| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Shanghai, China |
| Established | 2005 |
| Course | Sheshan Golf Club |
| Par | 72 |
| Length | 7,261 yards (6,639 m) |
| Organized by | International Federation of PGA Tours |
| Tour(s) | PGA Tour European Tour Asian Tour Sunshine Tour PGA Tour of Australasia |
| Format | Stroke play |
| Prize fund | US$10,500,000 |
| Month played | October |
| Final year | 2019 |
| Tournament record score | |
| Aggregate | 264Dustin Johnson (2013) |
| To par | −24as above |
| Final champion | |
| Location map | |
TheWGC-HSBC Champions was aprofessional golftournament, held annually in China. Inaugurated in 2005, the first seven editions were played at theSheshan Golf Club inShanghai, then moved to theMission Hills Golf Club inShenzhen for a single year in2012. It returned to Sheshan Golf Club in2013.
Since2009, it was aWorld Golf Championship event. Played in November, it was the fourth tournament on the WGC calendar along with theWGC-Dell Match Play, theWGC-Mexico Championship, and theWGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational events, all in North America.[1] The field consists primarily of players who have won the top rated tournaments since the previous WGC-HSBC tournament, supplemented by other leading players in theworld rankings and money lists of the major tours.
The WGC-HSBC Champions had the highest prize money in East Asia. Originally in 2005, it was US$5 million, and grew to $7 million when it obtained WGC status in 2009, $8.5 million in 2013 and in 2019, the prize money was $10.25 million. Only theCIMB Classic,CJ Cup,Zozo Championship andBMW Masters have had similar purses in the region.
Originally, the event was sanctioned by four —theEuropean, theAsian, andSunshine Tours and thePGA Tour of Australasia— of the six constituent tours ofInternational Federation of PGA Tours at that time. Invitations were issued to all players placed amongst the top 50 in theOfficial World Golf Ranking (OWGR). Also invited were players who had, during thecalendar year preceding the event, captured at least one tournament title on a sanctioning tour, or had finished the precedingseason amongst the top twenty in the European Tour'sRace to Dubai (the Order of Merit standings through 2008) or amongst the top five in the Order of Merit standings of any of the other three sanctioning tours. Players who had finished first in the Order of Merit standings in any of threedevelopmental tours—theVon Nida andChallenge Tours and thewinter swing of the Sunshine Tour—were also invited. Finally, starting berths were also reserved for eight Chineseamateur and professional players to be selected by tournament organizers and sponsors, whether by qualifying tournament or not.
The event became aWorld Golf Championship in 2009 on theEuropean Tour. The field consists primarily of winners of the most important tournaments around the world since the previous WGC-HSBC Champions tournament. Each of the six member tours are allocated a certain number of tournaments from their tour (from 4 to 20), although these tournament must meet a minimum entry requirement. Co-sanctioned tournaments are assigned to one tour only.
The tournaments are ranked using theOfficial World Golf Ranking strength of field ("total event ranking"). Tournaments must have a minimum event ranking of 40. The ranking is based on the previous year's event ranking so that the list of qualifying events can be determined in advance. New events can be included if they are expected to have an event ranking of at least 40.
Further players gain entry through their position in the current seasons Order of Merit. Six players from China are selected while any player ranked in the world top 50 is also given an entry. If the field size is less than 78, further entries are selected from winners of additional tournaments not already considered, players ranked outside the world top 50, and the players further down the Order of Merit lists.
The tournament was the second event of the European Tour Final Series from 2013 to 2015.
The current qualification categories are as follows:[2]
From 2009 to 2012 the WGC-HSBC Champions was an unofficial money event on thePGA Tour, meaning that prize money did not count towards the PGA Tour money list or Fed-Ex Cup points standings. Since 2010, victories have counted as official wins for PGA Tour members, and as suchPhil Mickelson's victory in 2009 is not counted as an official win. During this time onlyIan Poulter (2012) was a PGA Tour member at the time of his win;Martin Kaymer (2011) andFrancesco Molinari (2010) did not join the tour until 2013 and 2014 respectively.
Since 2013, the WGC-HSBC Champions has been an official PGA Tour event, with the winner receiving a three-year exemption on the tour.[3]
| World Golf Championship | 2009–2012, 2016–2019 | |
| World Golf Championship andEuropean Tour (Race to Dubai finals series) | 2013–2015 | |
| European Tour (Regular) | 2005–2008 |
31°06′32″N121°12′58″E / 31.109°N 121.216°E /31.109; 121.216