Live from Shanghai: The happenings at HSBC Champions

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For the first time, a World Golf Championships event is being played in China with this week's HSBC Champions.

From A (Thomas Aiken) to Z (Lian-wei Zhang), the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions tournament has it all covered. PGA TOUR media official Joel Schuchman, who is on site in Shanghai, gives us some initial observations:

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1) Past champions Phil Mickelson, Y.E. Yang and Sergio Garcia and two-time runner-up Tiger Woods were among the featured players at HSBC's kickoff party Tuesday evening at the Shanghai Port International Cruise Terminal. The four took part in several photo opportunities, played a game of Chinese chess and even hit red golf balls into the Shanghai River with the breathtaking skyline as a backdrop. Check out the PGATOUR.COM photo gallery for a fun picture of Phil "beating" Tiger in chess. Tiger is also smiling in the picture, perhaps remembering he leads Phil in the majors category, 14-3.

2) At the HSBC kickoff press conference, Mickelson looked more like the part of CEO or politician rather than the world's No. 2 golfer, sporting a dark gray and chalk pinstripe suit and black tie.

3) From the "Maybe-They-Know-Something-We-Don't" department: Caddies in the Wednesday Pro-Am all wore red and white (HSBC colors) helmets with an oversized hard plastic sun visor.

4) The bunkers on the practice range at the Sheshan International Golf Club are filled with red (sensing an HSBC theme here?) carpeting.

5) For those discounting the magnitude of World Golf Championships events, this week's tournament in China marks the first time the world's top two players (Woods and Mickelson) will compete against each other in Asia. A total of 15 of the world's top 20 in the Official World Golf Ranking are among the 78 players on hand this week to battle for the $7 million purse.

6) Matt Kuchar and his wife, Sybi, recently finished fifth in the national couples doubles tennis tournament (read more here) and are currently ranked No. 12 nationally. There is tennis in their family bloodlines -- Sybi played collegiately at Georgia Tech while Matt's father, Peter, was once ranked No. 1 in doubles in the state of Florida. How did we learn all this? My co-worker Laura Hill and I were stranded in Tokyo for an evening and spent the better part of 43 travel hours from Atlanta to Shanghai with the Kuchars. Matt, of course, was more than happy to spend the extra time in transit, as he had qualified for just his second World Golf Championships event since 2002. The highlight of the trip for the group? Counting down the minutes to 7 a.m. when the McDonald's at the Tokyo airport opened. Yes, PGA TOUR players are humans, too. They just happen to shoot 65 instead of 95.

7) Plenty of time was spent on the range breaking down NFL and Major League Baseball action. Jerry Kelly (lamenting the Green Bay Packers and Brett Favre's move to Minnesota) and Sean O'Hair (willing the Philadelphia Phillies to a World Series title) were among the most outspoken. O'Hair was especially inspired by the wonders of TV in China -- he managed to catch the Phillies' Game 5 victory over the Yankees in his hotel room (Tuesday afternoon here). No truth to the rumor that the game pre-empted the highly rated game show, "The Super Terrific Happy Hour."

8) Ivor Robson, the legendary starter at the British Open, will be on the first tee all week introducing the players. Pop quiz: Robson's high-pitched golden pipes ("on the tee, from the United States, Tiger Woods...") may or may not be featured on: 1) the author's phone voicemail; 2) the author's talking Christmas card.

9) So far, my experience with Chinese hospitality is first rate. For instance, for dinner at the hotel restaurant, I decided to order off the menu and forgo the delicious-looking but undoubtedly calorie-laden buffet. When the waiter brought me salmon instead of the stir-fry I ordered, it took a minute or two to explain that I would rather have my original choice. In broken English, he said, "OK, I will have the chef prepare another dinner. You enjoy this one while you wait." And I did. Both dinners were fantastic. So much for eating sensibly.

10) Oh, I almost forgot. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. The rooster crows at dawn. And Phil Mickelson signs countless autographs. Even in China.