2014 WGC-HSBC Champions


The 2014 WGC-HSBC Champions was a golf tournament played 6–9 November 2014 at the Sheshan Golf Club in Shanghai, China. It was the sixth WGC-HSBC Champions tournament, and the fourth of four World Golf Championships events held in the 2014 calendar year.
Bubba Watson won the tournament at the first playoff hole, holing a putt for a birdie at the 18th hole while Tim Clark took a par 5. Watson and Clark had tied for the lead at 277 after 72 holes. Watson seemed to have ruined his chance of winning by bogeying the 16th hole of the final round and taking a double bogey at the 17th. However he then holed out from a greenside bunker for an eagle at the last hole to take the lead. Clark then holed a putt for a birdie at the last to force a playoff. In the final group, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell, and Hiroshi Iwata all needed a birdie at the last to join the playoff but none of the three made it.

Field

The following is a list of players who qualified for the 2014 WGC-HSBC Champions. "Top rated" means tournaments with the highest "strength of field" rating in the Official World Golf Ranking. Players who qualify from multiple categories are listed in the first category in which they are eligible with the other qualifying categories in parentheses next to the player's name.
;1. Winners of the four major championships and The Players Championship
Martin Kaymer, Bubba Watson
;2. Winners of the previous four World Golf Championships
Patrick Reed
;3. Winners of the top 20 rated PGA Tour events
Tim Clark, Matt Every, Russell Henley, J. B. Holmes, Billy Horschel, Matt Jones, Chris Kirk, Hunter Mahan, Hideki Matsuyama, Ryan Moore, Justin Rose, Adam Scott, John Senden, Kevin Stadler, Scott Stallings, Kevin Streelman
;4. Top 5 available players from the 2013–14 FedEx Cup points list
Rickie Fowler, Sergio García, Ryan Palmer, Jordan Spieth, Jimmy Walker
;5. Winners of the top 10 rated European Tour events
Victor Dubuisson, Pablo Larrazábal, Graeme McDowell, Louis Oosthuizen, Marcel Siem, Henrik Stenson, Oliver Wilson
;6. Top 15 available players from the Race to Dubai
Thomas Bjørn, Jonas Blixt, George Coetzee, Jamie Donaldson, Ernie Els, Tommy Fleetwood, Stephen Gallacher, Mikko Ilonen, Thongchai Jaidee, Miguel Ángel Jiménez, Alexander Lévy, Shane Lowry, Joost Luiten, Charl Schwartzel, Marc Warren
;7. Four players - winners of the top 3 Japan Golf Tour events, remainder from 2014 Order of Merit
Luke Donald, Hiroshi Iwata, Kim Hyung-sung, Yoshitaka Takeya
;8. Four players - winners of the top 3 Sunshine Tour events, remainder from 2013 Order of Merit
Darren Fichardt, Hennie Otto, Dawie van der Walt, Jaco van Zyl
;9. Four players - winners of the top 3 PGA Tour of Australasia events, remainder from 2013 Order of Merit
Michael Hendry, Jin Jeong, Brody Ninyette, Thorbjørn Olesen
;10. Six players - winners of the top 3 Asian Tour events, remainder from 2014 Order of Merit
Felipe Aguilar, Jason Knutzon, Anirban Lahiri, Antonio Lascuña, David Lipsky, Lee Westwood
;11. Six players from China
Dou Zecheng, Hu Mu, Li Haotong, Liang Wenchong, Wu Ashun, Zhang Lianwei
;12. Any players, not included in above categories, in the top 50 of the OWGR on 20 October 2014
Keegan Bradley, Graham DeLaet, Jason Dufner, Bill Haas, Marc Leishman, Kevin Na, Ian Poulter, Brandt Snedeker, Brendon Todd, Gary Woodland
;13. Alternates, if needed to fill the field to 78 players
None needed: 80 players competed

Past champions in the field

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, 6 November 2014
Graeme McDowell shot a 5-under-par 67 to take a two-stroke lead over six players, including 2011 champion Martin Kaymer. A strong wind, thick rough and narrow fairways made scoring difficult with only 27 players breaking par.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Graeme McDowell67−5
T2Tim Clark69−3
T2Tommy Fleetwood69−3
T2Rickie Fowler69−3
T2Martin Kaymer69−3
T2Chris Kirk69−3
T2Brandt Snedeker69−3
T8Bill Haas70−2
T8J. B. Holmes70−2
T8Kim Hyung-sung70−2
T8Louis Oosthuizen70−2
T8Ian Poulter70−2
T8Adam Scott70−2
T8Jordan Spieth70−2
T8Henrik Stenson70−2
T8Dawie van der Walt70−2
T8Jaco van Zyl70−2
T8Lee Westwood70−2

Second round

Friday, 7 November 2014
Graeme McDowell shot a second straight round of 67 to take a three-stroke lead over Ian Poulter.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Graeme McDowell67-67=134−10
2Ian Poulter70-67=137−7
T3Hiroshi Iwata73-65=138−6
T3Bubba Watson71-67=138−6
T5Jonas Blixt71-68=139−5
T5Tim Clark69-70=139−5
T5Rickie Fowler69-70=139−5
T5Kevin Na71-68=139−5
T9Thorbjørn Olesen72-68=140−4
T9Louis Oosthuizen70-70=140−4

Third round

Saturday, 8 November 2014
Graeme McDowell maintained a one-stroke lead over Hiroshi Iwata. Martin Kaymer shot the low round of the day, 66, to climb to a third place tie with Bubba Watson.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Graeme McDowell67-67-71=205−11
2Hiroshi Iwata73-65-68=206−10
T3Martin Kaymer69-72-66=207−9
T3Bubba Watson71-67-69=207−9
T5Tim Clark69-70-69=208−8
T5Rickie Fowler69-70-69=208−8
T7Thorbjørn Olesen72-68-69=209−7
T7Ian Poulter70-67-72=209−7
9Jonas Blixt71-68-71=210−6
T10Chris Kirk69-74-69=212−4
T10Marc Leishman72-71-69=212−4
T10Louis Oosthuizen70-70-72=212−4
T10Brandt Snedeker69-74-69=212−4
T10Lee Westwood70-73-69=212−4

Final round

Sunday, 9 November 2014
Bubba Watson and Tim Clark finished the round tied at 277 to force a playoff, with Watson scoring an eagle on the final hole. Watson made birdie on the first playoff hole to Clark's par to win the tournament, his first World Golf Championship. The leader from the first three rounds, Graeme McDowell, shot a 73 to fall into a tie for third.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
T1Tim Clark69-70-69-69=277−11Playoff
T1Bubba Watson71-67-69-70=277−11Playoff
T3Rickie Fowler69-70-69-70=278−10381,666
T3Hiroshi Iwata73-65-68-72=278−10381,666
T3Graeme McDowell67-67-71-73=278−10381,666
T6Martin Kaymer69-72-66-73=280−8213,666
T6Thorbjørn Olesen72-68-69-71=280−8213,666
T6Ian Poulter70-67-72-71=280−8213,666
9Marc Leishman72-71-69-69=281−7158,000
T10Jason Dufner72-70-72-68=282−6135,500
T10Brandt Snedeker69-74-69-70=282−6135,500

Scorecard

Hole123456789101112131415161718
Par454343454443454435
Watson−8−9−9−10−9−10−11−12−12−12−12−12−11−12−12−11−9−11
Clark−8−9−9−8−7−6−6−7−8−8−8−8−8−9−10−10−10−11
Fowler−7−7−8−9−9−9−9−10−9−9−9−10−10−9−9−10−10−10
Iwata−10−9−9−9−9−9−9−9−8−8−9−9−10−11−10−10−10−10
McDowell−11−11−11−11−11−11−10−11−11−11−11−11−11−10−10−10−10−10

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Source:

Playoff

The sudden-death playoff started at the 18th hole.