Field in Focus: at the WGC-HSBC Champions

Field in Focus: at the WGC-HSBC Champions

europeantour.com takes a closer look at the field taking to Sheshan International GC for the WGC-HSBC Champions from November 3-6.

In the field are:

21 players currently ranked inside the top 30 on the Race to Dubai

There is a strong contingent of European Tour Members on show this week at the Sheshan International Golf Club, including 21 players currently populating the business end of The Race to Dubai rankings. And with current World and European Number One Luke Donald at home in Chicago for the birth of his second daughter, the door is open for his nearest contenders, Messrs Rory McIlroy, Charl Schwartzel, Martin Kaymer and Lee Westwood, to narrow the monetary gap considerably with US$7,500,000 of prize money on offer in China.

If McIlroy, for example, was to claim the sizeable €842,217 winner’s cheque this week in Shanghai, the Northern Irishman would close the deficit to Donald to just €470,606 with only weeks of the season remaining.

Also looking to make a move in The Race to Dubai are eight players - from Thomas Aiken at 16th to Louis Oosthuizen at 28th - looking to force their way into the top 15 and with it a slice of the lucrative €7.5m bonus pool on offer to those in situ following the season-ending Dubai World Championship in December.

With such a large purse available, the WGC-HSBC Champions cannot fail to have a significant impact on the climactic weeks of the 2011 season and the shape of this year’s Race to Dubai.

13 Major Championship winners

30 players currently ranked inside the World's top 50

20 different nationalities represented

13 Multiple Winners in 2011

1 previous winner of the WGC-HSBC Champions

With two-time winner Phil Mickelson not in the field this week, and the resurgent Sergio Garcia – fresh from his back-to-back wins at the Castellón Masters and Andalucía Masters on The European Tour – deciding against taking up his last minute exemption, 2010 winner Francesco Molinari is the only previous winner of the WGC-HSBC Champions on show in Shanghai.

Currently 19th in The Race to Dubai, the Italian secured last year’s title after a thrilling battle with Ryder Cup team-mate Lee Westwood, with Molinari triumphing by one shot after the two men had pulled nine shots clear of the rest of the field.

16 players who have previously finished in the top 10

England's Paul Casey has historically been the most consistent performer at the Sheshan International GC with four top tens at this event (2006-2008, 2010), and is closely followed by Italy's Francesco Molinari who is not only defending champion this week but has also registered two other top tens in 2007 and 2009. Lee Westwood has also played very well here notching up three top tens in the previous four years.

9 World Golf Championship winners

There are nine previous winners of World Golf Championships in the field this week, with 13 titles between them.

Since their inception in 1999, Geoff Ogilvy is the most frequently crowned participant in the 2011 field, having captured three WGC titles in 2006, 2008 and 2009, while 2011 Open Champion Darren Clarke has two previous WGC scalps to his name, as does the vastly experienced Ernie Els.

American Nick Watney and antipodean Adam Scott will also be looking to claim their second WGC wins this year, after their respective victories at the 2011 WGC-Cadillac Championship and WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

19 previous Ryder Cup players

Taking to the field this week in Shanghai are 19 players with Ryder Cup pedigree under their belts, from both European and American camps and stretching back over the last 15 years. Most notably, perhaps, are England’s Lee Westwood, who has made seven Ryder Cup appearances since his debut in 1997 at Valderrama, while on the American side veteran Jim Furyk has himself made six appearances in The Ryder Cup since his inauguration in the same year as Westwood.