Sheshan International Golf club with the world famous Basilica of our Lady of Sheshan as a back drop
Rory McIlroy on a high after winning the Shanghai Masters © Kevin Murray
Designed by Nelson & Haworth Sheshan International Golf Club is the only golf course in Shanghai which is situated near the mountain, it has a change in elevation of more than thirty five feet and is situated in the shadow of the world famous Basilica of our Lady of Sheshan.
Sheshan has a unique forested hillside environment and has been designed around 1000 year old ginkgo trees, a spectacular quarry which dates back over 80 years and beautifully designed Jiangnan style bridges that cross the waterways.
This is the forth time that the Sheshan Golf Club has held the WGC-HSBC, having already received international awards from the international golfing world. In 2009, the Sheshan Golf course was instated at number 68 in Golf Digest’s top course in the world, outside of the US.
This year’s tournament sees the worlds top golfers competing here this week, Masters Champion Charl Schwartzel 25/1, US Open winner Rory McIlroy 5/1, Open Champion Darren Clarke 100/1 and US PGA Champion Keegan Bradley 40/1 will all be looking to add the final WGC to their major championship wins.
Nick Watney 20/1 and Adam Scott 16/1 will be looking to add to their Cadillac Championship and Bridgestone Invitational championships, Luke Donald will be attending the birth of his second baby so, Rory McIlroy (second), Charl Schwartzel (third), Martin Kaymer 25/1 (fourth) and Lee Westwood (fifth) will be looking to capitalise on Luke’s absence in the race to Dubai.
My picks to win:
Hunter coming into late season form © Keith Allison
Rory McIlroy 5/1 is in superb form coming into the final WGC event of the year. Not only did he win the Shanghai Masters last week he has the advantage of already being acclimatised to the conditions.
Lee Westwood 10/1 while all eyes were on Rory winning, Westwood game was looking in great form and finished the Shanghai Master in sixth place on 12 under par, shooting a final round 67.
Hunter Mahan 25/1 has started to come back into form coming as the season comes to a close and a good finish last week in Shanghai finishing in tied third place on thirteen under par.
My each-way picks:
You can get good odds on Ian Poulter 40/1 its not been his best year but put together four good rounds in the Shanghai Masters and like the others who played last week here has the advantage of already being acclimatised.
Alexandra Noren 50/1 didn’t play that well in the Andalucia Masters but then not a lot of players did with Valderrama taking its toll on quite a few of the players. But his game has been on a high this year and I can see him getting amongst the leaders this week.
I feel Simon Dyson 50/1 will breakthrough to become a major winner in the near future and now he has started to qualify for these big tournaments, so look for him to start making his mark in them.
