Woods going for perfect 10 at HSBC Champions

A refreshed Tiger Woods goes on the prowl at the HSBC Champions starting on Thursday gunning for a seventh consecutive strokeplay victory and his 10th title of the season.

The American world number one headlines the star-studded US$5 million event, Asia's richest tournament, at Sheshan International Golf Club where he hopes to make amends for last year's loss to England's David Howell in the inaugural edition.

Woods has strung together a hot winning streak since July, beginning with his success at the British Open before putting the clubs away since the start of last month for a five-week sabbatical.

His preparations for the HSBC Champions, however, took on a different twist on Tuesday when he challenged Howell, HSBC World Match Play winner Paul Casey and Chinese amateur Hu Mu in a table tennis match during a media photocall at the Huangpu River at the Bund.

"It's great to be back here. This is a fantastic field with all the top players from all over the world who have come here this week. It was nice to get away and come back refreshed and recharged to get going again," said Woods in a packed press conference.

The 30-year-old American, a 12-time Major winner, is certainly the odds-on favourite to triumph in the "Champion of Champions" tournament which has attracted 10 of the world's top-20 players in the field.

While Woods' streak in strokeplay events was interrupted by a shock first round loss to compatriot Shaun Micheel in the HSBC World Match Play in England, he quickly brushed that aside with a ninth title of the year at the WGC-American Express Championship in Ireland.

"I was just basically tired and I needed some time off and get away from the game for a little bit. I worked pretty hard this summer and didn't take any time off," said Woods, who had played in seven tournaments through a nine-week run.

"I have three tournaments coming up and I wanted to make sure I was playing well coming into this event and hopefully I can continue with what I was doing prior to my time off."

Howell rated his HSBC triumph last year as his biggest career victory yet but knows he must hold off Woods once again. "Obviously, it won't be an easy task defending my title with the calibre of players as Tiger and Paul. But I'm looking forward to the challenge, not just to beat these two guys but the rest of the field. Everyone here this week has either won a tournament or is one of the world's top ranked players. It's a great tournament that deserves a great field."

Howell was disappointed to miss out on the European Tour Order of Merit crown after leading the race for much of the season, where he also lifted the BMW Championship in England.

"We strive to emulate Tiger in winning great events. The HSBC Champion is my biggest to date and it gave me more momentum in my golfing career. I can't say I'm super famous although it's nice to see our faces plastered (on promotional banners) all over the streets of Shanghai. That wouldn't have happened if Tiger had beaten me last year," said Howell.

The talented Casey will be hoping to turn the tables on Woods at the impressive Sheshan International after taking a lesson at table tennis. "He (Woods) was really insulting my table tennis skills, and I really need to brush up!" said Casey, who finished second on the recent European Tour Order of Merit.

"I would dearly love to do the HSBC double after winning the World Match Play earlier this year. 2006 was a fanstastic year for me, I got up the world rankings and the HSBC World Match Play was the biggest win of my career so far. I'm just going to try and emulate what David did last year and learn from Tiger. One day hopefully, I can pick up a couple of events, maybe a Major sometime."

The Englishman also warned that the Asian stars could well serve up a Shanghai surprise. "There is also a lot of Asian talent. There's a great future, golfing future, a lot of the Asian players and a lot of them are going to be playing here this week and everybody will get to see those players on the world stage, which will be great."

Asia's hopes will rest squarely on the in-form Jeev Milkha Singh of India, who secured a memorable victory at the European Tour's season-ending Volvo Masters in Spain a fortnight ago and followed that up with a second place finish in Japan on Sunday.

Woods' Ryder Cup teammates Jim Furyk, the world's number two, and Chris DiMarco have made the trip to the Far East along with newly-crowned European number one Padraig Harrington of Ireland, Ryder Cup heroes Robert Karlsson, Luke Donald, Henrik Stenson and Colin Montgomerie.

Other top Asian Tour stalwarts looking to challenge the superstars of world golf include Thailand's Thaworn Wiratchant, the reigning Asian number one who was the region's best finisher in last year's HSBC Champions, his young compatriots Chinarat Phadungsil and Prom Meesawat and China's Liang Wen-chong and Zhang Lian-wei.

The HSBC Champions is jointly sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour, Southern African Sunshine Tour, PGA Tour of Australasia and China Golf Association.

November 7, 2006

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