WGC Championship
| File:WGC-Mexico Championship logo.png | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Naucalpan, Mexico (2017–present) |
| Established | 1999, 25 years ago |
| Course(s) | Club de Golf Chapultepec |
| Tour(s) | PGA Tour European Tour |
| Format | Stroke play |
| Prize fund | $10,250,000 |
| Month played | February |
| Tournament record score | |
| Aggregate | 261 Tiger Woods (2006) |
| To par | −25 Tiger Woods (2002) |
| Current champion | |
 Dustin Johnson | |
 2019 WGC-Mexico Championship | |
The WGC - Mexico Championship (Spanish: WGC-Campeonato Mexicano) is a professional golf tournament hosted at the Club de Golf Chapultepec in Mexico since 2017, and is one of the four annual World Golf Championships.
Previous names include WGC-Cadillac Championship (2011–2016) and WGC-CA Championship (2007–2010) when it was hosted at Doral Golf Resort, Florida, and WGC-American Express Championship (1999–2006) when it was hosted at various locations in Europe and the United States. It is sanctioned and organized by the International Federation of PGA Tours and the prize money is official money on both the PGA Tour and the European Tour. Tiger Woods has the record number of wins with seven.[1][2] The winner receives a wedgwood trophy named the Gene Sarazen Cup.[3]
History
WGC-American Express Championship (1999–2006)
Founded in 1999, the first two events were held in November at the Valderrama Golf Club in Southern Spain. The third event was due to be held in Missouri, but was cancelled following the September 11 attacks in New York. The remaining five events were held in late September / early October, twice in Ireland and the United States, and once in England. The event was dominated by Tiger Woods who won five of the first seven editions.[1]
Hosting at Doral Golf Resort, Florida (2007–2016)
In 2007 the PGA Tour introduced the FedEx Cup, and moved the Tour Championship forward to mid September. As the event was historically held after this date it would have meant that it would not have formed part of the PGA Tour regular season unless it was moved. The event was reinvented with a new sponsor (CA, Inc, and later Cadillac), a new hosting month (March), and a new permanent host (Doral, Florida).[1] The decision to host on the Blue Monster course at Doral Golf Resort brought to an end the Ford Championship at Doral, a regular stop on the PGA Tour in March for 45 consecutive years (1962–2006). However, due to the WGC records taking precedence over PGA Tour records, technically the Cadillac Championship succeeded the American Express event, not the Ford Championship.[4] With the WGC-World Cup losing its World Golf Championship status after the 2006 event, it meant all three remaining WGC events were permanently held in the United States which drew criticism from some players and commentators.[5]
WGC-Mexico Championship (since 2017)
After Cadillac decided not to renew sponsorship of the event, it moved to Club de Golf Chapultepec in Naucalpan, just northwest of Mexico City in 2017.[6] Grupo Salinas took up sponsorship,[7] although their name does not appear in the title of the tournament. Donald Trump had purchased and renamed Trump National Doral in 2012, and many saw the move as being driven by sponsors and the PGA Tour wanting to distance themselves from controversy. It was also an opportunity to counter criticism that not enough World Golf Championship events were held outside the United States.[8][9] The Club de Golf Chapultepec is a tree-lined parkland course with tight fairways and undulating terrain, built approximately 1.36 miles (more than 7,800 feet) above sea level, which results in much longer ball flights than other golf events.[10][11] In 2017 and 2018 it continued to be held in March, which meant it interrupted the PGA Tour's "Florida Swing", but in 2019 it was moved to February to follow events on the West Coast and precede the tournaments in Florida.[9]
Structure
Field
The tournament has a field of 72 players filled based upon the following criteria:[12]
- Top 50 players from the Official World Golf Ranking (one week and two weeks prior to event)
- Top players from member tours' money lists or orders of merit (from last complete season)
- Top 30 PGA Tour FedEx Cup list (also top 10 from one week prior to event)
- Top 20 European Tour (also top 10 from two weeks prior to event)
- Top 2 each from Asian Tour, Japan Golf Tour, PGA Tour of Australasia, and Sunshine Tour
- The highest ranked available player from Mexico in the Official World Golf Ranking (two weeks prior to event)
- Alternates to fill field to 72 (if necessary) from the Official World Golf Ranking (one weeks prior to event)
Format
The tournament is a 72 hole stroke play event with no cut. If there is a tie after 72 holes, there is a sudden death playoff to decide a winner.
Winners
| Year | Date | Player | Country | Location | Score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up | Purse ($) |
Winner's share ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WGC-Mexico Championship | ||||||||||
| 2019 | Feb 24 | Dustin Johnson (3) |  United States
|
Chapultepec, Mexico | 263 | −21 | 5 strokes |  Rory McIlroy
|
10,250,000 | 1,745,000 |
| 2018 | Mar 4 | Phil Mickelson (2) | United States
|
Chapultepec, Mexico | 268 | −16 | Playoff | Justin Thomas
|
10,000,000 | 1,700,000 |
| 2017 | Mar 5 | Dustin Johnson (2) | United States
|
Chapultepec, Mexico | 270 | −14 | 1 stroke |  Tommy Fleetwood
|
9,750,000 | 1,660,000 |
| WGC-Cadillac Championship | ||||||||||
| 2016 | Mar 6 | Adam Scott |  Australia
|
Doral, Florida | 276 | −12 | 1 stroke | Bubba Watson
|
9,500,000 | 1,620,000 |
| 2015 | Mar 8 | Dustin Johnson | United States
|
Doral, Florida | 279 | −9 | 1 stroke | J. B. Holmes
|
9,250,000 | 1,572,500 |
| 2014 | Mar 9 | Patrick Reed | United States
|
Doral, Florida | 284 | −4 | 1 stroke |  Jamie Donaldson Bubba Watson
|
9,000,000 | 1,530,000 |
| 2013 | Mar 10 | Tiger Woods (7) | United States
|
Doral, Florida | 269 | −19 | 2 strokes | Steve Stricker
|
8,750,000 | 1,500,000 |
| 2012 | Mar 11 | Justin Rose | England
|
Doral, Florida | 272 | −16 | 1 stroke | Bubba Watson
|
8,500,000 | 1,400,000 |
| 2011 | Mar 13 | Nick Watney | United States
|
Doral, Florida | 272 | −16 | 2 strokes | Dustin Johnson
|
8,500,000 | 1,400,000 |
| WGC-CA Championship | ||||||||||
| 2010 | Mar 14 | Ernie Els (2) |  South Africa
|
Doral, Florida | 270 | −18 | 4 strokes | Charl Schwartzel
|
8,500,000 | 1,400,000 |
| 2009 | Mar 15 | Phil Mickelson | United States
|
Doral, Florida | 269 | −19 | 1 stroke | Nick Watney
|
8,500,000 | 1,400,000 |
| 2008 | Mar 23 | Geoff Ogilvy | Australia
|
Doral, Florida | 271 | −17 | 1 stroke | Jim Furyk Retief Goosen Vijay Singh
|
8,000,000 | 1,350,000 |
| 2007 | Mar 25 | Tiger Woods (6) | United States
|
Doral, Florida | 278 | −10 | 2 strokes | Brett Wetterich
|
8,000,000 | 1,350,000 |
| WGC-American Express Championship | ||||||||||
| 2006 | Oct 1 | Tiger Woods (5) | United States
|
The Grove, England | 261 | −23 | 8 strokes | Ian Poulter Adam Scott
|
7,500,000 | 1,300,000 |
| 2005 | Oct 9 | Tiger Woods (4) | United States
|
Harding Park, California | 270 | −10 | Playoff | John Daly
|
7,500,000 | 1,300,000 |
| 2004 | Oct 3 | Ernie Els | South Africa
|
Mount Juliet, Ireland | 270 | −18 | 1 stroke |  Thomas Bjørn
|
7,000,000 | 1,200,000 |
| 2003 | Oct 5 | Tiger Woods (3) | United States
|
Capital City, Georgia | 274 | −6 | 2 strokes | Stuart Appleby Tim Herron Vijay Singh
|
6,000,000 | 1,050,000 |
| 2002 | Sep 22 | Tiger Woods (2) | United States
|
Mount Juliet, Ireland | 263 | −25 | 1 stroke | Retief Goosen
|
5,500,000 | 1,000,000 |
| 2001 | Cancelled due to September 11 attacks[13], scheduled to be played from September 13 to 16 at Bellerive Country Club. | |||||||||
| 2000 | Nov 12 | Mike Weir |  Canada
|
Valderrama, Spain | 277 | −7 | 2 strokes | Lee Westwood
|
5,000,000 | 1,000,000 |
| 1999 | Nov 7 | Tiger Woods | United States
|
Valderrama, Spain | 278 | −6 | Playoff |  Miguel Ángel Jiménez
|
5,000,000 | 1,000,000 |
Note: Green highlight indicates scoring records.
Source[14]
See also
- Winners of the Doral Open (1962–2006), also played at Doral Golf Resort & Spa's Blue Monster Course
References
- ^ a b c "Tournament History". European Tour. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
- ^ "PGA Tour Media Guide". PGA Tour. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
- ^ Heath, Elliott (August 7, 2017). "The Best Trophies In Golf". Golf Monthly. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
- ^ Kelley, Brent (August 14, 2017). "PGA Tour Doral Open: Its History and Winners". ThoughtCo. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
- ^ "PGA Tour chief defends US dates". BBC Sport. February 26, 2006. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
- ^ "The unusual problem PGA Tour pros will face at this week's WGC-Mexico Championship". Golf Digest. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
- ^ "Sponsors: World Golf Championships". PGA Tour. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
- ^ Hoggard, Rex (June 1, 2016). "Money aside, the Tour opted for distance from Trump". Golf Channel. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
- ^ a b Harig, Bob (June 1, 2016). "PGA Tour moves tournament from Trump Doral to Mexico City". ESPN.
- ^ "Chapultepec - Mexico". Top 100 Golf Courses. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
- ^ Ralph, Pat (February 19, 2019). "Five things to know about Club de Golf Chapultepec". Golf.com. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
- ^ "Entry List". European Tour. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
- ^ "2001 PGA Tour Schedule". USA Today. December 17, 2001. Retrieved February 28, 2013.
- ^ "Past Winners: Cadillac Championship". PGA Tour. April 18, 2012. Retrieved February 25, 2013.