Golf Glance

INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF PGA TOURS

WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS-HSBC CHAMPIONS

Site: Shanghai.

Course: Sheshan International. Yardage: 7,261. Par: 72.

Purse: $9.5 million (First prize: $1,620,000).

Television: Golf Channel (Thursday-Sunday, 11 p.m. to 4 a.m.).

Defending champion: Russell Knox.

Last WGC: Dustin Johnson won the Bridgestone Invitational.

Notes: All four major champions are in the field of the HSBC Champions for the first time since 2011. … In the seven years since the HSBC Champions became a World Golf Championship, the winners have come from the United States, Italy, Germany, England and Scotland. … The field includes 40 of the top 50 in the world, its strongest field since it began as a WGC in 2009. … All but six of the Ryder Cup players from Europe and the U.S. are at Sheshan International. … Zach Johnson has not played outside North America in 10 years except for the British Open, Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup. … The HSBC Champions no longer is part of the Final Series on the Race to Dubai. That starts next week with the Turkish Airlines Open. … Adam Scott has finished in the top 10 in his last five starts in PGA Tour-sanctioned events dating to a tie for 18th in the PGA Championship. … Tiger Woods is the only back-to-back winner of a World Golf Championship. He won successive titles in every WGC event except for the HSBC Champions. … Woods has 16 WGC titles. Next on the list are Geoff Ogilvy and Dustin Johnson with three each.

Next WGC: Mexico Championship on March 2-5.

Online: www.worldgolfchampionships.com

___

PGA TOUR

SANDERSON FARMS CHAMPIONSHIP

Site: Jackson, Miss.

Course: Country Club of Jackson. Yardage: 7,421. Par: 72.

Purse: $4.2 million (First prize: $756,000).

Television: Golf Channel (Thursday-Sunday, 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.).

Defending champion: Peter Malnati.

Last week: Justin Thomas won the CIMB Classic in Malaysia.

Notes: Four the last five past champions of the Sanderson Farms Championship are playing. The exception is Woody Austin, now on the Champions Tour. … Justin Thomas and Scott Piercy are the only players to register top 10s in the opening two PGA Tour events of the season. Thomas tied for eighth in the Safeway Open and won the CIMB Classic. Piercy tied for third in the Safeway Open and tied for 10th in the CIMB Classic. … Because the top 50 in the world are eligible for the final World Golf Championships event of the year, Chris Kirk (No. 76) is the highest-ranked player in the field. … David Duval is taking a break from his Golf Channel duties to play in the Sanderson Farms Championship. It is his first tournament since the British Open and only his second start this year. … The winner is not exempt into the Masters because it is an opposite-field event. He will be exempt to the PGA Championship. … After winning last year, Peter Malnati had top 10s in two of his next three tournaments. He has not finished in the top 10 since the first tournament of 2016 at Kapalua.

Next week: Shriners Childrens Hospital Open in Las Vegas.

Online: www.pgatour.com

___

PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS

POWERSHARES QQQ CHAMPIONSHIP

Site: Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Course: Sherwood Country Club. Yardage: 7,098. Par: 72.

Purse: $2 million (First prize: $300,000).

Television: Golf Channel (Friday-Sunday, 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.).

Defending champion: New tournament.

Last tournament: Doug Garwood won the SAS Championship.

Notes: This starts the inaugural Charles Schwab Cup playoffs for the top 72 on the PGA Tour Champions money list. One dollar is worth one point during the regular season. The next week weeks, one dollar is worth two points. The top 54 advance after the PowerShares QQQ Championship, and the top 36 advance after the Dominion Charity Classic. At the Charles Schwab Championship, points will be reset so that the top five only have to win to capture the Charles Schwab Cup. … The top five going into the playoffs are Bernhard Langer, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Joe Durant, Colin Montgomerie and Woody Austin. … John Day narrowly qualified in his rookie season at No. 70. … Langer has won the Schwab Cup three times, including the last two years. He has a lead of $1,172,222 over Jimenez and is assured of being among the top five going into the final tournament. … Langer needs to earn $376,731 over the next three weeks to break his record for money earn in a season ($3,074,189 in 2014). … Sherwood previously hosted what is now the Hero World Challenge, the Shark Shootout and the “Showdown at Sherwood” exhibition between Tiger Woods and David Duval in 1999.

Next week: Dominion Charity Classic.

Online: www.pgatour.com/champions

___

LPGA TOUR

SIME DARBY LPGA MALAYSIA

Site: Kuala Lumpur.

Course: TPC Kuala Lumpur (East Course). Yardage: 6,260. Par: 71.

Purse: $2 million (First prize: $300,000).

Television: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 4 a.m. to 8 a.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 6 a.m. to 8 a.m.).

Defending champion: Jessica Korda.

Last week: Minjee Lee won the Blue Bay LPGA in China.

Notes: Lee’s victory was the 28th by an international player in 30 tournaments on the LPGA Tour schedule this year. … Ariya Jutanugarn earned $139,681 for her third-place finish in the Blue Bay LPGA, moving her ahead of Lydia Ko on the money list. The Thai also moved to No. 1 in the Race to CME Globe, and she extended her lead over Ko by 13 points in the race for player of the year. It was her 14th top 10 of the season, five of those victories. … Jutanugarn and Ko both are entered in the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia. … Michelle Wie tied for 10th. It was her first top 10 since a tie for fifth in the CME Group Tour Championship at the end of 2014. … Wie received a sponsor’s exemption to Malaysia, along with Aditi Ashok of India, who was four shots out of the lead at the halfway point of the Olympics until a 79-76 finish.

Next week: Toto Japan Classic.

Online: www.lpga.com

___

EUROPEAN TOUR

Last week: Padraig Harrington won the Portugal Masters.

Next week: Turkish Airlines Open.

Online: www.europeantour.com

___

OTHER TOURS

MEN

Japan Golf Tour: Mynavi ABC Championship, ABC Golf Club, Hyogo, Japan. Defending champion: K.T. Kim. Online: www.jgto.org

Sunshine Tour: Sun Sibaya Challenge, Mount Edgecombe CC, Durban, South Africa. Defending champion: Michael Hollick. Online: www.sunshinetour.com

Challenge Tour: Ras Al Khaimah Golf Challenge, Al Hamra GC, Ras Al Khaimah, UAE. Defending champion: New tournament. Online: www.europeantour.com/challengetour

PGA Tour Latinoamerica: Colombia Classic, Club Campestre de Cali, Cali, Colombia. Defending champion: Mitch Krywulycz. Online: www.pgatour.com/la/en

WOMEN

Ladies European Tour: Sanya Ladies Open, Yalong Bay GC, Sanya, China. Defending champion: Xiyu Lin. Online: www.ladieseuropeantour.com

Legends Tour: Walgreens Charity Championship, Seagate CC, Delray Beach, Fla. Defending champion: Liselotte Neumann. Online: www.thelegendstour.com

Japan LPGA: Hisako Higuchi Mitsubishi Electric Ladies Golf Tournament, Musashigaoka GC, Saitama, Japan. Defending champion: Ayaka Watanabe. Online: www.lpga.or.jp