PGA Tour says goodbye to WGCs

For more than 20 years, the World Golf Championships have occupied their own corner of the PGA Tour world, events that were not quite major-championship quality but were something more than regular tour events.

Their distinction – built on limited fields, bigger purses and a designated cachet granted at their arrival in 1999 – separated the World Golf Championships, a velvet rope of sorts in a long season of events.

The recitation of Tiger Woods’ colossal career achievements typically goes something like this: Winner of 15 major championships among 82 PGA Tour events including 18 World Golf Championships.

Woods put an emphasis on the WGCs – Dustin Johnson’s six wins in the select events is the closest any player came to matching Woods – and thereby granted them an elevated relevance.

Times change, however, and the final World Golf Championship, the Dell Technologies Match Play, is being played at Austin Country Club. By Sunday afternoon, one player will have emerged from the field of 64 and, cast against...