China gets World Golf Championship with asterisk

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- No longer can anyone say the World Golf Championships are only played in America.

In an announcement that raised several questions, not to mention a few eyebrows, the HSBC Champions in China was promoted Tuesday as the fourth WGC event on the schedule.

But this one is not like the other three, and not just because of its location.

The HSBC Champions in Shanghai will be played Nov. 5-8 - one week before the PGA Tour season ends at Disney - but it will not count as an official PGA Tour victory, nor will any earnings from the $7 million purse count toward the U.S. money list.

"So it's a WGC with an asterisk," Geoff Ogilvy suggested.

However, the winner will be eligible for the winners-only Mercedes-Benz Championship at Kapalua.

"A double asterisk," Ogilvy added.

It will be the only WGC in which the world ranking is not part of the criteria. Instead, the 78-man field will be determined largely by tournament winners from around the world - the four majors, three other WGCs, 23 select events on the PGA Tour and European Tour, nine from the Asian Tour, and five each from Japan, South Africa and Australia.

Tiger Woods already has said he will be there, giving the tournament instant credibility. He was runner-up the two previous times he played in Shanghai, but now that it's a WGC, it will be the only world championship he hasn't won.

Sergio Garcia is the defending champion. And the fact it falls two weeks before the inaugural Dubai World Championship means the tournament likely will have a strong presence from the European troops - Padraig Harrington, Paul Casey, Henrik Stenson, Rory McIlroy.