HSBC Champions: Three major champs and Westwood commit

text size

World No. 3 Lee Westwood, U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell, British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen and PGA Championship winner Martin Kaymer are among the latest stars to confirm their entry into the 2010 World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions at the Sheshan International Golf Club, Shanghai, China, Nov. 4-7.

Also joining No. 1-ranked Tiger Woods and No. 2-ranked (and defending champion) Phil Mickelson are Ian Poulter, winner of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and Hunter Mahan, winner of the recent WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, ensuring that the world's best players of 2010 are all in Shanghai trying to win the coveted "Champion of Champions" title and a share of the $7 million prize fund.

With so many top-class players already in the field, the 2010 WGC-HSBC Champions looks set to build upon last year's success when, elevated to the illustrious World Golf Championship tier of events for the first time, it attracted the strongest field ever seen in Asia. Seven of the world's top 10 and 20 of the world's top 30 golfers played, making it the second-highest ranked field anywhere in the world outside the U.S. in 2009.

Westwood, winner of the inaugural Dubai World Golf Championship last November, finished second in the 2010 Masters Tournament and the British Open and is looking for a big win to finish off his year. "I have had a great year in terms of getting my world ranking right up there and have been extremely consistent throughout," Westwood said. "However, there is no doubt I'd love to win a big title like the WGC-HSBC Champions to finish off my year on a high note. I haven't won a World Golf Championship before so it is a real goal of mine and the fact that the WGC-HSBC Champions is played in China makes it the most global one of all and the one I would most like to win."

McDowell, who claimed his first major at this year's U.S. Open, is looking forward to returning to China as a major champion after finishing tied for 16th last year. "It certainly gives you a little boost when you are announced on the tee as a major champion and in a tournament known as the 'Champion of Champions,' I hope it will give me a little bit of an edge," McDowell said. "Last year I shot 65 in the second round amongst three rounds in the 70s, so I know the Sheshan course suits me if I play well. I am really looking forward to having another go at winning this great event."

Oosthuizen became only the fourth South African to ever win a major when he won the British Open in July, finishing seven shots clear of the field at St. Andrews. He also finished tied for 16th alongside McDowell in last year's WGC-HSBC Champions. "Winning the Open Championship is a huge turning point in my career and means I go to majors and World Golf Championships with far higher expectations than I may have in the past," Oosthuizen said. "I have played in the WGC-HSBC Champions three times now and have always enjoyed the experience very much. From the great hospitality to the immaculate condition of the Sheshan course, it is always a great week and one I look forward to very much."

Germany's Kaymer, winner of the PGA Championship and current leader of the European Tour's Race to Dubai rankings said, "I knew I had already secured my place in the WGC-HSBC Champions when I won the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship in January so it was nice to take the pressure off by making sure of my place in the field so early in the year. Winning my first major was a fantastic end to the summer but now I really want to keep my place at the top of the Race to Dubai and finish the year off well. I think a win at the WGC-HSBC Champions will be very significant in both the end-of-year European and World Rankings, especially with Tiger, Phil and Lee in the field."

Giles Morgan, Group Head of Sponsorship at HSBC, said, "The number of early entries we have had this year from so many of the world's best golfers confirms that the HSBC Champions has already established its place alongside the other WGC events and that the stars are going to make China's WGC event a success. To have all of the major winners of 2010 already in the line-up along with so many other great champions, coupled with all the great feedback they're giving about the tournament, shows that Tiger knew what he was saying when he described the HSBC Champions as 'the crowning jewel of all of Asian golf!'"

Robbie Henchman, Senior Vice President of the tournament promoters IMG, concluded, "We are delighted at the way the tournament is shaping up. The field is already brimming with the world's best golfers and we think everything is in place to deliver an even more exciting tournament this year."