Amongst the glittering field at the 2016 WGC – HSBC Champions, ten European Tour members will be aiming to make their mark at the tournament for the first time.
Jacques Blaauw, Richard Bland, Chan Shih-chang, Bradley Dredge, Nathan Holman, Andrew Johnston, Rikard Karlberg, Miguel Tabuena, Jeunghun Wang and Jordan Zunic are part of the strongest field yet at the Sheshan International Golf Course.
They will all be seeking to make the same impact as 2015 winner Russell Knox, who will defend his title against a field that includes 42 of the top 50 players in the world, eight of the world’s top ten, all of the year’s Major Championship winners, and 19 stars from The 2016 Ryder Cup.
In his debut appearance at the Shanghai tournament, Inverness native Knox clinched his maiden European Tour title and became the first Scot to win a World Golf Championship event, rising into the world’s top 50 for the first time in his career as a result. Should he retain his title next week, he would join Tiger Woods and become just the second player to make a successful defence of a WGC crown.
Going in to the final tournament of the regular season, fans’ favourite Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston is the leading Race to Dubai contender amongst the group of ten WGC–HSBC Champions rookies.
Johnston is currently 21st in the Rankings, thanks to his first ever European Tour victory at the Real Club Valderrama Open de España, hosted by the Sergio Garcia Foundation, and top ten placings in three lucrative tournaments – the BMW PGA Championship, the 145th Open Championship and the Omega European Masters, where he finished in outright third place.
Three of the debutants have already tasted victory in maiden tournament appearances this season – Wang, Chan and Holman.
Wang clinched the Trophée Hassan II in May, holing three remarkable putts on the 18th green to see off Nacho Elvira after extra holes on a dramatic final day in Morocco. At just 20 years and 256 days of age, he also became the youngest winner on the European Tour since Matteo Manassero in the 2010 CASTELLÓ MASTERS Costa Azahar.
The South Korean quickly followed that up with victory at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open seven days later, and could now become the second player to win three European Tour titles this season after man-of-the-moment Alex Noren, who has clinched the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open, Omega European Masters and British Masters supported by Sky Sports.
