Rory McIlroy completed a hat-trick of World Golf Championships wins as he overcame Xander Schauffele in a play-off in Shanghai.
The Northern Irishman saw his American playing partner birdie the 18th hole in regulation to wipe out his one-shot lead, but turned the tables with a gain of his own when they returned to the last in a play-off after both finished the week 19 under par.
Here, we take a look at the highlights of the week.
McIlroy underlines world-class credentials
A great ending to a special week in Shanghai!
— Rory McIlroy (@McIlroyRory) November 3, 2019
Thank you to @HSBC_Sport for putting on such a wonderful tournament. It gets better and better every year. The support was amazing this week with the biggest crowds yet. It’s fun to see the excitement for the sport growing in China! pic.twitter.com/n4M2cMmMVf
McIlroy’s win was his fourth worldwide this season and sees him join only Dustin Johnson and Tiger Woods as players to have won three of the four World Golf Championships events, following his victories at the Invitational in 2014 and the Match Play the following season.
A 14th European Tour victory - and first since 2016 - also sees him equal Darren Clarke's record for Northern Ireland.
McIlroy has now accumulated more than 100 Official World Golf Ranking points than anyone else in 2019, and the World Number Two puts it down to hard work.
"There's a lot of stuff that people don't see behind the scenes just in terms of hard work and putting the hours in at home," he said. "But all of that, it's not work, really. It's playing golf for a living. I'd be in trouble if I did have to work for a living.
"To practise hard and to do all the right things and to see it pay off like this and get wins like this makes it all worthwhile.”
Oosthuizen’s birdie blitz
Birdie-birdie-birdie-birdie-birdie. It's the sort of start we all dream of but even the professionals do it very rarely.
In 2015 Daniel Berger achieved the feat in round four and on Saturday Louis Oosthuizen became the second player to do it at this event.
Berger finished in a tie for 11th four years ago but Oosthuizen improved on that by finishing third, just two shots behind McIlroy and Schauffele.
Big birds dominate opening day…
France’s Victor Perez marked his WGC debut with two eagles in an opening 65, and he wasn’t the only player to enjoy a productive first day.
Justin Rose also registered a pair of eagles and Benjamin Hebert became the first player ever to make back-to-back eagles at this event on the second and third.
…But big crowds last all week
Chinese golf fans were out in force all week in Shanghai.
First-round leader and home favourite Li Haotong was followed by packed galleries, but there were still plenty of spectators keeping an eye on eventual winner McIlroy.
Debutants delight
It’s been an incredible week at my first #WGCHSBCChampions with a T4 finish! 🇨🇳👍🏻🏌🏻♂⛳ pic.twitter.com/avG01LxKBP
— Matthias Schwab (@schwab_matth) November 3, 2019
It would be a perfectly reasonable approach to treat your World Golf Championships debut as a chance to acclimatise and get a feel for being part of a world-class field.
Or you could rock up and record a top-ten finish, just as European trio Perez, Matthias Schwab and Paul Waring did.
Challenge Tour graduate Perez and Austrian Schwab finished the week in a share of fourth on 15 under, while England’s Waring was three shots further back in a tie for eighth.
Not bad for a first crack at a WGC, and all three are now inside the top 20 on The Race to Dubai Rankings Presented by Rolex.
