WGC-HSBC Champions Recap: Schauffele Jumps to No. 12

There are two ways to look at what happened at the end of the WGC-HSBC Champions. The first is, Xander Schauffele won yet another big tournament to move to the precipice of joining the elites of the game. The other is, Tony Finau, himself on the brink of being considered among the world's best, somehow didn't close the deal once again.

Schauffele came from three shots behind to catch Finau in the final round at Sheshan International in Shanghai on Sunday, then overtook him with a birdie on the first playoff hole to add a World Golf Championship title to his 2017 Tour Championship victory.

The 25-year-old Californian jumped to No. 12 in the world, leapfrogging among others a couple of pretty big names in Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods. Then comes Finau, also reaching a career best at No. 15. But that has to be of little solace for someone still stuck on one career victory – and in a second-level event at that, the 2016 opposite-field Puerto Rico Open.

At the top of the world rankings, Brooks Koepka kept control of the top spot by the slimmest of margins: Justin Rose needing a solo second to overtake him but settling for a solo third. Rose gets another shot to surpass Koepka this week, but more on them in a bit.

Schauffele already has three titles in only 60 PGA Tour starts but over the past two years, he also has challenged in three majors, The Players Championship and a FedEx Cup playoff event. He was the 2017 Rookie of the Year.

Really, the only thing missing is a major victory, and barely. Schauffele tied for second at the Open Championship over the summer, a month after tying for sixth at the U.S. Open. That came a year after he tied for fifth at the U.S. Open in what was his first major ever. When you consider he's been in only seven of them, the resume is pretty remarkable.

In looking at Schauffele's stat from last season, it's hard to see how he's done that well. He didn't finish in the top-50 in any of the strokes-gained categories. On the other hand, he's not really bad in any of them, other than around the greens. Schauffele was 92nd in scrambling last season, which certainly leaves much room for improvement. He managed to figure things out in China, as he led the field in scrambling for the week.

So maybe Schauffele is figuring out that final piece needed to win a major, his last remaining step to greatness.

Tony Finau
The fact that Finau can be No. 15 in the world without any titles is mind-boggling – the OWGR takes into account results from only the two previous years, up to 52 events, so his 2016 title doesn't count here. Of course, that speaks to how often Finau comes close and has so many high finishes. He has eight top-10s in the last four months alone, including two majors, two WGCs and three playoff events. There was a runner-up at the Northern Trust and now the HSBC. Putting has been the big-hitting Finau's Kryptonite for some time, but he has shown major improvement of late on the greens. For three years running, he was well outside the top-100 in strokes gained: putting. But last season, Finau improved to 65th, with his best work late in the season. In China, Finau tied for fourth in putting average. Most weeks, that's enough to get it done. Finau has to be incredibly disheartened right now, but it's clear his next win is coming soon. And maybe soon after that, a major win.

For those wondering, the next golfer in the rankings without a win among his counting events is No. 38 Matt Kuchar. That only enhances what Finau has accomplished without a win.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Justin Rose
Rose was all over the course on Sunday and he had to make a number of big putts just to finish even on the day and hold on to solo third. He needed one spot better to move from third to first in the OWGR. Since Rose began his incredible surge exactly a year ago at the HSBC, he has collected a whopping 19 top-10s, four of them wins plus three runners-up. That's completely the opposite of how Koepka has garnered his world-ranking points. Regardless, Rose has another chance to take the top spot when he begins the Race to Dubai playoffs this week in Turkey, where he will be defending his title.

Brooks Koepka
Since last year's HSBC, Koepka has fewer than half as many top-10s as does Rose. But he does have two majors (to go along with a third from 2017). Koepka definitely is a more boom-or-bust guy. At Sheshan International, however, he was more in between, as he tied for 16th. With Rose playing two and perhaps three times in the European Tour playoffs, it maybe be hard for Koepka to finish the year at No. 1, his stated goal. We don't know his schedule the rest of the way, but last year, Koepka played only two more tournaments, the Dunlop Phoenix on the Japan Tour, which he won, and Tiger Woods' Hero World Challenge.

Andrew Putnam
A year ago at this time, Putnam was outside the top-300 in the world. Now, after tying for fourth in China, he's up to a career-best 67th. Playing alongside Tommy Fleetwood and Patrick Reed in the penultimate group on Sunday, Putnam bested the Englishman by three strokes and the reigning Masters champion by five. Putnam, 29, had never shown so much in a big field before. There's an outside shot he can get into the top-50 by year's end.

Cameron Champ
Bar none, Champ is the longest hitter on the PGA Tour – now that he is on the PGA Tour. And he'll be staying awhile, after winning the Sanderson Farms Championship. The 23-year-old Californian piped it an average of 340 yards off the tee last season. He showed a lot more over four days at the Country Club of Jackson (Miss.), especially on Sunday, after he lost all of a four-stroke lead on the front nine. Champ got it all back on the inward nine, closing with five birdies in the final six holes. He was second in the field in strokes gained: putting. The win came less than four months after his first Web.com victory and will push him to No. 121 in the world. Champ won't get to the Masters because the Sanderson is an opposite-field event, but he does get a two-year exemption and a berth at Kapalua in January.

Corey Conners
Conners got married last week, then came close to his first career title, pushing Champ till the very end. The 26-year-old Canadian just missed keeping his card last season, finishing outside the top-125 and then coming up short in the Web.com playoffs. But he's shown he can play on the PGA Tour and, if he can improve his woeful putting even a little bit, the rest of his game is very sound. He was 34th in the field in the strokes gained: putting, so that's a start for the newlywed.

Adam Schenk
So many of these Web.com guys look great in the fall season, only to disappear once the big names return in earnest after New Year's. But when you can unleash a drive 366 yards (which Schenk did at the Sanderson), while also leading the field in scrambling, tying for fifth in strokes gained: putting, and matching the fewest bogeys on the week (two), you've got at least some game. Schenk tied for seventh. He's only 26, and that game bears watching.

Bill Haas
Haas needed 48 FedEx Cup points to fulfill the terms of a medical exemption, according to the PGA Tour, but he got only 30 with a tie for 14th (he needed a T8). Coming after a T10 in the Safeway, the 36-year-old Haas showed what he's still capable of doing. He's just going to have a harder time getting into fields to do it. Maybe not in the fall season but certainly in 2019. Haas is not entered in next week's Shriners in Vegas, but then there are two more tournaments before the Tour takes its month-plus-long holiday break.

Ryan Armour/Sungjae Im
These are the two guys who flew from Asia to Mississippi to compete in the Sanderson Farms (a third, J.J. Spaun, withdrew before the tournament). Armour, the defending champion, tied for 54th. Im, the young Korean sensation who played last season on the Web.com Tour, missed the cut. It's really hard to make these long international treks and play another tournament in the span of a week, even with the comfortable travel afforded these golfers. For this week, there's another long trip from China to Las Vegas. As of Monday morning, Tony Finau, Kevin Na and defending Vegas champion Patrick Cantlay are slated for both events. It's far from a 100 percent foolproof strategy, but fading those guys will work more times than not. It worked last week.