SHANGHAI — Five years after Tiger Woods first showed up in Shanghai, he is amazed that the HSBC Champions has grown so quickly into a World Golf Championship that has attracted its strongest field ever.

Maybe being a WGC event is what it will take for Woods to finally win.

The world’s No. 1 player helped kick off the week Tuesday by hitting golf balls into the Shanghai River with three past champions — Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia and Y.E. Yang, who rallied to beat Woods at the PGA Championship this year.

Woods has won 16 of the 30 WGC events he has played. In his two trips to the HSBC Champions, he has been runner-up both times.

The $7 million tournament — the richest in Asia — begins Thursday at Sheshan Golf Club.