I Miss The World Golf Championships... Now Is The Perfect Time To Bring Them Back

Tiger Woods poses with all four World Golf Championship trophies — Tiger Woods with all four WGC trophies after winning the 2003 WGC-Accenture Match Play

(Image credit: Getty Images)

There are big changes coming to the PGA Tour schedule as Brian Rolapp and the Tiger Woods-chaired Future Competitions Committee look to streamline the circuit and make it more profitable under the investment of the Sports Strategic Group.

There are some obvious changes, like moving the West Coast tournaments to better dates, cutting some of the lesser events and starting the season after the Super Bowl - but one change I'd like to see, and not just for the PGA Tour, is the return of the World Golf Championships.

Rory McIlroy tees off at the WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational — The WGCs were the chance for the best to play against the best more often - just what we're crying out for now

They had recognizable branding, real prestige, a great set of trophies named after golfing legends and their own WGC leaderboard, which Tiger Woods leads with a remarkable 18 victories. He even held all four trophies simultaneously at one point.

The WGCs came in four main guises, the 'Championship', the 'Invitational', the 'Match Play' and the 'Champions'. There was also a brief time when the World Cup carried the WGC tag, too.

They weren't always the best events, with the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational showcasing fairly standard parkland golf before evolving into the WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational for its final few playings, which looked more like a regular PGA Tour event.

But there were some great events too. The WGC-HSBC Champions in China was always a good watch, as was the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral, and the WGC-Mexico Championship from 2017-2020 was a fantastic event.

It was originally known as the WGC-American Express Championship and travelled around the world, too.

The Match Play was an excellent event on the whole, too, and the lack of match play in elite tour golf is a real miss.

Match Play is one of the key formats of the game that produces some of the best entertainment and drama, so its omission from the current landscape is truly bizarre.

Sure, TV networks don't love a head-to-head match in the final round, but that is a weak excuse for cutting a key competitive format from the elite level of the sport.

Dustin Johnson holds the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play trophy — Dustin Johnson is second on the all-time list with six WGC victories

A great opportunity

Perhaps we just didn't appreciate what we had at the time, but today's landscape feels like a great opportunity to bring them back.

With LIV Golf fracturing the men's game, there are constant calls for the best to be playing together more often, but that just isn't possible with where we find ourselves today.

The PGA Tour-LIV Golf framework agreement looks to be long gone and both tours are now cracking on with their own businesses.

Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and co. only play against Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood four times a year, but bringing the WGCs back would double that to eight.

It would add some much-needed unity and collaboration in the game, give LIV Golfers the chance to earn more world ranking points and ultimately be a win for fans.

I would propose bringing them back with a qualifying criteria that allows players from all tours the chance to book their place.

Perhaps larger fields could be made up of the PGA Tour's top 50 players, LIV Golf's top 25, the DP World Tour's top 20, the Asian Tour's top 10 and then the top five from circuits like the Japan Golf Tour, Sunshine Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia.

The Gene Sarazen Cup seen at the WGC-Mexico Championship

The Match Play would need to be limited to 64 and I'm sure there's a very simply way of figuring that out.

The result would be must-see events featuring the best playing against the best, some prestigious tournaments around the globe and the return of match play in men's professional golf.

The Invitational and Championship could be US-based and the Match Play and Champions could be international in some of the best and most entertaining courses in the biggest markets, like the UK, Continental Europe, Australia, South Africa, Korea and Japan. I'd love to see the WGC-Mexico Championship at Chapultepec return, too.

We've learned from LIV Golf Adelaide that Australia needs as much top-level golf as possible, and Le Golf National has proved itself as a fantastic host of elite golf. They're just two potential destinations.

What do you make of my idea to bring the WGCs back? Sadly I am well aware their return is very unlikely, which is a real shame. Do you miss the series or do the think the game is better without them? Let me know in the comments section below.

Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He covered the 2022 and 2025 Masters from Augusta National and was there by the 18th green to watch Rory McIlroy complete the career grand slam. He has also covered five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews.

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