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PGA: WGC-HSBC Champions Course Breakdown and Picks

By George Zainoun

SHANGHAI, CHINA - OCTOBER 23: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays a shot duirng a practice round prior to the WGC - HSBC Champtions at Sheshan International Golf Club on October 23, 2018 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
SHANGHAI, CHINA - OCTOBER 23: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays a shot duirng a practice round prior to the WGC - HSBC Champtions at Sheshan International Golf Club on October 23, 2018 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images) /
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SHANGHAI, CHINA – OCTOBER 23: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays a shot duirng a practice round prior to the WGC – HSBC Champtions at Sheshan International Golf Club on October 23, 2018 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images) PGA
SHANGHAI, CHINA – OCTOBER 23: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays a shot duirng a practice round prior to the WGC – HSBC Champtions at Sheshan International Golf Club on October 23, 2018 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images) PGA /

PGA: WGC-HSBC Champions Course Breakdown and Picks

Tiger Woods everybody. That’s right, Tiger Woods has tied Sam Snead for the all-time PGA Tour wins record at 82, and he did it in a stunning fashion in Japan where he mounted a lead that was absolutely insurmountable by his peers and clutched his 82nd career victory. Trailing behind him was the hometown favorite in Hideki Matsuyama who fell 2 shots behind after putting a stunning performance of his own. The Zozo seemed to be the victim of some torrential rain that halted play and took a lot of time and patience to finish, but ultimately, all in all, it was a successful inaugural event which brought the world stars for the first time to Japanese soil, and they were gifted with the ultimate treat in seeing the greatest of all-time win in front of thousands of his fans. Who could have asked for a better finish than Tiger vs Hideki down the stretch?

We move on to the final event of the Asia swing to the first World Golf Championship of the year, and it returns to Sheshan Golf Club in Shanghai, China. It will feature winners across the world tours and those in the high rankings in the OWGR standings. Normally we will see the 4 Major champions from the previous year, but Tiger Woods has not committed, and Brooks Koepka is presumably still sidelined with complications after a knee injury. This is a big-time event that will hold a purse of 10 million dollars, of which 1.7 Million is awarded to the winner. If you watched last season, it looked as though it would be Tony Finau’s second career win on tour, but a surging Xander Schauffele tied him down the stretch forcing a playoff that eventually saw him take home the first prize.

Sheshan Golf Club is an interesting track due to the fact that its nuances allow all sorts of players to be successful. The course architecture is designed by renowned Nelson & Haworth who are famous for having their prints on almost 11% of courses built in China. Sheshan itself was inspired by the famed Oak Hill Golf Course in Rochester, NY, the famous course which has hosted several Major Championships. Oak Hill, in case you were wondering, is a Donald Ross design. Many nuances and strategically placed hazards and bunkers will come into play in an effort to confuse the player’s line sights and increase shot difficulty. There will be holes where irons are taken off the tee and holes that will give the long hitters the advantage. If you’ve been following our course previews this year, you’ll know by now that Donald Ross greens are famous “Turtleback greens” or in essence, they repel errant shots into collection areas leaving tough pitch shots for up and downs. Some greens will also have tiers and undulations putting precedence on avoiding the dreaded 3 Putt.

Sheshan will draw these similarities as well. We will get into further detail on how to strategically attack this course from a fantasy perspective on the next page with some key stats. Please also remember this will be a NO CUT event with a 78 Player field yet again.

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