Tiger has Shanghai ambitions
True, his sorties overseas – in his own luxurious private ‘plane – are sweetened by appearance money fees nowadays amounting to $2.5million (€1.7m) but he makes the effort and above all, gives full value by trying to the last putt whether he is winning the event, in contention or out of the running altogether.
That’s why sponsors, even in these straitened times, are prepared to dig deep into their pockets to have Woods in their tournament. And so it is this week when the HSBC Champions holds centre stage at the Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai, having attained massive status by its inclusion in the series of World Golf Championships for the first time.
And that tag is fully justified by the inclusion of Woods, the runaway number one in the world rankings; second-placed Phil Mickelson, five more of the top ten. Sergio Garcia defends from a field that also contains 14 of the leading 15 in the European Tour’s Race to Dubai order of merit.
Woods has enjoyed a decade of remarkable dominance in WGC events, claiming an astonishing 16 individual titles in total. He scored his first triumph in the WGC – NEC Invitational at Firestone, Ohio in August 1999, while his most recent success came two months ago at the same venue in the WGC – Bridgestone Invitational.
The financial rewards apart, the HSBC is a tournament Woods would dearly like to win simply because it’s one he has not won in the past. Therefore, the chance to put that particular statistic right, while at the same time extending his own WGC record, is a challenge he relishes.
“I played in 2005 and 2006 and I look forward to returning to Shanghai,” he says. “It is an event that symbolises the amazing progress of golf in Asia and its new WGC status underlines how firmly China has established its place on the global golf calendar.”
One man, however, who knows exactly what it takes to capture the title is Mickelson, who did so in November 2007 when he emerged triumphant from a thrilling play-off at Sheshan against Englishmen Ross Fisher, the new Volvo Match Play champion after a magnificent performance at Finca Cortesin on Spain’s Costa del Sol at the weekend, and Race to Dubai order of merit leader Lee Westwood.
The gifted left-hander has already experienced success in the WGC arena this year, bravely overcoming a spell of heat exhaustion and dehydration at Doral, Florida in March, to hold off the challenge of fellow American Nick Watney on the final day to win the WGC – CA Championship.
“After The Open Championship, it is hard to think of a bigger and better tournament held outside America,” claims Mickelson. “It already had everything in place and deserves to be part of the WGC series. It has always attracted strong fields and has a great reputation worldwide.”
This week’s tournament features an increased prize fund of US$7 million (€4.7m) and brings together tournament winners from all over the globe as well as the best players from the International Federation of PGA Tours.
However, it is Tiger’s presence in the field that makes the event stand out above all others. When Woods is playing, interest levels soar to unparalleled levels, a point amply made by the television ratings. When he’s not there, quite simply it’s not the same thing at all. Needless to say, his haul of 16 WGC individual titles is a record and they have come in just 30 starts. Seven were achieved in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational (formerly the WGC-NEC Invitational), six in the WGC-CA Championship (formerly the WGC-American Express Championship) and three in the WGC-Accenture Match Play.
Given the increase in prize money and the announcement of the expansion of next year’s Barclays Singapore Open to 208 players from the customary 156 with a consequent further extension of the monetary rewards, the Irish banks must be suffering from a keen sense of irony to see their counterparts elsewhere in a position to dole out the largesse in such massive proportions when they themselves are coming to our government with cap in hand.
The Irish interest in Shanghai is provided by Pádraig Harrington from his sixth place in the world rankings and tournaments winners Rory McIlroy (Dubai Desert Classic), Michael Hoey (Portuguese Open) and Shane Lowry (Irish Open). Quite obviously, Harrington represents the best chance of an Irish victory and he would like nothing better than to capture his first title since the US PGA Championship in August, 2008. However, having finished down the field in Singapore, he has only a remote chance of leading the Race to Dubai, even if he was to win this week and again in a fortnight’s time in Dubai.
Indeed, he is currently 17th in the order of merit, two spots outside those who qualify for the massive $1.5 million (€1.1m) Dubai jackpot. McIlroy, third behind Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer, remains in a very strong position although the man they may all have to watch is Ross Fisher, buoyant and clearly in great form after his outstanding match play triumph in Spain. The likeable Englishman is now up to seventh in the money list.
Meanwhile, it is a certainty that Harrington will be joined in Dubai by Graeme McDowell, 31st in the order of merit; Peter Lawrie, 47th; Gareth Maybin, 52nd, and Damien McGrane, 55th, while Darren Clarke, 60th at present, will need to earn some points in next week’s Hong Kong to book his place.
