The 29-year-old won the ACC back-to-back in 2010 and 2011 and has gone on to achieve reasonable things a decade later; a green jacket as reigning Masters champion and a seventh PGA Tour title as the freshly-minted Zozo Championship winner.

Invites to April’s Masters tournament at Augusta National and the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews next July will again be the huge lure for players hoping to emulate Matsuyama at the 12th edition of the ACC at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club this month.

A place in amateur folklore also beckons for Yuxin Lin who will attempt to defend the title he won in a playoff at Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai in 2019 (the tournament was cancelled last year due to COVID-19). The 21-year-old Chinese player will attempt to distance himself from Matsuyama as the most successful player in AAC history after also winning the title at Royal Wellington in New Zealand in 2017.

“It would be a dream come true if I can win the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship for a third time,” said Lin, a University of Florida junior who is no stranger to UAE conditions having finished tied for 30th in the European Tour’s Abu Dhabi Championship last year.

“To already be placed in the same bracket as Hideki Matsuyama as a two-time champion is surreal so to get one ahead would be amazing.”

“It is the biggest tournament in our part of the world and I know how much the players will be eager to get their hands on the trophy. It is an incredible opportunity to gain an invitation to the Masters and a place in The 150th Open at St Andrews next year. It will be a tough task but I will give it my best shot.”

MORE: Cambodian golfer represents big dreams of competitors in the Asia-Pacific Amateur

The Beijing left-hander won’t have it easy at The Creek.

Japan’s Keita Nakajima is the world amateur No.1 and has been an unstoppable force in his home country. In his last three starts, he has won the Japan Amateur Championship, followed by triumph at the Panasonic Open against a quality field of professionals on the Japan Golf Tour.

“I want to be with Hideki san when he defends his Masters title next year so this is my best chance to fulfil that dream.”
– Japan’s World No.1 Keita Nakajima

Nakajima, who came close to winning the AAC in 2018 in Singapore when he was a co-leader going into the final round but his fine 67 was upstaged by compatriot and best friend Takumi Kanaya (65), won the Mark McCormack Medal in August for being the top-ranked amateur in the world. He took over the number one position from Kanaya after the latter turned professional in 2020.

With most amateur tournaments in the Asia-Pacific region cancelled due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, the 21-year-old Nippon Sport Science University student has relied on playing against professionals in the last couple of years. Apart from his recent Panasonic Open win, he also finished second in the Token Homemate Cup in April (finishing one stroke behind Kanaya) and third in last year’s Mitsui Sumitomo Taiheiyo Masters.

Nakajima, who said he cried on the day Kanaya decided to turn professional, added: “I’m an amateur who is at college, so it is an honour that I get the chance to play against the professionals. I feel it provides me with a great challenge to compete against them and that it has helped me become a better player.

“Of course, my confidence is high because of the win but I know I will still have to play at my best in Dubai to be in contention on the final day. I want to be with Hideki san when he defends his Masters title next year so this is my best chance to fulfil that dream and get to play alongside him at Augusta National Golf Club,” added Nakajima who is already assured of a place at The Open next year and the U.S. Open as a result of winning the McCormack Medal.

UAE No.1 Ahmad Skaik has secured a spot in the field along with compatriots Khalid Yousuf, Khalifa Al Masaood and Rashid Al Emadi, while Arkesh Bhatia, another big name on the UAE scene, will be representing India.

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What: 12th Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (ACC)
Where: Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club
When: Nov. 3-6

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No doubt Rory McIlroy, the 54-hole leader at the WGC-HSBC Champions, will be more focused on the adding to his PGA Tour victory mark on Sunday than his career prize money total. But he’ll be hitting a career milestone on the later front regardless of whether his wins or not at Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai.

McIlroy starts the final round 11th on the PGA Tour in career earnings with $49,285,260, a little more than $35,000 behind No. 10 Ernie Els. Given the generous $10.25 million WGC-HSBC Champions prize money payout in China—where the winner takes home $1.745 million and the last place gets $45,000—McIlroy is guaranteed to pass Els and move into the top 10 so long as he finishes his round. However, if McIlroy were to win, or even remain in the top five, he has the chance to move even higher up the all-time earnings leader board.

In ninth place on the career money list is Sergio Garcia at $49,950,005. Garcia is playing this week, but started the final round in T-38, giving McIlroy an opportunity to jump his European Ryder Cup teammate.

In eighth place is Matt Kuchar at $50,002,667. Kuchar is not in the field, so McIlroy can push past him as well, provided Rory wins or has a solo second-place finish.

Here’s the WGC-HSBC Champions prize money payout for every place in the entire field in Shanghai. We’ll update the totals for each individual golfer after the tournament ends.

Win: $1,745,000
2: $1,095,000
3: $602,000
4: $444,000
5: $368,000
6: $298,000
7: $256,000
8: $225,000
9: $199,000
10: $177,000
11: $166,000
12: $155,000
13: $144,000
14: $134,000
15: $126,000
16: $121,000
17: $116,000
18: $111,000
19: $106,000
20: $101,000
21: $97,000
22: $94,000
23: $91,000
24: $88,000
25: $86,000
26: $84,000
27: $82,000
28: $80,000
29: $78,000
30: $77,000
31: $76,000
32: $75,000
33: $74,000
34: $73,000
35: $72,000
36: $71,000
37: $70,000
38: $69,000
39: $68,000
40: $67,000
41: $66,000
42: $65,000
43: $64,000
44: $63,000
45: $62,000
46: $61,000
47: $60,000
48: $59,000
49: $58,000
50: $57,000
51: $56,000
52: $55,000
53: $54,000
54: $53,000
55: $52,500
56: $52,000
57: $51,500
58: $51,000
59: $50,500
60: $50,000
61: $49,500
62: $49,000
63: $48,750
64: $48,500
65: $48,250
66: $48,000
67: $47,750
68: $47,500
69: $47,250
70: $47,000
71: $46,750
72: $46,500
73: $46,250
74: $46,000
75: $45,750
76: $45,500
77: $45,250
78: $45,000

The post Here’s the prize money payout for each golfer at the 2019 WGC-HSBC Champions appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Li birdied three of his first five holes and made the turn after starting on the 10th tee at five under. A bogey on his 10th hole, the par-4 first at Sheshan, was followed by an eagle and birdie on his next two holes. An eight-foot par-saving putt on his final hole left him leading after a round for the first time on the PGA Tour.

The solid start was welcome for Li, who has struggled with his ball-striking in recent months. The five-time European Tour winner has missed the cut in four of his last seven tournaments dating back to July and seen in place in the World Rankings fall to 59th from 35th in April. After switching to a new set of irons this summer, Li said he returned to an old set earlier in the week.

Li has had success playing in his home country, winning five worldwide tournaments in China, including the European Tour’s Volvo China Open in 2016. In six previous starts at the WGC-HSBC, his best finishes were a T-7 in 2016 and a T-11 in 2018. His previous low round at Sheshan International was a 66.

“Obviously it would be great joy for Chinese golfers and Chinese golf fans to have a Chinese player winning a WGC-HSBC Champions here in China, but for the next three days, anything could happen,” Li said. “So I don’t want to think too much about it. I just want to focus and concentrate on the upcoming three days because anything can happen. I just wanted to do a good job to keep this momentum going.”

Defending champion Xander Schauffele is among a group of four that are two shots off the lead in a tie for third. His six-under 66 comes despite the fact he’s been fighting the flu and struggling just to keep his voice. Schauffele didn’t play a practice round, sitting out the pro-am on Wednesday.

Other notables from the 78-player field in the opening round were Rory McIlroy (67, T-7), Justin Rose (69, T-14), Jordan Spieth (70, T-26) and Phil Mickelson (71, T-41).

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By Christopher Powers
The PGA Tour wraps up its Asian swing this week with the WGC-HSBC Champions, the first of four World Golf Championships on the schedule. It’s played in Shanghai, China at Sheshan International Golf Club, which has hosted the event 14 of the 15 times it’s been played.

While Tiger Woods won’t be in the field, there’s still plenty of star power. Thirty-four of the top 50 players in the world will tee it up, including three of the top 10. Rory McIlroy, defending champion Xander Schauffele and Justin Rose are among the marquee groupings. Tony Finau, who finished runner-up to Schauffele a year ago, will play alongside Bernd Wiesberger and reigning Open champion Shane Lowry.

Thursday Tee Times (all times local)

Tee No. 1
8:45 a.m. — Xinjun Zhang, Bryce Easton, Matthew Millar
8:55 a.m. — Chan Kim, Zander Lombard, Jake Mcleod
9:05 a.m. — Jbe Kruger, Jazz Janewattananond, Yechun Yuan
9:15 a.m. — Joost Luiten, Ryo Ishikawa, Daniel Nisbet
9:25 a.m. — Zecheng Dou, Neil Schietekat, J.T. Poston
9:35 a.m. — Yosuke Asaji, Cameron Smith, Matthias Schwab
9:45 a.m. — Scott Hend, Taehee Lee, Wenchong Liang
9:55 a.m. — Richard Sterne, Mikumu Horikawa, Paul Waring
10:05 a.m. — Masahiro Kawamura, Andrea Pavan, Justin Harding
10:15 a.m. — Zheng-kai Bai, Mike Lorenzo-Vera, Romain Langasque
10:25 a.m. — Jorge Campillo, Kevin Tway, Victor Perez
10:35 a.m. — Benjamin Hebert, Yikeun Chang, Andrew Putnam
10:45 a.m. — Abraham Ancer, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Charles Howell III

Tee No. 10
8:50 a.m. — Adam Hadwin, Tyrrell Hatton, Lucas Glover
9:00 a.m. — Erik van Rooyen, Corey Conners, Jason Kokrak
9:10 a.m. — Keegan Bradley, Byeong Hun An, Kurt Kitayama
9:20 a.m. — Ashun Wu, Chez Reavie, Rafa Cabrera Bello
9:30 a.m. — Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia, Sungjae Im
9:40 a.m. — Paul Casey, Hideki Matsuyama, Jordan Spieth
9:50 a.m. — Tommy Fleetwood, Henrik Stenson, Adam Scott
10:00 a.m. — Ian Poulter, Francesco Molinari, Louis Oosthuizen
10:10 a.m. — Bubba Watson, Matt Wallace, Danny Willett
10:20 a.m. — Kevin Kisner, Robert Macintyre, Billy Horschel
10:30 a.m. — Phil Mickelson, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Haotong Li
10:40 a.m. — Shane Lowry, Bernd Wiesberger, Tony Finau
10:50 a.m. — Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Justin Rose

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By Ryan Herrington
With a closing four-under 68 at Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai, China—including birdies on the last two holes—Xander Schauffele chased down third-round leader Tony Finau to get into a playoff at the WGC-HSBC Champions. The California native, who turned 25 during Thursday’s first round, then made another birdie on the first sudden-death hole to claim victory, his third career PGA Tour title but first since the 2017 Tour Championship.

“It’s a lot to take in honestly,” Schauffele said. “I didn’t have an incredible Asian Swing up until this point [25th place finish at the CIMB Classic and T-48 at the CJ Cup], so I think that flight home will be a little bit more special.”

Schauffele began the final round in a tie for second, three strokes behind Finau, and got off to a solid start, making the turn in two under par to stay within striking distance. A birdie on the par-4 13th hole, along with a pair of bogeys by Finau on the 11th and 12th holes, briefly gave Schauffele the outright lead. But then things flipped back when Finau birdied the 14th hole and Schauffele bogeyed the 15th.

Yet despite all the movement on the board, Schauffele kept his cool, catching Finau again with a birdie on the par-3 17th hole and making another birdie on the 18th to close with a four-under 68. When Finau birdied the 18th as well, giving him a one-under 71 on the day, the two returned to the 18th tee for a playoff, each posting 14-under 274 aggregates.

Schauffele split the fairway off the tee and reached the green in two on the par 5, while Finau’s drive found the bunker. Forced to lay-up, Finau hit his third shot to 20 feet and nearly rolled in the birdie effort. But when he missed, Schauffele’s two-putt birdie was enough for the victory and the $1.7 million first prize.

Schauffele’s 68 was the day’s low score—just three players broke 70 on Sunday—and he was the only player in the 77-man field to shoot in the 60s on Saturday and Sunday at Sheshan International. He hit 11 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens, while needing just 29 putts.

For Finau, making his first start of the 2018-’19 PGA Tour season, it was another close call as he tries to add a second win to his resume, the first coming in 2016 in Puerto Rico. In his last 10 tour starts, Finau has posted six top-10 finishes.

“It definitely feels like I let one get away, but Xander played incredible golf today,” Finau said. “He posted a number out there and made birdie on a playoff hole when it counted. Hats off to him. He played nicely today and deserved to win.”

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Reed looked almost flawless despite playing in blustery conditions, hitting 12 of 14 fairways and all 18 greens in a bogey-free round. And his score could have been even lower when you consider that of his eight birdies, only one came on Sheshan’s four par 5s. Still, his 64 was the second-lowest first-round score of his PGA Tour career, bettered only by a 63 in the opening round of the 2014 Humana Challenge.

“It felt really good,” Reed said, “because if you can go out and shoot rounds like that in these kind of conditions, you know you’re going to have confidence when the wind dies down and there are perfect conditions out there.”

It’s the first time that Reed has held the lead in a PGA Tour event since his victory at Augusta National in April.

In closest pursuit of Reed are Xander Schauffele and Tony Finau, who both posted six-under 66s. This is Schauffele third straight start in the tour’s Asian swing, while Finau is also making his 2018-’19 tour debut.

Matthew Fitzpatrick made five straight birdies at the end of his round to post a five-under 67 and sit in solo fourth.

Interestingly, the track record of first-round leaders at the HSBC Champions is hardly stellar. Only once in nine starts since the event became a World Golf Championship has a Day 1 gone on to claim the title. But this runs counter to Reed’s own history; three previous times he’s lead after 18 holes on the PGA Tour and he’s recorded two wins and a second in those starts.

Defending champion Justin Rose finished the day with a 69 and is tied for 10th while new World No. 1 Brooks Koepka, fresh off his win at the CJ Cup, shot an even-par 72 to sit in a tie for 27th.

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By Christopher Powers
The PGA Tour finishes off its Asian swing this week with the first World Golf Championship of the 2018-’19 season, the WGC-HSBC Champions, held at Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai, China.

A field of 78 of the world’s best players will compete for the $10 million purse, $1.6 million of which goes to the winner. A year ago, that man was Justin Rose, who overcame a seemingly insurmountable eight-stroke deficit to catch Dustin Johnson on the final day.

RELATED: Brooks Koepka’s rise to No. 1 creates another first in the history of the Official World Golf Ranking

Rose will begin his title defence alongside Tommy Fleetwood and Brooks Koepka, fresh off his four-stroke victory at the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges. Koepka, now the No. 1 ranked player in the world, is still second to Dustin Johnson when it comes to the favorites to win the tournament, as Johnson is +600 to win and Koepka +675. Rose checks in as the third favorite at +800.

Among the other marquee threesomes includes Johnson’s, as he’ll play with Francesco Molinari and Rory McIlroy in the opening two rounds. All three will be making their season debuts in China. Other stars making an appearance include Jason Day, Jon Rahm, Patrick Reed and 2016 winner Hideki Matsuyama.

TV Schedule
OSN Sports 3HD will carry live coverage Thursday and Friday from 5am and on Saturday and Sunday from 6am.

Thursday Tee Times (all times ET, U.S.A).
Note: The United Arab Emirates is 8 hours ahead of Eastern Time.

Tee No. 1
8:50 p.m. — Yechun Yuan, Brett Rumford, Justin Harding
9 p.m. — Xinjun Zhang, Andrea Pavan, Oliver Bekker
9:10 p.m. — JC Ritchie, Adam Bland, Yanwei Liu
9:20 p.m. — George Coetzee, Yuta Ikeda, Scott Vincent
9:30 p.m. — Sihwan Kim, Pat Perez, Erik Van Rooyen
9:40 p.m — Adam Hadwin, Jason Norris, Bowen Xiao
9:50 p.m. — John Catlin, Yuki Inamori, Adrian Otaegui
10 p.m. — Wenchong Liang, Andy Sullivan, Ryan Fox
10:10 p.m. — Sanghyun Park, Jorge Campillo, Andrew Putnam
10:20 p.m. — Gaganjeet Bhullar, Chris Wood, Alexander Bjork
10:30 p.m. — Alexander Levy, Julian Suri, Chez Reavie
10:40 p.m. — Shubhankar Sharma, Brandon Stone, Emiliano Grillo
10:50 p.m. — C.T. Pan, Thomas Pieters, Matt Wallace

Tee No. 10
8:55 p.m. — Russell Knox, Patton Kizzire, Satoshi Kodaira
9:05 p.m. — Brian Harman, Kevin Na, Branden Grace
9:15 p.m. — Charley Hoffman, Brandt Snedeker, Byeong Hun An
9:25 p.m. — Cameron Smith, Lucas Bjerregaard, Billy Horschel
9:35 p.m. — Adam Scott, Hideki Matsuyama, Ian Poulter
9:45 p.m. — Patrick Reed, Jon Rahm, Alex Noren
9:55 p.m. — Brooks Koepka, Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood
10:05 p.m. — Patrick Cantlay, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Eddie Pepperell
10:15 p.m. — Kyle Stanley, Thorbjorn Olesen, Kiradech Aphibarnrat
10:25 p.m. — Matthew Fitzpatrick, Keegan Bradley, Ashun Wu
10:35 p.m. — Paul Casey, Xander Schauffele, Tyrrell Hatton
10:45 p.m. — Haotong Li, Jason Day, Tony Finau
10:55 p.m. — Francesco Molinari, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy

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By Christopher Powers
Brooks Koepka hasn’t missed a cut since last April at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he failed to play the weekend for the third time in four weeks after opening with rounds of 78 and 70.

Two months later he won the U.S. Open at Erin Hills, and followed it up with a T-6 in his next start at the Open Championship. Since then though, Koepka has had just one other top-10, and hasn’t really come close to a win, or dominating the field like he did at Erin Hills.

Thursday’s opening-round eight-under 64 has Koepka a little bit closer, giving him the solo lead in the WGC-HSBC Champions at Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai, China. Despite finishing with seven birdies and an eagle, the former Florida State standout thought it could have been played even better.

“I felt like I left a lot [out there],” said Koepka, who is playing in his first event of the 2017-’18 season and making his first start since competing in last month’s Presidents Cup. “I three-putted from 3½ feet, and had another four-footer I missed, had a couple that just burned the edge. But I mean, I played really well. You can’t make everything.”

Koepka’s three-putt came at his 12th hole, the par-4 third, where he made his only bogey of the day after making four birdies and an eagle over the previous seven holes. He wasted no time getting that shot back with a birdie at the par-3 fourth, and picked up two more birdies on his way in at the seventh and eighth.

“It doesn’t really bother me,” Koepka said of his lone bogey. “I could make 9, 12, or I can make an ace, it’s not really going to change anything. Still trying to shoot the best score you can and grind it out.”

It’s just Koepka’s second appearance in the WGC-HSBC Champions, the first coming a year ago where he entered outside the top-20 in the official world golf ranking and finished T-40. This season, he comes in holding the 11th spot and could make his first career breakthrough into the top-10 with a win.

Malaysia’s Gavin Green and Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat are just one back of Koepka after carding seven-under 65s. Green’s round was bogey-free, while Aphibarnrat’s featured 10 birdies and three bogeys.

Two shots behind Koepka is fellow U.S. Presidents Cup teammate Patrick Reed, whose bogey-free 66 matches his opening-round score at last week’s CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges, where he tied for 11th. He’s in search of his sixth victory on the PGA Tour, and his first since the 2016 Northern Trust at Bethpage Black.

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