The last leg of the PGA Tour’s three-week swing through Asia concludes with the World Golf Championship-HSBC Champions event at the Sheshan International Golf Course in Shanghai, China. As the tour continues we start to see more familiar faces in the lineup and this will be the most stacked field of the young season. The no-cut field consists of 78 golfers with each playing all four-round and guaranteed a paycheck. The event tees off Oct. 25 with Dustin Johnson the betting favorite at +625.
Being named PGA Tour Player of the Year didn’t affect Brooks Koepka, who captured the title at last week’s CJ Cup at Nine Bridges to vault into the world’s No. 1 ranking, overtaking Johnson. Koepka came off at +825, slightly ahead of defending champion Justin Rose, who opened at +925 on the odds board at BookMaker.eu. Rory McIlroy is right behind his Ryder Cup teammate on the odds board at +975 and they are two of 10 members from the victorious European team schedule to compete in this event.
Odds to Win 2018 WGC-HSBC Champions at BookMaker.eu
Dustin Johnson +625
Brooks Koepka +825
Justin Rose +925
Rory McIlroy +975
Jason Day +1828
Tommy Fleetwood +2054
Hideki Matsuyama +2080
Tony Finau +2463
Jon Rahm +2514
Francesco Molinari +2659
Paul Casey +3263
Rafa Cabrera Bello +4050
Tyrrell Hatton +4050
Cameron Smith +4555
Patrick Cantlay +5053
Alex Noren +5200
Adam Scott +5200
Matthew Fitzpatrick +5841
Patrick Reed +6175
Xander Schauffele +6175
Thorbjorn Olesen +7555
Ian Poulter +7600
Lucas Bjerregaard +7756
Byeong Hun An +7905
Haotong Li +9050
Keegan Bradley +9050
Kyle Stanley +9075
Matt Wallace +9290
Emiliano Grillo +9500
Billy Horschel +9555
Thomas Pieters +9555
Eddie Pepperell +9800
Branden Grace +10000
Russell Knox +11000
Kevin Na +11500
Charley Hoffman +11500
Julian Suri +11500
C.T. Pan +11500
Brandt Snedeker +12000
Andy Sullivan +12000
Pat Perez +12500
Chez Reavie +12500
Adam Hadwin +12500
Ryan Fox +12500
Brian Harman +12500
Kiradech Aphibarnrat +13000
Chris Wood +13000
Alexander Bjork +13500
Shubhankar Sharma +13500
Alexander Levy +13500
Odds Analysis
Brooks Koepka +825
Is there anyone hotter than this guy right now? Koepka completed his ascent to the world’s No. 1 ranking with an impressive four-shot victory at the CJ Cup, scoring a final-round 8-under to leave no doubt. “Everything I’ve done this year is working. I don’t want to change anything,” he said after hoisting the hardware at Nine Bridges. He led after 18-holes here last year before settling for a runner-up finish, and he can’t win every tournament, can he?
Dustin Johnson +625
He just lost his No. 1 ranking to Koepka so he might be a little pissed off about that. Is that enough of a motivating factor to win this event? Well, keep in mind that DJ won in 2014 during his first trip to Sheshan International and he has two top-5s in three starts since. He finished tied for runner-up honors last year in a bittersweet performance. His final-round 77 knocked him out of first place with Justin Rose making up eight shots on the last day. He hasn’t competed since taking third at the Tour Championship in September.
Tony Finau +2463
A long shot pick with a good payday, Finau has the goods to score low on this course. He ranked among the top-10 in driving distance and scoring accuracy on the Tour, both traits that apply well at Sheshan. And recent form suggests a victory isn’t far off. He tied for 11th in his first start on this course and he’s placed among the top-15 in every start since the PGA Championship.
Rory McIlroy +975
He’s done just about everything on this course but win a title and that could all change this weekend. In six career starts at Sheshan, McIlroy has four top-5 finishes and has never placed lower than T11. His ball striking and accuracy play well and he has one of the best records here. He ended last season with five top-12 finishes in six starts and was driving the ball better than anyone on the Tour.
Justin Rose +925
We can’t overlook the defending champion and more remarkably how he won the event 12 months ago. Rose overcame an eight-shot deficit on the last day to clear DJ by a pair. He’s also placed among the top-7 twice in three other starts at Sheshan, so he knows the layout. Last year’s win was part of a stretch of nine top-10s, but he hasn’t won a tourney since the Fort Worth Invitational in May.
Course: Sheshan International Golf Club - 7,261-yards, Par-72
In good conditions the course plays easy for the pros. And we are expecting Mother Nature to be on the side of the players and not the course this weekend. That means we could have a winning score of 20-under or better. Accuracy is crucial off the tee with thick rough surrounding the fairways. Hit the ball in the tall stuff and the score can climb in a hurry. The course is also rewarding to the heavy hitters with several reachable par 5s in play.
TV Coverage: Golf Channel
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