The HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai is to become a World Golf Championships event in November and Padraig Harrington, Tiger Woods and defending champion Sergio Garcia have already confirmed they will be there.

Prize money is going up €5.4 million and US Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, speaking on behalf of the International Federation of tours, claimed that the staging of a WGC event in Asia was “one of the most significant steps ever taken in the globalisation of golf”.

He said: “World-class golf has arrived on this continent and the map of the golf world may never look the same.”

George O’Grady, chief executive of the European Tour, added: “The European Tour is very happy to support their extended commitment to the tournament and the enhanced status of the tournament to a World Golf Championships event, thus seeing the PGA Tour join as a sanctioning body, meaning that the event is now sanctioned by all the world’s tours.”

Despite the financial crisis making a serious dent into sports sponsorship HSBC have stated that the announcement marks a major milestone in their plan to create an Asian golf event of global significance.

World number one Woods has already played in the tournament twice, finishing runner-up to England’s David Howell in 2005 and to Korean Yang Yong-eun the following year.

“I am looking forward to returning to Shanghai this November,” he said. “It is an event that symbolises the amazing progress of golf in Asia and its new World Golf Championships status underlines how firmly China has established its place on the global golf calendar.

“I enjoy playing around the world when possible and having a WGC event in China is very important to the global growth of the game.”

Harrington added: “I think this is an excellent decision by the International Federation of PGA Tours. The HSBC Champions established itself immediately on the players’ schedules and has gotten better and better every year.”