World Golf Championships

Last updated March 26, 2024

The World Golf Championships (WGC) were a group of annual professional golf tournaments played from 1999 through 2023 created by the International Federation of PGA Tours as a means of gathering the best players in the world together more frequently than the pre-existing four major championships. All WGC tournaments are official money events on the PGA Tour and the European Tour, and officially sanctioned by the Asian Tour, Japan Golf Tour, Sunshine Tour, and PGA Tour of Australasia.^{[ citation needed ]}

The WGC tournaments offered comparable prize money to the major championships. In the pantheon of golf events, the WGCs ranked below the major championships and above most other competitions, although The Players Championship, promoted by the PGA Tour as the "fifth major", may also claim such status.

Despite the name, the World Golf Championships did not claim to crown a recognised 'world champion'.^{[ citation needed ]}

The World Golf Championships came to an end as the PGA Tour announced the 2023 WGC Match Play would be the last WGC tournament.^[1] The COVID-19 pandemic severely hampered the WGCs, as several tournaments were moved and the WGC-HSBC Champions in China was never played again once the pandemic began. As the PGA Tour's conflict with LIV Golf began, the PGA Tour pursued an "elevated status" for some existing events which have some similarities to WGC events (smaller fields, no cut, and higher prize money).^[2]

Events

Event	Format
WGC Championship (1999–2021)	Individual stroke play
WGC Match Play (1999–2023)	Individual match play
WGC Invitational (1999–2021)	Individual stroke play
WGC World Cup (2000–2006)	Team stroke play
WGC Champions (2009–2019)	Individual stroke play

The WGC Championship, WGC Match Play and WGC Invitational events all began in 1999, although the WGC Invitational is the direct successor of the World Series of Golf, which began in 1976 and the WGC Match Play is a direct successor to the Andersen Consulting World Championship of Golf which began in 1995. The WGC Championship originally traveled to different venues around the world. After 2006 it found a home at Doral Resort in Florida superseding the Doral Open, a long-standing event on the PGA Tour. Between 2000 and 2006, the men's World Cup was accorded WGC status. The WGC Champions, first held in 2005, was awarded World Golf Championships status starting with the 2009 edition, becoming the fourth WGC tournament on the worldwide calendar.^[3]

In April 2011, the Sunshine Tour announced that it would host a fifth WGC event. The event, to be known as the Tournament of Hope, was to be linked to awareness of poverty and HIV/AIDS in Africa.^[4] In early 2012 it was announced that the tournament would be played in 2013;^[5] later in 2012 it was announced that the tournament would not be a WGC event,^[6] but ultimately the tournament never took place.

The WGC concept was introduced to create a larger group of golf tournaments with a high global profile by bringing the leading golfers from different tours together on a more regular basis, rather than just for the major championships. At the time the publicity spoke of a "World Tour" which might develop on the basis of the World Championships and the majors.

The "World Tour" concept seems to have been dropped, but the four events usually attract almost all of the elite players who are eligible to compete and they rank among the most prestigious and high-profile events outside of the majors. The prize money on offer is very close to being the highest for any professional golf tournament. Winners generally receive 70 to 78 Official World Golf Rankings points, the most awarded for any tournament apart from the major championships, which carry 100 points, and The Players Championship, which is allocated 80.^{[lower-alpha 1]} Tiger Woods has dominated these tournaments, winning 16 of the first 32 individual (non-World Cup) events and winning at least one event each year from 1999 to 2009.

From 2000 to 2006 the men's golf World Cup, a tournament for teams of two players representing their country, was a World Golf Championship event, although it was not an official money event on any tour. Beginning in 2007 it is no longer part of the World Golf Championships, but it is still played, and is currently known as the Mission Hills World Cup.

Also from 2000 to 2006, two or three of the four events were staged in the United States in most of the years, and one or two were staged elsewhere. Starting in 2007, all three of the individual World Golf Championships events were played in the United States, which attracted criticism from some golfers, including Tiger Woods and Ernie Els, and in the media outside the United States. PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem responded by insisting that playing in the U.S is best for golf as more money can be made there than elsewhere.^[7] This criticism has been muted since the 2009 elevation of the HSBC Champions, held in China, to full WGC status. In addition, the WGC-Mexico Championship in 2017 marked the move of half the WGC events to outside the United States. At the end of the 2021 season, the number of WGC events was reduced to two, the Match Play and the HSBC Champions. The HSBC Champions was not held between 2020 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Match Play will cease following the 2023 edition.^[8]

The winners receive Wedgwood trophies named for a golf legend. The HSBC Champions features the Old Tom Morris Cup; the Dell Match Play Championship, the Walter Hagen Cup; the Mexico Championship, the Gene Sarazen Cup; and the Fedex St. Jude Invitational, the Gary Player Cup.^[9]

Winners

Year	Championship	Match Play	Invitational	Champions
2023		Sam Burns
2022		Scottie Scheffler		Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021	Collin Morikawa	Billy Horschel	Abraham Ancer
2020	Patrick Reed (2/2)	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic	Justin Thomas (2/2)
2019	Dustin Johnson (6/6)	Kevin Kisner	Brooks Koepka	Rory McIlroy (3/3)
2018	Phil Mickelson (3/3)	Bubba Watson (2/2)	Justin Thomas (1/2)	Xander Schauffele
2017	Dustin Johnson (4/6)	Dustin Johnson (5/6)	Hideki Matsuyama (2/2)	Justin Rose (2/2)
2016	Adam Scott (2/2)	Jason Day (2/2)	Dustin Johnson (3/6)	Hideki Matsuyama (1/2)
2015	Dustin Johnson (2/6)	Rory McIlroy (2/3)	Shane Lowry	Russell Knox
Year	Match Play	Championship	Invitational	Champions
2014	Jason Day (1/2)	Patrick Reed (1/2)	Rory McIlroy (1/3)	Bubba Watson (1/2)
2013	Matt Kuchar	Tiger Woods (17/18)	Tiger Woods (18/18)	Dustin Johnson (1/6)
2012	Hunter Mahan (2/2)	Justin Rose (1/2)	Keegan Bradley	Ian Poulter (2/2)
2011	Luke Donald	Nick Watney	Adam Scott (1/2)	Martin Kaymer
2010	Ian Poulter (1/2)	Ernie Els (2/2)	Hunter Mahan (1/2)	Francesco Molinari
2009	Geoff Ogilvy (3/3)	Phil Mickelson (1/3)	Tiger Woods (16/18)	Phil Mickelson (2/3)
2008	Tiger Woods (15/18)	Geoff Ogilvy (2/3)	Vijay Singh
2007	Henrik Stenson	Tiger Woods (13/18)	Tiger Woods (14/18)
Year	Match Play	Invitational	Championship	World Cup
2006	Geoff Ogilvy (1/3)	Tiger Woods (11/18)	Tiger Woods (12/18)	Bernhard Langer and Marcel Siem
2005	David Toms	Tiger Woods (9/18)	Tiger Woods (10/18)	Stephen Dodd and Bradley Dredge
2004	Tiger Woods (8/18)	Stewart Cink	Ernie Els	Paul Casey and Luke Donald
2003	Tiger Woods (6/18)	Darren Clarke (2/2)	Tiger Woods (7/18)	Trevor Immelman and Rory Sabbatini
2002	Kevin Sutherland	Craig Parry	Tiger Woods (5/18)	Toshimitsu Izawa and Shigeki Maruyama
2001	Steve Stricker	Tiger Woods (4/18)	Cancelled due to 9/11	Ernie Els and Retief Goosen
2000	Darren Clarke (1/2)	Tiger Woods (3/18)	Mike Weir	Tiger Woods and David Duval
1999	Jeff Maggert	Tiger Woods (1/18)	Tiger Woods (2/18)

Multiple winners

Dustin Johnson is the only player to win all four individual WGCs. Tiger Woods' 18 WGC victories dwarfs his nearest rival, Johnson, with six. Although not counting as individual wins, Woods also won the then WGC-World Cup with the United States, and 2-time WGC winner Ernie Els won the same competition with South Africa.

Player	Wins	Match Play	Championship	Invitational	Champions
Tiger Woods	18	3: 2003, 2004, 2008	7: 1999, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2013	8: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2013	—
Dustin Johnson	6	1: 2017	3: 2015, 2017, 2019	1: 2016	1: 2013
Phil Mickelson	3	—	2: 2009, 2018	—	1: 2009
Geoff Ogilvy		2: 2006, 2009	1: 2008	—	—
Rory McIlroy		1: 2015	—	1: 2014	1: 2019
Darren Clarke	2	1: 2000	—	1: 2003	—
Jason Day		2: 2014, 2016	—	—	—
Ernie Els		—	2: 2004, 2010	—	—
Hunter Mahan		1: 2012	—	1: 2010	—
Hideki Matsuyama		—	—	1: 2017	1: 2016
Ian Poulter		1: 2010	—	—	1: 2012
Patrick Reed		—	2: 2014, 2020	—	—
Justin Rose		—	1: 2012	—	1: 2017
Adam Scott		—	1: 2016	1: 2011	—
Justin Thomas		—	—	2: 2018, 2020	—
Bubba Watson		1: 2018	—	—	1: 2014

Note: The World Cup did not count as individual wins, so it is not mentioned here as a part of this table.

National summary

Nation	Total wins	Team wins	Individual wins	Individual winners
United States	49	1	48	20
Australia	8	0	8	4
England	6	1	5	3
Northern Ireland	5	0	5	2
South Africa	4	2	2	1
Japan	3	1	2	1
Germany	2	1	1	1
Canada	1	0	1	1
Fiji	1	0	1	1
Ireland	1	0	1	1
Italy	1	0	1	1
Scotland	1	0	1	1
Sweden	1	0	1	1
Wales	1	1	0	0

Notes

↑ Prior to 2007, the official points allocations were half of these values, but points won in the current year were given a weighting of 2 in the ranking calculation. The system was revised in 2007, so that points are now given an initial weighting of 1, which then tapers to zero over a two-year period starting 13 weeks after the award.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 WGC-HSBC Champions</span> Golf tournament

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References

↑ https://www.si.com/golf/news/final-world-golf-championships-end-of-an-era-pga-tour
↑ "End Of The WGC But Monahan Hints Match Play Event May Return". Golf Monthly. 9 March 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
↑ "Asian event joins elite WGC list". BBC Sport . 28 April 2009. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
↑ "Sunshine Tour announces major coup for SA golf" (Press release). Sunshine Tour. 12 April 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
↑ "Tournament of Hope in South Africa to join World Golf Championships". PGA of America. Associated Press. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
↑ "South Africa to host $8.5M event". ESPN. Associated Press. 2 October 2012. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
↑ PGA Tour chief defends US dates
↑ Romine, Brentley (March 7, 2023). "WGC era over: Match Play out, though Monahan doesn't rule out return". Golf Channel. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
↑ "Mickelson Unveils New WGC-HSBC Champions Trophy". Asian Tour. 12 October 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2017.

External links

Official site

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[7] Prior to 2007, the official points allocations were half of these values, but points won in the current year were given a weighting of 2 in the ranking calculation. The system was revised in 2007, so that points are now given an initial weighting of 1, which then tapers to zero over a two-year period starting 13 weeks after the award.

[1] ttps://www.si.com/golf/news/final-world-golf-championships-end-of-an-era-pga-tour

[WGC_end-2] "End Of The WGC But Monahan Hints Match Play Event May Return". Golf Monthly. 9 March 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2023.

[3] "Asian event joins elite WGC list". BBC Sport . 28 April 2009. Retrieved 28 April 2009.

[Tournament_of_Hope-4] "Sunshine Tour announces major coup for SA golf" (Press release). Sunshine Tour. 12 April 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2011.

[pga2012-5] "Tournament of Hope in South Africa to join World Golf Championships". PGA of America. Associated Press. Retrieved 2 March 2012.

[6] "South Africa to host $8.5M event". ESPN. Associated Press. 2 October 2012. Retrieved 3 October 2012.

[8] PGA Tour chief defends US dates

[9] Romine, Brentley (March 7, 2023). "WGC era over: Match Play out, though Monahan doesn't rule out return". Golf Channel. Retrieved March 14, 2023.

[wedgwood-10] "Mickelson Unveils New WGC-HSBC Champions Trophy". Asian Tour. 12 October 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2017.

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v t e World Golf Championships
Championship	1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Match Play	1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Invitational	1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Champions	2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
World Cup	1999 · 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

v t e PGA Tour events
Major championships	Masters Tournament PGA Championship U.S. Open The Open Championship
World Golf Championships	WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play Canceled in 2022 WGC-HSBC Champions
FedEx Cup playoff events	FedEx St. Jude Championship BMW Championship Tour Championship
Other tournaments	Fortinet Championship Sanderson Farms Championship Shriners Children's Open Zozo Championship (J) CJ Cup Butterfield Bermuda Championship World Wide Technology Championship Cadence Bank Houston Open RSM Classic Sentry Tournament of Champions Sony Open in Hawaii The American Express Farmers Insurance Open AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am WM Phoenix Open Genesis Invitational The Honda Classic Arnold Palmer Invitational Puerto Rico Open The Players Championship Valspar Championship Corales Puntacana Championship Valero Texas Open RBC Heritage Zurich Classic of New Orleans Mexico Open Wells Fargo Championship AT&T Byron Nelson Charles Schwab Challenge Memorial Tournament RBC Canadian Open Travelers Championship Rocket Mortgage Classic John Deere Classic Genesis Scottish Open (E) Barbasol Championship (E) Barracuda Championship (E) 3M Open Wyndham Championship
Team events	Ryder Cup Presidents Cup World Cup
Unofficial money events	Hero World Challenge QBE Shootout Olympic Games
Former events	List of former events Fall Series
All events are listed in chronological order. (E) - co-sanctioned by the European Tour ; (J) - co-sanctioned by the Japan Golf Tour.

v t e European Tour events
Major championships	Masters Tournament PGA Championship U.S. Open The Open Championship
Rolex Series	Hero Dubai Desert Classic Genesis Scottish Open (P) BMW PGA Championship Abu Dhabi Championship DP World Tour Championship
Other Race to Dubai tournaments	Fortinet Australian PGA Championship (A) Joburg Open (S) ISPS Handa Australian Open (A) Investec South African Open Championship (S) Alfred Dunhill Championship (S) AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open (S) Dubai Invitational Ras Al Khaimah Championship Bahrain Championship Commercial Bank Qatar Masters Magical Kenya Open SDC Championship (S) Jonsson Workwear Open (S) Singapore Classic Hero Indian Open (I) Korea Championship (K) ISPS Handa Championship (J) Volvo China Open Soudal Open European Open Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed (L) KLM Open Italian Open BMW International Open TBA (P) Barracuda Championship (P) D+D Real Czech Masters Danish Golf Championship Betfred British Masters Omega European Masters Amgen Irish Open Acciona Open de España Alfred Dunhill Links Championship Open de France Andalucía Masters TBA
Team events	Ryder Cup Hero Cup
Other	European Tour Qualifying School J. P. McManus Pro-Am Olympic Games Former events
(A) – co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia; (I) – co-sanctioned by the Professional Golf Tour of India; (J) – co-sanctioned by the Japan Golf Tour; (K) – co-sanctioned by the Korean Tour; (L) – mixed event with the Ladies European Tour; (P) - co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour; (S) - co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour.