The HSBC Champions is back!

While it’s not my place to judge a different country’s culture or practices, it is okay for us to enjoy seeing the best golfers in the world put into awkward situations in the name of hyping up a tournament. For that, there is no better example than when the World Golf Championships travel to Shanghai.

The good people at HSBC have come up with some pretty interesting ideas for the publicity stunts, but the best had to be the samurai swords that they had Tiger and Phil yield last year.

All joking aside, this is still one of the best events of the year. It helps in terms of timing, we really haven’t had much golf to watch lately, unless you count the Big Break.

Taking place in China, the golf comes on at weird hours (11 p.m. – 4 a.m. EST), but it’s not completely undoable, especially for our friends on the West Coast who will have the golf in primetime.

The tournament is also a WGC meaning that some of the best players in the world will be there. All four major champions are in the field as well as a host of top players including Ian Poulter, Jim Furyk, Ernie Els, Bill Haas, Graeme McDowell, Nick Watney, Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer, Hunter Mahan and defending champion Francesco Molinari. Young guns Matteo Manassero and Tom Lewis are also in the field.

As for those who qualified but aren’t making the trip, Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Webb Simpson. World No. 1 player Luke Donald won’t be there as he and his wife prepare for the birth of their second child. Also notably absent will be Sergio Garcia who decided to take the week off after his back-to-back wins in Spain.

As for the viewing audience, the golf will be played live on the Golf Channel from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. beginning tonight and going through Saturday night/Sunday morning.

As usual with these late night/early morning star-studded events, you can follow along with me on Twitter.