HSBC in Shanghai Has Strong Field
El Pato seeks to add another win to his career year.
While many players opt to take the months between November to January off as their “winter break”, some guys like to keep playing and cashing in easy cheques. The HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai this week will feature heavyweights like Angel Cabrera, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els. Angel Cabrera is fresh off his win last week at the Singapore Open which both Phil and Ernie competed in.
The purse of the event is a cool $5 million, but I’m sure some of the players will be asking for any currency other than US dollars which is barely worth the paper it is printed on these days. One has to wonder for guys like Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els what keeps them playing in these tournaments. I know they have sponsor obligations, but clearly they aren’t really trying and their game has gone into the dumps.
According to the AP report, it is Phil Mickelson’s first tournament in China. I’m sure he’s looking forward to the golf just as much as he’s looking forward to find some competitive Ping-Pong action.
The defending champion from last year, South Korean native Yang Yong-eun beat Tiger Woods last year by two strokes and says he plans on the repeat even with the strong field, “It’s great to return here as I have so many good memories from last year. I felt really at home playing on this course and I hope it will be the same this year,” this according to a statement issued by the Asian Tour.
Asian Tour, Shanghai, Angel Cabrera
November 9th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
[...] you’re still wondering why all these top players, 10 out of the top 20 are in Shanghai to play what appears to be a meaningless tournament, the $5 million purse is the sole reason. It is [...]