World Golf Championships timeline

Here is a look at the timeline of the World Golf Championships.

2009 August

MAGNIFICENT SEVEN: Tiger Woods becomes the first player in PGA Tour history to win the same event on the same course seven times as he claims the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club.

2009 April

SHANGHAI SURPRISE: The HSBC Champions is elevated to WGC status, making November's event the single most important tournament to be staged in the history of golf in Asia.

2009 February

AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE! Geoff Ogilvy becomes the second-most successful player in WGC history, claiming his third title, by beating Paul Casey in the final of the Accenture Match Play Championship

2007 August

ANOTHER SIX: Tiger Woods wins a sixth Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club. He joined Alex Ross

(Pinehurst No. 2/North & South Open), Jack Nicklaus (Augusta National GC/Masters Tournament) and Sam Snead

(Miami Springs G&CC/Miami Open) as the only players to win a single event six times on the same course.

2007 March

SIX WINS: Tiger Woods won a sixth CA Championships at Doral, claiming second on the all-time PGA TOUR list for most victories in one event, behind only Sam Snead's eight victories in Greensboro, NC.

2004 October

ELS AGAIN: Ernie Els withstood a charge by Thomas Bjorn to capture the CA Championships in Ireland. The victory, Els' first individual World Golf Championships title, is added to Els' 2001 World Cup team win.

2003 August

IRISH DOUBLE: Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke captures the Bridgestone Invitational, joining Tiger Woods as the only players to win multiple World Golf Championships titles (he won the Accenture Match Play Championship in 2000)

2003 March

TIGER SWEEP: Tiger Woods defeated David Toms in the Accenture Match Play Championship final to complete a career sweep of all four World Golf Championships titles.

2001 August

LONG PLAYOFF: Tiger Woods birdied the seventh playoff hole to beat Jim Furyk at the Bridgestone Invitational. Furyk extended the playoff on the first extra hole when he holed a bunker shot for par.

2001 January

STRICKER STRIKES: Steve Stricker defeated Pierre Fulke in the championship match of the Accenture Match

Play Championship in Australia.

2000 August

THE SHOT IN THE DARK: Illuminated by flashbulbs and cigarette lighters, Tiger Woods completed Firestone Country Club's 18th hole at dusk. His final shot in the dark finished 2 feet from the hole and he tapped in for birdie and an 11-stroke victory at the Bridgestone Invitational.

1999 November

EL TIGRE: Tiger Woods defeated Miguel Angel Jimenez in a playoff to capture the first CA Championship at Valderrama in Andalucia, Spain.

1999 February

INAUGURAL EVENT: Jeff Maggert beat Andrew Magee 1-up in 38 holes at La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad,

California, to capture the Accenture Match Play Championship, the inaugural WGC event.

1997 October

NEW SERIES ANNOUNCED: The World Golf Championships were announced to enhance the competitive structure of professional golf worldwide while preserving the traditions and strengths of the individual Tours and their events.

1996 SEPTEMBER

TOURS JOIN FORCES: At the 1996 Presidents Cup, golf's five world governing bodies - the European Tour, Japan Golf Tour Organization, PGA TOUR, PGA Tour of Australasia and Sunshine Tour - formed the International Federation of PGA Tours and reached agreement on several key elements of professional golf designed to create new international events, beginning in 1999. The Asian Tour joined the organization as a fully-fledged member in November 1999.