HSBC Champions 2016: Top Players to Watch, Predictions for PGA Tour Competition

The WGC-HSBC Champions represents the last chance for players to make it into the top 70 in the Race to Dubai rankings, but a strong showing in Shanghai won’t come easy. Forty of the world’s top 50 golfers will be competing from Oct. 27-30, including eight of the top 10.

The Sheshan International Golf Club, once described as the “crowning jewel of all of Asian golf” by Tiger Woods, as per Jeff Shain of PGA Tour, is a magnificent but challenging course that combines drastic elevation changes with a long finishing stretch that always produces drama.

Last year’s surprise champion was Russell Knox, ranked 85th in the world rankings at the time and only the second winner to come from outside the top 30.

Given that rain and thunderstorms are expected on Wednesday and Thursday, as reported by Rob Bolton of PGA Tour, we could be in for another surprising tournament in China.

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Players to Watch

Rory McIlroy

It is difficult to look beyond Rory McIlroy, the newly crowned FedEx Cup champion, for the favourite to win the HSBC Champions tournament.

The world No. 3 is chasing Race to Dubai glory in an attempt to become only the second golfer ever to win the FedEx Cup and the Race to Dubai in the same year. McIlroy rarely disappoints when the pressure is high, and the chance to make history should drive him on to a successful few days.

The Northern Irishman tied for 11th at the HSBC last year, but he has finished …

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