10 Players to Watch: WGC-HSBC Champions

By Tom LaMarre – Courtesy The Sports Xchange

1. Dustin Johnson, United States — The top-ranked player in the world will make his first start of the new season after a monster 2016-17 in which he won four times, capped by a victory on The Northern Trust to open the playoffs. It could have been an even bigger season, but after winning three straight outings early in the year, Johnson sustained a back injury off the course the day before the Masters and was forced to miss the first major of the season — in addition to taking a while to regain his form. He always will be one of the favorites in the World Golf Championships because last March he became the first player of win all for of them, beating Jon Rahm of Spain 1-up in the final of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. DJ has won five of the WGC events, second to Tiger Woods’ 18, including the 2013 HSBC Champions by three strokes over Ian Poulter of England at Sheshan International Golf Club. This will be his fifth start in China, and he also tied for fifth in 2015.

2. Hideki Matsuyama, Japan — The defending champion began his breakthrough season by winning the WGC-HSBC Champions by a whopping seven strokes over Henrik Stenson of Sweden and Daniel Berger with scores of 66-65-68-66, leading from early in the second round on. He followed that up by successfully defending his title in the Waste Management Phoenix Open and winning a second World Golf Championships title in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational by five shots over Zach Johnson. Matsuyama, ranked No. 4 in the world, led the FedExCup standings heading into the playoffs, but faded to finish eighth in the points as he seemed to be worn down by playing 30 times around the world in the last year. He bounced back to defeat Justin Thomas 3 and 1 in Sunday singles at the Presidents Cup early this month and started the new season with a tie for fifth in the CIMB Classic two weeks ago, shooting 63 in the third round. Matsuyama has won six times worldwide in a little more than a year.

3. Marc Leishman, Australia — Coming off a career year in which he claimed two titles on the PGA Tour after winning only once previously, Leishman took PGA Tour Player of the Year Justin Thomas to the second hole of a playoff before losing last week in the inaugural CJ Cup at Nine Bridges, the first regular-season event on the circuit played in South Korea. The Aussie, who captured the Arnold Palmer Invitational early in the year and the BMW Championship during the playoffs, birdied the last hole at Nine Bridges Golf Club to get into the playoff with Thomas and scrambled out of the trees for a par on the first extra hole before hitting his approach shot into the water on the second playoff hole. He carded a double-bogey 7, allowing Thomas to win with a no-stress birdie. Leishman is playing in the WGC-HSBC Champions for the fourth time, having tied for 18th in 2012, finished solo ninth in 2014 and tied for 11th in 2015. His best result in the WGC events was solo third in the 2014 Bridgestone Invitational.

4. Jon Rahm, Spain — Following a brilliant first full year as a pro in which he won the Farmers Insurance Open on the PGA Tour and the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open on the European Tour, the 22-year-old Rahm starts the new season on the U.S. tour this week in China. He missed the cut last week in the Andalucia Valderrama Masters in his return to Spain, but this is another big week for him because the WGC-HSBC Masters is sanctioned by both major tours and he ranks third in the Race to Dubai, which wraps up next month. Rahm is making his first appearance in the WGC event in China, but he showed last season that he can step it up against the strong fields in the World Golf Championships when he tied for third in the WGC-Mexico Championship, and top-ranked Dustin Johnson edged him 1-up in the final of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. Those were two of the 11 top-10 finishes he recorded in his first season out of Arizona State, including four in a row during the playoffs.

5. Phil Mickelson, United States — Lefty had a so-so 2016-17 season until he tied for sixth in the Dell Technologies Championship and tied for 20th in the BMW Championship, before he was lauded as a real team leader as he posted a 3-0-1 record to help the United States retain the Presidents Cup early this month at Liberty National in New Jersey. Mickelson started the new season with a tie for third in the Safeway Open at Silverado and hopes to keep it going in the WGC-HSBC Champions, which he has won twice. He beat Ross Fisher and Lee Westwood, both of England, with a birdie on the second playoff hole in 2006, and came back three years later to beat Ernie Els of South Africa by one stroke for his fourth victory of the season. Mickelson has three victories in the World Golf Championships, also holding on to beat Nick Watney by one stroke in the 2009 WGC-CA Championship at Doral in Miami, giving him multiple victories for a sixth straight season.

6. Jason Day, Australia — After opening the season with a tie for 11th last week in the inaugural CJ Cup at Nine Bridges in South Korea, Day has moved on to China for his first appearance in the WGC-HSBC Champions. He does have two victories in the World Golf Championships, capturing the WGC-Match Play title in 2014 by beating Victor Dubuisson of France in an epic 23-hole final at Dove Mountain in Arizona, and coming back two years later in the same event to take down Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa in the title match 5 and 4. His best result in the WGC stroke-play events was a tie for third in the 2016 Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone, where he shared the 54-hole lead before closing with a 72 to tie for third, three shots behind Dustin Johnson. Day had a disappointing 2016-17 season, but heated up at the end, finishing in the top 25 in his last six tournaments. That included a tie for ninth in the PGA Championship before he tied for sixth in the Northern Trust and solo fourth in the BMW Championship during the playoffs.

7. Paul Casey, England — Continuing his strong play at the start of the new season, Casey tied for seventh in the CIMB Classic in Malaysia and tied for 19th last week in the inaugural CJ Cup at Nine Bridges in South Korea. That means the Englishman has finished in the top 25 in 14 of his last 16 tournaments on the PGA Tour and one of those misses was solo 26th in the U.S. Open at Erin Hills in June. In the other three majors, he was sixth in the Masters, tied for 11th in the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale and tied for 13th in the PGA Championship before finishing in the top five in three of the four events during the FedExCup playoffs. Casey is making his eighth start in the WGC-HSBC Champions, and his best result was a tie for fourth in 2011, a year after he tied for sixth. He has finished in the top 25 in each of his last six starts. Casey lost in the final of the WGC-Match Play to Geoff Ogilvy of Australia in 2009 and to Ian Poulter of England in 2010.

8. Henrik Stenson, Sweden — The Big Swede will make his first start of the new season on Thursday in the WGC-HSBC Champions, in which he tied for second last year, although he was a distant seven strokes behind Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, It was Stenson’s seventh top-10 finish in the World Golf Championships, including his only victory in the 2007 Accenture Match Play Championship at Dove Mountain near Tucson, Ariz., where he defeated Geoff Ogilvy 2 and 1 in the final. He is making his eighth start at Sheshan International Golf Club in China, and his only other top-10 result there was solo fifth in 2009. Stenson, who became the only Swedish male to win a golf major in the 2016 Open Championship at Royal Troon and captured the silver medal at the Olympics a month later, claimed his sixth victory on the PGA Tour last year in the Wyndham Championship. However, he seemed to be slowed last season by a knee injury that his bothered him the last two years.

9. Justin Rose, England — Even though he hasn’t played much on the European Tour this season, Rose is 10th in the Race to Dubai on the strength of a tie for second in the Masters and a tie for fourth in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open. He will try to move up this week when he makes his fifth appearance in the WGC-HSBC Champions, with his best results at Sheshan International Golf Club solo fifth in 2013 and a tie for seventh in 2011. Rose has finished in the top 10 on 10 occasions in the World Golf Championships, with his only victory coming in the 2012 WGC-Cadillac Championship by one stroke over Bubba Watson at Doral in Miami. This will be his first start of the 2017-18 season after he recorded eight results in the top 10 last season on the PGA Tour to finish ninth in the FedExCup standings. Rose claimed the Olympic gold medal last year, but hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since collecting his seventh victory on the circuit in the 2015 Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

10. Tyrell Hatton, England — Having won his last two events on the European Tour to climb to fourth in Race to Dubai, Hatton will try to keep it going when he makes his third appearance in the WGC-HSBC Champions. The Englishman captured the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship for the second straight year by three strokes over countryman Ross Fisher on the Old Course at St. Andrews three weeks ago. Then he collected his third career victory on the Euro Tour a week later when he sank a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole to defeat Fisher and Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand by one stroke in the Italian Open. Fisher has finished second in all of Hatton’s victories. Hatton has finished in the top 10 in four straight events, also tying for eighth in the British Masters and tying for third in the Omega European Masters. In his two starts in China, Hatton tied for 54th in 2015 and tied for 23rd last year. He finished in the top 10 three times on the PGA Tour last season, including ties for fourth in the Honda Classic and the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Tom LaMarre has been a sportswriter and copy editor for more than 50 years, including 15 years with the Oakland Tribune and 22 with the Los Angeles Times. He was the Tribune’s beat writer for the Oakland Raiders for seven seasons in the 1970s, highlighted by their 32-14 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, and collaborated on a book, Winning Offensive Football, with quarterback Ken Stabler. He also covered the Oakland Athletics when they won three consecutive World Series during the 1970s and the Golden State Warriors when they won the NBA championship in the 1974-75 season. With the Times, he wrote columns on golf, football and skiing. These days, he is the Golf Editor for The Sports Xchange. LaMarre graduated from Skyline High in Oakland and attended the University of San Francisco.