Woods and Mickelson to highlight HSBC Champions field

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Badz/PGA TOUR

Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods ended the FedExCup season as champions, and they'll be together again in China.

Tiger Woods will aim to continue his remarkable record in the World Golf Championships arena when he and world No. 2 Phil Mickelson headline an impressive American challenge for the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions at the Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai from Nov. 6-9.

The world No. 1 has enjoyed a decade of dominance in World Golf Championships, claiming an astonishing 16 individual World Golf Championships titles in total. His first triumph came in the World Golf Championships-NEC Invitational at Firestone Country Club in Ohio in August 1999, while his most recent success came a mere two months ago at the same venue in the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational.

While next month sees the HSBC Champions elevated to a World Golf Championships event for the first time, it is a tournament Woods has not won in the past. Therefore, the chance to put that particular statistic right, while at the same time extending his own World Golf Championships record, is a challenge he admitted he will relish.

"I played in the HSBC Champions in 2005 and 2006, and I look forward to returning to Shanghai in November," he said. "It is an event that symbolizes the amazing progress of golf in Asia, and its new World Golf Championships status underlines how firmly China has established its place on the global golf calendar."

One man, however, who knows exactly what it takes to win the HSBC Champions is Phil Mickelson.In November 2007, he emerged triumphant from a thrilling playoff at Sheshan against Englishmen Ross Fisher and Lee Westwood.

Lefty tied for eighth in the last HSBC Champions in November 2008 but has already experienced success in the World Golf Championships arena this year. After overcoming a bout of heat exhaustion and dehydration at the Doral Golf Resort and Spa in Florida in March, Mickelson held off a challenge from Nick Watney on the final day to win the World Golf Championships-CA Championship.

"After the Open Championship, it is hard to think of a bigger and better tournament held outside America," Mickelson said. "This tournament already had everything in place and deserves to be part of the World Golf Championships series. It has always attracted strong fields and so has a great reputation worldwide, and I am really looking forward to trying to reclaim my title."

Watney, along with fellow 2009 PGA TOUR winners Brian Gay, Jerry Kelly and Sean O'Hair, will make the trip to Shanghai as will Stewart Cink, who memorably took down Tom Watson for the Open title at Turnberry in July.

"I am really excited to be going to China for the first time," said Cink, who already has a World Golf Championships title in his locker in the shape of the 2004 World Golf Championships-NEC Invitational. "Anywhere the best players in the world are gathered together, you don't want to miss out, and I think it's fantastic for world golf that China will be hosting the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions."

The HSBC Champions will feature an increased purse of $7 million and will bring together tournament winners and the best players from the International Federation of PGA Tours.