If you've followed professional golf for even a little while, you've heard an announcer mention them as a player’s highlight: He’s a two-time World Golf Championships winner. But what exactly are the 4 World Golf Championships? These tournaments sit on a special tier just below the four majors, designed to bring the very best players from across the globe together to compete for massive purses and prestigious titles.
This article will walk you through exactly what the World Golf Championships (or WGCs) are, covering the original fantastic four events that created the series. Most importantly, we'll clear up the confusion about what has happened to them in recent years as the professional golf calendar has changed.
Back in 1999, the major professional golf tours around the world came together with a powerful idea: create a series of events, outside of the majors, where the top-ranked players were guaranteed to tee it up. The goal was to have an All-Star lineup every single time. These weren't just another stop on the PGA TOUR, they were co-sanctioned events by the International Federation of PGA Tours.
For a player, winning a WGC meant a few very big things:
The WGCs became the undisputed top tier of tournaments right below the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open, and The Open Championship. But over two decades, the original lineup of four has evolved significantly. Let's look at the events that built the WGC reputation.
For many years, the WGC schedule was a familiar and exciting drumbeat throughout the PGA TOUR season. While two of these events no longer exist under the WGC banner and one has been on an extended hiatus, understanding them is vital to understanding the prestige of the brand.
Perhaps the most unique and beloved WGC, this event stood out because it wasn't a standard 72-hole stroke-play tournament. It was a head-to-head, single-elimination bracket tournament, just like March Madness in college basketball.
The Format: In its later years, it began with a round-robin group stage before heading into a 16-player knockout bracket for the weekend. The beauty of match play is that you’re not playing against the course, you’re playing directly against your opponent. A double bogey doesn't ruin your round, it just means you lose one hole. This format led to incredible drama, high-stakes shots, and frequent upsets. A player could be 5-under par and still lose to an opponent who played better on that specific day.
History: This event moved around quite a bit, from courses in California to Arizona, before finding a fantastic home at Austin Country Club in Texas under the sponsorship of Dell Technologies beginning in 2016. Sadly, the 2023 tournament was the final edition, and its quirky, exciting format is greatly missed on the schedule.
For nearly two decades, the WGC series made a summer stop at the iconic Firestone Country Club (South Course) in Akron, Ohio. Sponsored first by NEC and then by Bridgestone, this event was known simply as "Firestone."
The Course: Firestone South is a monster. It’s a long, demanding, traditional parkland course where long, straight driving is an absolute must. The par-5 16th hole, stretching over 660 yards, became legendary for being a true three-shot hole for even the longest hitters. Players knew coming to Akron that they were in for one of the toughest tests of ball-striking all year.
Legacy: This tournament will forever be linked to Tiger Woods. He absolutely owned Firestone, winning the event a mind-boggling eight times. His dominance in Akron was a perfect example of how the best player in the world could separate himself on one of the game's most unforgiving layouts. In 2019, this event was replaced on the WGC calendar.
This early-season WGC was the globetrotter of the group. It began as the American Express Championship and was played around the world, from Spain to Ireland. However, it's best known for two iconic homes.
The Doral Years: From 2007 to 2016, the tournament was held at the Trump National Doral's "Blue Monster" course in Florida. The Blue Monster, especially its legendary and treacherous par-4 18th hole with water all down the left, provided a stern test famous for gusting winds.
The Mexico Years: In 2017, the event moved to Club de Golf Chapultepec in Mexico City. This presented a totally new challenge: extreme altitude. Sitting at nearly 8,000 feet above sea level, the golf ball flew 10-15% further than normal. This mystified players and caddies, who had to completely rethink their club selections. A 200-yard shot might only require a 7-iron instead of a 5-iron, making mental calculation and trust vital. This chapter ended after the 2020 event.
The final pillar of the WGCs was designed to be the premier event in Asia, cementing the "world" 'in World Golf Championships. Held late in the year, it unofficially kicked off the wraparound season and was often dubbed "Asia's Major."
The Venue: Played at the Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai, China, the tournament brought together an incredible field. It combined top players from the OWGR with the winners of the biggest tournaments from tours all over the planet - the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, Asian Tour, Japan Golf Tour, and more. It was truly a "championship of champions."
Status: The HSBC Champions has been a massive success, but it has not been contested since 2019 due to the global pandemic and related travel circumstances.
So, you might be asking, “If some are gone and one hasn’t been played in years, what *are* the 4 World Golf Championships today?” The simple answer is, they aren't what they used to be. The WGC series has been largely phased out as the PGA TOUR has restructured its schedule around "Signature Events."
Here’s the current state of play:
The spirit of the WGCs - gathering the best players for high-stakes competition - lives on in the PGA TOUR's new series of Signature Events, such as The Genesis Invitational or the Arnold Palmer Invitational. But the formal category of "World Golf Championships" is, for now, essentially dormant.
The World Golf Championships served a tremendous purpose for over 20 years, creating moments fans will never forget and establishing a clear tier of elite tournaments that brought the best players in the world together. While the schedule has changed and the "WGC" name has mostly faded, their legacy lives on in the current structure of elite, small-field, big-money events on the PGA TOUR.
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