Day: December 5, 2021

Viktor Hovland rallies from six back to win Hero World ChallengeViktor Hovland rallies from six back to win Hero World Challenge

December 5, 2021December 5, 2021| 22:52

NASSAU, Bahamas — Viktor Hovland made consecutive eagles and closed with consecutive bogeys while overcoming a six-shot deficit to win the Hero World Challenge on Sunday and keep Collin Morikawa from reaching No. 1 in the world. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Winner’s Bag: Viktor Hovland, Hero World Challenge | Hero World Challenge was stage for reemergence of public Tiger Woods So wild was this final round of the year for golf’s elite that Morikawa, who started the day with a five-shot lead, wasn’t even a factor over the last hour at Albany Golf Club. Hovland closed with a 6-under 66 in his debut at a holiday event that was filled with pure chaos involving eagles and triple bogeys, none more bizarre than Jordan Spieth and Henrik Stenson hitting their drives off the ninth tee from what was a new 17th tee for the final round. “I didn’t think a win was going to be very possible,” Hovland said. “But I know this course is tricky. You can make birdies, but it’s easy to make bogeys and doubles. If I put a good score up there, you never know what’s going to happen.” Just about everything did. Ultimately, this was about another 24-year-old star in the making adding to a big year. It just wasn’t the one so many expected. Morikawa, the Open champion, missed three birdie chances from 10 feet or closer at the start of the round and then went sideways with two shots into the bushes at Nos. 4 and 6 that led to double bogeys and a 41 on the front nine. He closed with a 76 and tied for fifth. A victory would have made him the 25th player to reach No. 1 in the world since the ranking began in 1986. That still belongs to U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm, who didn’t play this week. Hovland was among five players who had at least a share of the lead at some point. That changed on the reachable par-4 14th for more than just Hovland. First it was Sam Burns, a two-time winner this year who was tied for the lead when he put his tee shot just right of the green. Four times, with a fairway metal and a wedge, he hit up the slope and watched it roll back to his feet. He made triple bogey to fall back. Next came Hovland, hitting his tee shot into a bunker. He blasted out and lightly pumped his fist when it dropped for an eagle. On the par-5 15th, Hovland hit his second shot with a breeze at his back to 20 feet and holed that for another eagle. And he wasn’t done. He dropped his approach to 3 feet for birdie on the 16th. That allowed him two bogeys at the end to finish at 18-under 270. Scottie Scheffler narrowly missed a fifth straight birdie on the 18th hole. He shot 66 and finished one shot behind, ending a year in which he made a sterling Ryder Cup debut but still has yet to win on the PGA TOUR. Scheffler started seven shots back. He made a triple bogey. And he nearly won. Justin Thomas had a 64 to tie for fifth. Another shot back was Daniel Berger, who was right in the mix until starting the back nine with two bogeys, and then holing out with a full wedge for eagle from the 15th fairway. Bryson DeChambeau finished his day with a triple bogey from the water. He was leading after 36 holes and finished in a tie for 14th in the 20-man field. Spieth and Stenson were at the bottom of the pack all day, and they were assured of staying there when they walked back to where the ninth tee had been all week, not realizing that it was used as the tee for the par-3 17th hole and they should have been playing about 25 yards farther ahead. They had to replay the hole and add two shots to their score. It was that kind of day, and the action never stopped until Tiger Woods — in a red shirt, of course — handed the trophy to the Norwegian. Hovland is the third straight international winner, following Henrik Stenson and Rahm. He won for the third time this year, following victories in Mexico a month ago and Germany on the European Tour this summer.

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Hero World Challenge was stage for reemergence of public Tiger WoodsHero World Challenge was stage for reemergence of public Tiger Woods

December 5, 2021December 5, 2021| 20:13

NASSAU, Bahamas – Tiger Woods wore black slacks and a red, camo-style shirt at the Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Club as the sun beat down early Sunday afternoon. RELATED: Insider: Woods’ big paradigm shift Only this time Woods wasn’t competing, leaving others to fight for the Hero trophy. Instead, as he had all week, he was practicing on the back of the range, watched only by a couple from Ohio and a family of four from Florida, their kids wondering aloud if they could get an autograph. “He’s so tall!” one of the kids said. Anyone feeling pangs for the largely absent Woods over the last year had to have felt encouraged by the Hero, where sightings of the tournament’s non-playing host were like a game of Where’s Waldo. Woods had been out of sight since being badly injured in a single-vehicle accident in Los Angeles in February, doing the hard work of convalescence and rehabilitation in private. The Hero, though, provided a stage for his public reemergence. There he was early in the week hitting 3-woods, a scene captured by a lone PGA TOUR videographer. Wait. Now Woods was on the back patio of the clubhouse jokingly telling Mike Thomas, Justin’s dad, to come watch him do driver testing. Then he was hitting drivers. Woods sat for his first press conference since he nearly lost his leg in a single-vehicle accident in Los Angeles in February. He did a jokey interview with Golf TV. He made an extended visit to the NBC/Golf Channel booth to chat with Steve Sands and David Feherty. Hanging over everything was the question of when the 82-time PGA TOUR winner will tee it up again in competition, and how much he might resemble his old self. In his press conference, Woods said his right leg was so badly injured that “amputation was on the table.” His days playing a full schedule are over, he added. Could he foresee playing in the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews next July? Woods said he wants to do so, having won the Open there twice, but couldn’t make any promises. “To see some of my shots fall out of the sky a lot shorter than they used to is a little eye-opening, but at least I’m able to do it again,” he said, allowing that he has no timetable for when he might be capable of playing PGA TOUR-quality golf again, if only sporadically. It was a sobering assessment. On the other hand, he teased with his words and deeds a much earlier appearance, at the father-son PNC Championship at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club Grande Lakes, Dec. 16-19. “I can play hit-and-giggle golf,” he said. That perfectly describes the PNC, which features major winners and their sons or fathers. It’s where Woods’ son, Charlie, wowed as the youngest-ever participant at age 11 last year. Woods could take a cart and, as he did last year, not bother to hit drives on the holes where Charlie has split the fairway. Whether or not he plays later this month, he seems content. He thanked the doctors and nurses for helping him get his life back. He talked about his foundation as it rolls into its 25th year, highlighting some of the inspiring kids who have been through his STEM-heavy learning academy. He praised Bryson DeChambeau and his doings in the world of long drive, which has surpassed what Woods and John Daly, the longest hitters of their era, could have accomplished in that world. He praised Collin Morikawa, who at 24 has become a Tiger-like force on TOUR. As for when Woods impress like that again, the 15-time major winner will turn 46 later this month and has alluded to his 2019 Masters title as perhaps being the exclamation point on his career. Then again, who knows? He asked his family for their blessing on his next comeback, should his right leg continue to improve and allow for it, and they’ve given the green light. “I’ve come off long layoffs and I’ve won or come close to winning before,” Woods said. He’s not the same player, his leg may never be the same, but it’s Woods. Never say never.

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