World Golf Championships
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The World Golf Championships are a group of three annual events for male professional golfers created by the International Federation of PGA Tours, which are official money events on the PGA Tour, the European Tour and the Japan Golf Tour:
- WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship
- WGC-CA Championship
- WGC-Bridgestone Invitational (NEC Invitational prior to 2006)
These events all began in 1999, although the Bridgestone Invitational is the direct successor of the World Series of Golf, which began in 1976. The objective was 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. That concept seems to have been dropped, but the three events usually attract entries from 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 35 to 39 Official World Golf Ranking Points, the most awarded for any tournament apart from the major championships, which carry 50 points, and THE PLAYERS Championship, which is allocated 40. Tiger Woods has dominated these tournaments, winning 13 of the first 25 events.
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.
From 2000 to 2006 most years two or three of the four events were staged in the United States and one or two were staged elsewhere. From 2007 all three events are contracted to be played in the United States for a number of years. Several leading figures in professional golf including PGA Tour Commissioner Tom Finchem have stated that they would like to add a new WGC individual event in China, which will start in 2008 at the earliest, and more likely in 2009.
[edit] Winners
Below is a list of winners. There is a more detailed table for each tournament in its own article. From 1999 to 2006, the order of play was: Match Play, Invitational, Championship.
| Year | Match Play | Championship | Invitational |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 |  Henrik Stenson |
 Tiger Woods |
|
| 2006 |  Geoff Ogilvy |
Tiger Woods |
Tiger Woods |
| 2005 | David Toms |
Tiger Woods |
Tiger Woods |
| 2004 | Tiger Woods |
 Ernie Els |
Stewart Cink |
| 2003 | Tiger Woods |
Tiger Woods |
 Darren Clarke |
| 2002 | Kevin Sutherland |
Tiger Woods |
Craig Parry |
| 2001 | Steve Stricker |
Cancelled due to 9/11 | Tiger Woods |
| 2000 | Darren Clarke |
 Mike Weir |
Tiger Woods |
| 1999 | Jeff Maggert |
Tiger Woods |
Tiger Woods |
