2015 WGC-HSBC Champions


The 2015 WGC-HSBC Champions was a golf tournament played from 5–8 November 2015 at the Sheshan Golf Club in Shanghai, China. It was the seventh WGC-HSBC Champions tournament, and the fourth of four World Golf Championships events held in 2015.
Russell Knox won by 2 strokes from Kevin Kisner. Danny Willett had a last round 62 to finish joint third with Ross Fisher, a further stroke behind. Knox was playing in his first WGC event and became the first Scot to win a World Golf Championship. Knox had only earned entry as third alternate.

Field

The following is a list of players who qualified for the 2015 WGC-HSBC Champions. The criteria for invitation differed from 2014, with a move towards the leaders in points lists rather than tournament winners. 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
Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth
;2. Winners of the previous four World Golf Championships
Dustin Johnson, Shane Lowry, Rory McIlroy, Bubba Watson
;3. Top 50 from the OWGR on 19 October
Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Daniel Berger, Paul Casey, Sergio García, Branden Grace, Emiliano Grillo, Thongchai Jaidee, Martin Kaymer, Chris Kirk, Kevin Kisner, Søren Kjeldsen, Anirban Lahiri, Danny Lee, Marc Leishman, David Lingmerth, Hunter Mahan, Hideki Matsuyama, Kevin Na, Louis Oosthuizen, Scott Piercy, Patrick Reed, Charl Schwartzel, Adam Scott, Henrik Stenson, Robert Streb, Andy Sullivan, Lee Westwood, Bernd Wiesberger, Danny Willett, Gary Woodland
;4. Top 30 from the final 2015 FedEx Cup points list
Steven Bowditch, Harris English, Matt Jones, Daniel Summerhays, Justin Thomas
;5. Top 30 from the Race to Dubai as of 26 October
An Byeong-hun, Luke Donald, Ross Fisher, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, David Howell, Miguel Ángel Jiménez, James Morrison, Alexander Norén, Thorbjørn Olesen, Thomas Pieters, Marc Warren, Chris Wood
;6. The leading four available players from the Asian Tour Order of Merit as of 26 October
Shiv Chawrasia, Andrew Dodt, Scott Hend, Richard T. Lee
;7. The leading two available players from the Japan Golf Tour Order of Merit as of 26 October
Kim Kyung-tae, Satoshi Kodaira
;8. The leading two available players from the final 2014 PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit
Greg Chalmers, Steven Jeffress
;9. The leading two available players from the final 2014 Sunshine Tour Order of Merit
Thomas Aiken, Daniel van Tonder
;10. Six players from China
Cao Yi, Dou Zecheng, Li Haotong, Liang Wenchong, Wu Ashun, Zhang Xinjun
;11. Alternates, if needed to fill the field of 78 players

Past champions in the field

First round

Thursday, 5 November 2015
Branden Grace shot a 9-under-par 63 to take a one-stroke lead over Steven Bowditch, Kevin Kisner, and Thorbjørn Olesen.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Branden Grace63−9
T2Steven Bowditch64−8
T2Kevin Kisner64−8
T2Thorbjørn Olesen64−8
T5Dustin Johnson65−7
T5Patrick Reed65−7
T5Danny Willett65−7
8Li Haotong66−6
T9Paul Casey67−5
T9Harris English67−5
T9Trevor Fisher Jnr67−5
T9Tommy Fleetwood67−5
T9Russell Knox67−5
T9Thomas Pieters67−5
T9Zhang Xin-jun67−5

Second round

Friday, 6 November 2015
Kevin Kisner shot a second-round 66 to take a two stroke lead over Russell Knox, who shot the low round of the day, 65. First-round leader Branden Grace shot a 71 to fall to third place, four strokes behind Kisner. Li Haotong, of China, moved up the leaderboard to a tie for 4th with a second-round 69.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Kevin Kisner64-66=130−14
2Russell Knox67-65=132−12
3Branden Grace63-71=134−10
T4Li Haotong66-69=135−9
T4Patrick Reed66-70=135−9
T6Dustin Johnson65-71=136−8
T6Hunter Mahan68-68=136−8
T6Bernd Wiesberger70-66=136−8
T9An Byeong-hun69-68=137−7
T9Matthew Fitzpatrick68-69=137−7
T9Scott Hend68-69=137−7
T9Louis Oosthuizen68-69=137−7

Third round

Saturday, 7 November 2015
Sunday, 8 November 2015
Third round play did not finish Saturday due to Russell Knox choosing not to play the last hole due to darkness. When he finished his hole on Sunday, he was tied for the lead with Kevin Kisner at 16-under-par. They were one stroke ahead of Dustin Johnson and Li Haotong.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Kevin Kisner64-66-70=200−16
T1Russell Knox67-65-68=200−16
T3Dustin Johnson65-71-65=201−15
T3Li Haotong66-69-66=201−15
T5Ross Fisher69-69-65=203−13
T5Patrick Reed65-70-68=203−13
T5Jordan Spieth68-72-63=203−13
T8Branden Grace63-71-70=204−12
T8Scott Hend68-69-67=204−12
T8Thorbjørn Olesen64-74-66=204−12

Final round

Sunday, 8 November 2015
Russell Knox shot a final round 68 to beat Kevin Kisner by two strokes. Li Haotong's T7 finish was the highest PGA Tour finish for a Chinese player.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parPrize money
1Russell Knox67-65-68-68=268−201,400,000
2Kevin Kisner64-66-70-70=270−18850,000
T3Ross Fisher69-69-65-68=271−17422,500
T3Danny Willett65-74-70-62=271−17422,500
T5Branden Grace63-71-70-68=272−16276,500
T5Dustin Johnson65-71-65-71=272−16276,500
T7Matthew Fitzpatrick68-69-69-67=273−15173,750
T7Li Haotong66-69-66-72=273−15173,750
T7Patrick Reed65-70-68-70=273−15173,750
T7Jordan Spieth68-72-63-70=273−15173,750

Scorecard

Hole123456789101112131415161718
Par454343454443454435
Knox−16−17−18−17−17−18−18−18−17−18−19−19−19−19−19−20−20−20
Kisner−15−15−15−15−15−16−16−17−17−17−17−17−17−17−17−17−17−18
Fisher−13−14−15−15−15−15−15−16−16−17−17−17−17−17−16−16−17−17
Willett−8−9−10−11−11−11−11−12−13−14−14−14−15−16−16−17−17−17
Grace−12−13−14−14−13−14−15−16−16−16−17−16−16−17−16−16−15−16
Johnson−15−16−17−16−16−16−17−15−15−14−14−14−14−15−15−16−16−16
Fitzpatrick−10−11−11−11−11−12−12−12−12−12−12−12−12−13−13−14−14−15
Li−14−12−13−12−11−12−12−13−13−13−13−13−13−13−13−14−15−15
Reed−13−14−14−14−14−14−14−15−15−15−15−15−16−14−14−14−14−15
Spieth−12−13−13−13−12−12−12−13−13−13−13−13−13−14−14−15−15−15

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Source: