The next stop in the 2025 Race to Dubai calendar is this week’s Hainan Classic at Mission Hills Haikou, a milestone 50th event for the DP World Tour in China.
Over the past three decades, Golf’s Global Tour has been a regular visitor to the world's second most populous country since its first visit at the BMW Asian Open in 2004.
Spaniard Miguel Ángel Jiménez won that tournament – the first of seven that have been held in China on the DP World Tour before this week.
Among those was the introduction of the Volvo China Open on the DP World Tour schedule, serving as the season-opening event of the 2005 campaign and which last week celebrated its 30th anniversary.
Three further visits were made to China that season, starting with the TCL Classic – which ran from 2005 to 2007 – and then the Johnnie Walker Classic, which alternated venue year to year, and the return of the BMW Asian Open.
The growth of China’s presence on the DP World Tour schedule was further amplified by the inception of the HSBC Champions, the opening event of the 2006 season.
Held in November 2005, Sheshan International Golf Club played host to a star-studded international field, with England’s David Howell holding off then World Number One Tiger Woods to claim victory.
The tournament – initially sanctioned alongside the Asian Tour, Sunshine Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia - was the first of back-to-back tournaments in China, preceding the return of its national championship, again co-sanctioned alongside the China Tour.
The next big development came when it was elevated to World Golf Championships status in 2009, reflecting the region’s growing stature in international golf.
In 2012, the BMW Masters became the newest event on the DP World Tour schedule, with Lake Malaren Golf Club welcoming a high-calibre international field for four consecutive seasons.
A year later, the WGC-HSBC Champions also served as part of the DP World Tour’s Final Series as it continued to grow in significance.
China’s presence as an increasingly important player in the global golf market was further seen with the addition of the Shenzhen International to the DP World Tour schedule in 2015, the first of three consecutive editions.
But partly as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, China did not stage an event on the DP World Tour schedule for five years, with the final edition of the WGC-HSBC Champions being held in 2019, until the Volvo China Open made its return last season.
Shanghai played host to that event last week at Enhance Anting Golf Club, with the Tour now in Hainan this week for the second of back-to-back events in China that form part of the Asian Swing – the third of five Global Swings on this season’s DP World Tour schedule.
DP World Tour events in China
| Event | Venue | Year | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| BMW Asian Open | Tomson Shanghai Pudong GC | 2004 | Miguel Ángel Jiménez |
| Tomson Shanghai Pudong GC | 2005 | Ernie Els | |
| Tomson Shanghai Pudong GC | 2006 | Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño | |
| Tomson Shanghai Pudong GC | 2007 | Raphaël Jacquelin | |
| Tomson Shanghai Pudong GC | 2008 | Darren Clarke | |
| Volvo China Open | Shanghai Silport GC | 2004 | Stephen Dodd |
| Shenzhen GC | 2005 | Paul Casey | |
| Honghua International GC | 2006 | Jeev Milkha Singh | |
| Shanghai Silport GC | 2007 | Markus Brier | |
| Beijing CBD International GC | 2008 | Damien McGrane | |
| Beijing CBD International GC | 2009 | Scott Strange | |
| Suzhou Jinji Lake Golf Club | 2010 | YE Yang | |
| Luxehills International Country Club | 2011 | Nicolas Colsaerts | |
| Binhai Lake GC | 2012 | Branden Grace | |
| Binhai Lake GC | 2013 | Brett Rumford | |
| Hidden Grace GC | 2014 | Alexander Levy | |
| Tomson Shanghai Pudong GC | 2015 | Ashun Wu | |
| Topwin Golf & CC | 2016 | Haotong Li | |
| Topwin Golf & CC | 2017 | Alexander Levy | |
| Topwin Golf & CC | 2018 | Alexander Björk | |
| Tomson Shanghai Pudong GC | 2019 | Mikko Korhonen | |
| Hidden Grace GC | 2024 | Adrian Otaegui | |
| Enhance Anting GC | 2025 | x | |
| TCL Classic | Yalong Bay GC | 2005 | Paul Casey |
| Yalong Bay GC | 2006 | Johan Edfors | |
| Yalong Bay GC | 2007 | Chapchai Nirat | |
| HSBC Champions | Sheshan International GC | 2005 | Sergio Garcia |
| Sheshan International GC | 2006 | Phil Mickelson | |
| Sheshan International GC | 2007 | YE Yang | |
| Sheshan International GC | 2008 | Sergio Garcia | |
| WGC-HSBC Champions | Sheshan International GC | 2009 | Phil Mickelson |
| Sheshan International GC | 2010 | Francesco Molinari | |
| Sheshan International GC | 2011 | Martin Kaymer | |
| Mission Hills GC | 2012 | Ian Poulter | |
| Sheshan International GC | 2013 | Dustin Johnson | |
| Sheshan International GC | 2014 | Bubba Watson | |
| Sheshan International GC | 2015 | Russell Knox | |
| Sheshan International GC | 2016 | Hideki Matsuyama | |
| Sheshan International GC | 2017 | Justin Rose | |
| Sheshan International GC | 2018 | Xander Schauffele | |
| Sheshan International GC | 2019 | Rory McIlroy | |
| Johnnie Walker Classic | Pine Valley Golf Resort & CC | 2005 | Adam Scott |
| BMW Masters | Lake Malaren Golf Club | 2012 | Peter Hanson |
| Lake Malaren Golf Club | 2013 | Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño | |
| Lake Malaren Golf Club | 2014 | Marcel Siem | |
| Lake Malaren Golf Club | 2015 | Kristoffer Broberg | |
| Shenzhen International | Genzon GC | 2015 | Bernd Wiesberger |
| Genzon GC | 2016 | Soomin Lee | |
| Genzon GC | 2017 | Kiradech Aphibarnrat |
