The pros like Firestone for many reasons:
The Course:
1. It is straight forward. They don't have to spend a lot of time preparing for the tournament, which they all like.
2. It is fair. If you are playing well, you will score. If you are not playing well, you have no chance. No gimmicks. Does not force many mental errors. It is a golf course that rewards the person hitting the ball the best.
3. The greens are not gimmicky or tricked up. The green complexes are very difficult, but the greens themselves are pretty straight forward. You rarely have a bounce that goes in an unexpected direction.
4. Good practice facilities. I don't know if they are the best, but they are pretty nice.
The Tournament:
1. Tom is right about the payday. I have had players and caddies tell me straight out. There is no cut and they (player and caddie) are guaranteed to get paid. They like any tournament where there is an appearance fee and this tournament gives them one... a nice one.
2. No pro-am. They love not having to play with "the slugs" on Wednesday. They play all nice on camera but the pros hate pro-ams. For example, Mickelson usually comes in Wednesday night for the event. That allows him either to book corporate events on Monday-Wednesday or spend the time at home. That is why it is perfect before the PGA because a lot of them spent Monday-Tuesday at Kiawah.
3. Treatment. They get treated really well. The locker room has an eating area so they don't have to eat with non-players. The parking is right next to the clubhouse and is totally excluded from fans. The caddies have a private, air conditioned building behind the 1st tee with great food and drink (with the reduced field, they can treat the caddies better - ususally it is a non-air conditioned tent with boring food). There is a media center so interviews are not done under a tree or in a temporary tent. Most players stay at a place called Glenmoor, which is a private gated community that has a hotel next to its private golf course (only 10 minutes from the club) so they can hit balls there before and after rounds and don't have to deal with the general public). Plus, the operation of the tournament is as seamless as any on the PGA Tour as volunteers have been doing the same job for 20 years (the PGA Tour Operations guys love coming to Akron because they don't have to bust their butts educating volunteers and they have free time after play ends).
4. Familiarity. They get to come back to the same place every year. They know where they are staying, they know how to get to and from the course, they know where they are eating dinner each night, they know what the family can do while they golf (many guys bring their families this week and the wife and kids go up to Cedar Point for a day) and they know the locker room guys and the volunteers. For instance, I used to run a committee in charge of dealing with the players and caddies. I knew their wives and would allow them in the Caddie hospitality building to eat, drink and get in the air conditioning. They loved it as they don't usually have hospitality for them. Happy wife...Happy life.