, not with all that’s at stake now.

Piercy has jumped to 18^th on the American Ryder Cup points list, and he wants to make the team with strong performances in these next two weeks. The top eight in points at the conclusion of the PGA Championship qualify for the American team. Piercy also is aiming to crack the top 50 in the world rankings and make it to the Tour Championship, which would secure him a spot in all the majors and big world championship events. He is 58th in the world now.

“There’s a sense of urgency,” Piercy said. “There’s a lot of world-ranking points, Ryder Cup points. If I have a good week, maybe they can start talking about me for the Ryder Cup.”