Week 42 Approach Shots: HSBC Champions

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The fourth event in the World Golf Championships series is this week in Shanghai, China. The World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions is at Sheshan International Golf Club, with Tiger Woods -- No. 1 in Official World Golf Ranking -- playing in his first official tournament since THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, the final event of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.

Phil Mickelson, the No. 2-ranked player, is also competing, a week after playing in the Barclays Singapore Open. In all, seven of the top 10 in the world are playing this week.

Quick Facts

WHAT: Fourth of four World Golf Championships WHEN: Nov. 5-8 WHERE: Shanghai, China COURSE: Sheshan International Golf Club ROUND 1 TV: GOLF, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. ET ROUND 2 TV: GOLF, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. ET ROUND 3 TV: GOLF, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. ET ROUND 4 TV: GOLF, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. ET KEY LINKS: Tee times | Leaderboard | Tournament page VIDEO: Preview

HORSE FOR THE COURSE ... UH, TOURNAMENTS: Woods has enjoyed a decade of dominance since the World Golf Championships began. He has 16 overall titles, including a victory at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational earlier this season.

THIS AND THAT: The HSBC Champions began in 2005 as a co-sanctioned European Tour and Asian Tour event. Sergio Garcia is the defending champion. David Howell won the inaugural tournament, Y.E. Yang was the champion in 2006, and Mickelson took home the trophy in 2007.

The HSBC Champions will feature an increased purse of $7 million and, as is always the case with World Golf Championships, will bring together tournament winners and the best players from the International Federation of PGA Tours.

BACK FOR MORE: Six players in the field have participated in all four of the previous HSBC Champions: Paul Casey, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Padraig Harrington, Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson and Lian-Wei Zhang. Stenson and Harrington have the best finishes of that group, with ties for fifth in 2007 (Harrington) and 2008 (Stenson).

FALL FAVORITES: Geoff Ogilvy's victory earlier this year at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship was his third World Golf Championships victory (2006, 2009 Accenture Match Play Championship and 2008 CA Championship).

Ogilvy and Woods are the the only players with three or more World Golf Championships wins. A win this week would give Ogilvy wins in three of the four World Golf Championships tournaments. Woods has three Accenture Match Play Championship wins (2003, 2004 and 2008), seven wins in the Bridgestone Invitational (1999, 2000, 20001, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009) and six wins at the CA Championship (1999, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007).

THE ROLE OF THE VILLAIN: In 2006, Yang upstaged the biggest names in the world of golf to win the HSBC Champions at Sheshan International Golf Club, withstanding challenges from Woods, Retief Goosen and Michael Campbell. A final-round 69 helped Yang to a two-shot victory over Woods, who was attempting to win his seventh consecutive stroke-play event.

MONEY LEADER: Woods has won more than $21 million in 30 World Golf Championships starts. He has earned $4,712,500 in 10 starts at the Accenture Match Play Championship, $7,740,000 at the CA Championship and $7,952,500 at the Bridgestone Invitational for a total of $21,662,500.

WINNERS IN 2009: Two weeks after the conclusion of the HSBC Champions, players will travel to the southern tip of China, in Shenzhen, for the OMEGA Mission Hills World Cup. Twenty-eight nations will be competing in the tournament that uses four-ball and foursomes formats. Twenty-five players competing at the HSBC Champions will also be in the OMEGA Mission Hills World Cup, led by Sweden's Henrik Stenson and Spain's Sergio Garcia, Nos. 7 and 9 in the Official World Golf Ranking, respectively. Others in the top 25 in the world playing in both events are Germany's Martin Kaymer (No. 11), England's Ian Poulter (No. 15), Ireland's Rory McIlroy (No. 18). Sweden's Robert Karlsson (No. 27), along with Stenson, won the 2008 OMEGA Mission Hills World Cup for Sweden.

Weather forecast for the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions

THURSDAY, Rd. 1 FRIDAY, Rd. 2 SATURDAY, Rd. 3 SUNDAY, Rd. 4 Sunny Temp: 74 high/63 low Mostly sunny Temp: 79 high/67 low Cloudy Temp: 75 high/68 low Showers Temp: 72 high/66 low

DTN/Meteorlogix is the official weather provider of the PGA TOUR. For more information, click here

HSBC Champions snippets

Big step for golf: "Olympic status will help grow the sport in so many of the emerging golf markets," Tiger Woods said. "But holding our first WGC event here is another key moment. This tournament will play a big part in spreading the recognition and appeal of golf worldwide." Triple trouble: Thai ace Thongchai Jaidee was handed an early birthday present with a dream pairing with Tiger Woods. The current Asian Tour No. 1 will feature in the opening two rounds alongside Woods and last week's Volvo World Match Play champion Ross Fisher of England. Missing man: Stuart Appleby's streak of participating in every World Golf Championship comes to an end, as he did not qualify for the HSBC Champions. He had competed in all 32 of the World Golf Championships since the inception of the series in 1999.