Philadelphia, PA – PGA TOUR - WGC-HSBC CHAMPIONS - Shenshan A spectacular field lined up for the final WGC event of the season.
The WGC-HSBC Champions event is unofficial on the PGA Tour, but would count as an official win if a PGA Tour member wins it. (Got it?) It is an official European Tour event and that's the only race still ongoing.
Luke Donald has a big lead in the Race to Dubai, aka the European Tour Order of Merit. He won the PGA Tour money title thanks to his season-ending win in Disney World.
Donald, the world No. 1, can become the first player to win the money title on both tours in one season. Despite a third at this event last year, Donald won't be on hand come Thursday.
Donald's wife is expected to give birth to the couple's second child any day, so Donald withdrew last week, citing his responsibilities as a husband and a father.
Yes, Donald finished third in 2010, but it was a distant third.
Francesco Molinari and Lee Westwood ran away from the field and it was Molinari who outlasted his Ryder Cup teammate en route to his biggest win to date.
Both are in the field this week, as are all four major champions - Masters winner Charl Schwartzel, U.S. Open champion and winner last week in Shanghai, Rory McIlroy, Open Champion Darren Clarke and PGA Championship victor Keegan Bradley.
Donald won this year's first WGC event, the Accenture Match Play Championship, but the other two WGC winners are in the field this week.
Nick Watney, who captured the WGC - Cadillac Championship, and Adam Scott, the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational titlist, are both teeing it up on Thursday morning.
Criteria for entry is tough, but history could be made on Sunday.
For the first time in golf history, there's a chance the season could end with all four major champions and all four World Golf Championships winners being first-timers.
Golf Channel has live coverage all week.
Monday is the ADT Skills Challenge, won last year by Mark O'Meara and Nick Price. Also, at the beginning of the week is the Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge, which was won by Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson and Boo Weekley last year.
On the European Tour, it'll be the Singapore Open, which was won last year by Scott.
CHARLES SCHWAB CUP CHAMPIONSHIP - TPC Harding Park, San Francisco, California - This is the season-ender for the Champions Tour and so much is yet to be determined.
In an event reserved for the top 30 on the Champions Tour money list, Tom Lehman is the leader in the season-long race for the Charles Schwab Cup and its $1 million annuity, which will be awarded at the end of the championship.
There are only four players with a chance to catch Lehman for that year-long title. Mark Calcavecchia, Peter Senior, John Cook and Russ Cochran can catch Lehman and their chances vary with Calcavecchia in second and Cochran in fifth.
Senior, Cook and Cochran need to win the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in order to win the Charles Schwab Cup. Calcavecchia doesn't need to win the event to catch Lehman. Calcavecchia can win the race with a runner-up finish and if Lehman finishes in a two-way tie for 12th or worse.
Cook may actually be in the best position to unseat Lehman, based on history. He is the two-time defending champion, although his win in 2009 came at Sonoma Golf Club.
Lehman and Cook are three-time winners this season, while Senior is the only player in the top five without a victory this season.
All four rounds are on Golf Channel.
Champions Tour Q School is in two weeks.
MIZUNO CLASSIC - Kintetsu Kashikojima Country Club, Shima-shi, Mie, Japan - The final event of the Asian swing for the LPGA Tour could prove to be a fair fight for the tour.
Yani Tseng took the week off.
Tseng collected her 11th worldwide win of the year in China Sunday on the Ladies European Tour. She has seven LPGA Tour victories, but is getting some rest this week.
Last year, she lost by two strokes to Jiyai Shin, who also won this event in 2008. Shin is winless this season and the former world No. 1 has slipped down to sixth.
This is a 54-hole event.
There is no television coverage for this event.
Next week is the Lorena Ochoa Invitational, which was won last year by I.K. Kim.
CANADIAN TOUR
DESERT DUNES CLASSIC - Desert Dunes Golf Club, Desert Hot Springs, California - There are quite a few professional athletes in the field this week, and not just golfers.
Ozzie Smith, Jermaine Dye, Royce Clayton, Mark Bellhorn and Vince Coleman headline the baseball contingent. Hall of Fame goalie Grant Fuhr and Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk are also scheduled to play.
There is no television coverage.
This is the last Canadian Tour event for 2011.
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