What if there were no World Golf Championships?

By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents

DORAL, Fla. -- Tiger Woods was 23 in 1999 when the first World Golf Championships event, the Accenture Match Play Championship, was contested at La Costa Resort & Spa.

He already had one major and eight victories under his belt. Woods reached the quarterfinals that year, losing 2 and 1 to Jeff Maggert, who went on to win the inaugural event.

Cannon/Getty Images

Would Tiger Woods have 64 TOUR wins to this point without the World Golf Championships?

Related

Article: Woods setting new standard
Article: No signs of slowing down
Article: Scrambling the key for Woods
Video: Tiger's top-three CA Championship moments

In the decade since the three World Golf Championships were conceived, Woods has altered his swing significantly under the tutelage of Hank Haney and doggedly sculpted his physique into one that is both sinewy and strong.

One thing hasn't wavered, though, and that's Woods' desire to compete against the best players in the game -- and that's where the global series comes in. He's competed in all but one of the 26 that have been contested and won 15 of them.

"They're exactly what they were meant to be, and that's putting the best up against each other more often than just the four majors and THE PLAYERS (Championship)," Woods said earlier this year. "I think that's why we as players and competitors love them, love the idea that we can go head-to-head more often.

"Most of the guys play in Europe or some other part of the world, and we don't get a chance to buck heads. Maybe, like I said, just five times. And now we can do it more frequently, and I think it's been a huge success."

But what if the World Golf Championships did not exist? Would the landscape of golf -- or, at least, Tiger's victory total -- be altered? Would he still be tied with Ben Hogan at 64 wins, or would he be lagging behind?

Consider that Woods is seeking his 16th World Golf Championships victory at Doral this week in the CA Championship, which he has won six times on six different courses in four countries -- Ireland, Spain, England and the United States. With his win at the Accenture Match Play Championship last month, Woods now holds all three titles consecutively.

"I've always enjoyed playing these championships, even though they've been all around the world," Woods said. "And for some reason I've had success all different places. I can't say it's the venues. Maybe I just enjoyed playing the fields, just like I enjoy playing major championships."

Stewart Cink, who won the 2004 NEC Invitational and has finished second to Woods at two other World Golf Championships, thinks the caliber of the competition is the key.

The World Golf Championships draw their fields from a variety of criteria, most notably the Official World Golf Ranking and FedExCup standings, as well as the leaders of the various orders of merit from members of the International Federation of PGA Tours.

"He steps it up when he plays against the best players and he's always wanted to play against the best players more often," Cink said. "When the heat gets on him a little bit more, he tends to focus in and perform better."

Over the last two years, in particular, the game's No. 1 player has cut back his schedule -- playing just 15 and 16 events, respectively. He's concentrated on the majors, THE PLAYERS and World Golf Championships, as well as other events like the Memorial Tournament that attract the cream of the crop.

Since he played in that first Accenture Match Play Championship, Woods has won 56 more times, and he's tied with Ben Hogan for third all-time. Not insignificantly, 27 of those titles have come either at the majors (12) or World Golf Championships events.

Woods is looking for his sixth straight PGA TOUR win this week at the Blue Monster. If the CA Championship hadn't moved to Doral last year, chances are the people of South Florida still would have gotten their chance to see the world No. 1. He had played -- and won -- the last two PGA TOUR events played there.

Few courses have been as accommodating to Woods as Firestone Country Club, which hosts the Bridgestone Invitational. He's won there six times, too -- and posted two top-five finishes in the two years he played in the NEC World Series of Golf before it became a World Golf Championships event.

The Accenture Match Play Championship that marked the World Golf Championships debut was new to the PGA TOUR schedule, although the company had sponsored an unofficial money, 32-man event for several years. Woods, who won three straight U.S. Junior Amateurs followed by three consecutive U.S. Amateur titles, has had mixed results in the format as a pro.

He's won the Accenture Match Play Championship three times, including last month's dominating 8-and-7 victory over Cink in the finals, and reached the finals on one other occasion, losing to Darren Clarke. He's also been eliminated in the first round once, in a stunning upset by Peter O'Malley.

So if the World Golf Championships didn't exist, Woods might not have quite as many victories -- although he almost certainly would have continued to play, and win, at Firestone and Doral. The opportunity to continue to test his game against the best three more times each year, though, certainly came along at the perfect time.