Rose continues to hold lead at U.S. Open

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Anniversaries are reasons to celebrate or reflect. The best present reasons for both. This is one of those anniversaries. The Hero World Challenge marks one year since Tiger Woods’ consistent return to competition. Qualifying his return is necessary because of the numerous stops and restarts of the past several years. As a result and by every measurement, the last 12 months have been a success. Every time he’s appeared – from resuming his career (T9, Hero) to contending (T2, Valspar Championship) to winning (TOUR Championship) to participating in the Ryder Cup again – he updated a stagnant “last time Tiger Woods (fill in the blank)” with not just pedestrian occurrences but notable achievements. So, now, this week’s Hero World Challenge serves as merely a continuation for the 80-time PGA TOUR champion, and you know he’s just fine with that. Eighteen of the sport’s best are assembled at Albany in The Bahamas for the fourth consecutive year. Scroll beneath the full-field ranking for more on the course and expectations. The Hero World Challenge provides an opportunity in late autumn to keep the chops fresh during the TOUR’s holiday hiatus. The bonus is stacked competition that just happens to include Woods, who doubles as the tournament host. 
If U.S. fans didn’t overindulge over the Thanksgiving weekend, this field will clinch that experience. In conjunction with his business partners and philanthropic benefactors, Woods attracts such strength and depth with Official World Golf Ranking points and a $3.5-million prize fund from which the winner will pocket $1 million. There is no cut in the 72-hole, stroke-play competition. Albany is an Ernie Els design situated on southwestern New Providence Island. Because of its locale, wind is the primary defense, but with five par 5s, the course multiples the chances to sign for red numbers after completing the 7,309-yard stroll. Last year’s field averaged 70.333 on the par 72. (There are five par 3s to balance the nines as par 36s.) At 18-under 270, Rickie Fowler prevailed by four strokes last year, yet he started the final round seven back of the lead. His closing round featured 11 birdies en route to a bogey-free, course-record 61. The heartiest gusts of wind this week are forecast for Saturday and in advance of probable rain on Sunday, but scoring once again should be low overall. Rising temperatures into the low 80s are expected.

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PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico (AP) — Will Gordon was frustrated with the way he finished last week in Bermuda. He had no complaints about his start Thursday at Mayakoba. Gordon ran off four straight birdies to start the back nine on the El Camaleon course and finished with a 9-under 62 to take a one-shot lead over Russell Henley in the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba. Harris English took another step back in his recovery from hip surgery and was at 64, part of a group that included former Open champion Francesco Molinari. Also seeing positive signs was Masters champion Scottie Scheffler. Without the No. 1 ranking next to his name for the first time since March, Scheffler hit plenty of iron shots close and converted them into a 65. Also at 65 was two-time defending champion Viktor Hovland, who played alongside Scheffler on a balmy and occasionally breezy day in this Mexican resort. Gordon had to go back to the Korn Ferry Tour last year to regain his PGA TOUR card. He thought he was off to a reasonable start in the new season by making every cut, and then he was five shots behind going into the final round in Bermuda last week. He played the final four holes in 4-over par and tied for 35th. “I just had an up-and-down week in Bermuda,” Gordon said. “Played some really good golf for probably 68 holes and had a rough finish. So I didn’t have many expectations coming into this week. It’s just really about managing my expectations and my emotions, so I feel like I did a good job of that today.” The objective for everyone is to keep it in the mangrove-lined fairways, manage the wind and occasional bursts of showers, and take advantage of the relatively flat greens. This might be just want English needed, especially with the good vibes of having won at Mayakoba in 2013 when he was just getting started. English capped off a two-win year in 2021 by making a solid Ryder Cup debut. But then he had surgery on his hip, which had been nagging him for years. After five months away, he returned at the Memorial Tournament and it’s been slow going. “It’s definitely getting better,” English said. “I went through a lot of rehab. But your expectations for coming back are so much higher than they should be. I’m so competitive and I want to be the mix so badly. You’ve got to give yourself time to heal and time to get your game back. “But I love it here. I love the atmosphere,” he said. “I’m excited about the next few days.” Scheffler soared to No. 1 in the world when he won four times in six starts, capped off by the Masters. He lost in a playoff at the Colonial. He had a good shot at winning the FedExCup until he didn’t convert on the final hole. But his game feels a long way from April, and Scheffler is playing three out of four weeks in the fall to try to build some momentum. The biggest takeaway from Thursday was signing a card without bogeys. “Clean card is nice,” Scheffler said. “Kept the ball in play for the most part today.” The exception was No. 3, his 12th hole, when he put his tee shot into the hazard. He took a penalty drop and hit the next one to tap-in range to escape with par. There were a lot of moments like that. Scheffler had six birdies and only a few anxious moments. “Solid golf is fun. Stress free,” Scheffler said. Work remains for Morikawa, who won six times, including two majors, in his three years on TOUR. He is running out of time to get a win in 2022, and this wouldn’t appear to be the week to end that drought after four bogeys negated his four birdies. Tony Finau was headed in that direction. He took triple bogey on his second hole by twice hitting into the hazard. He bogeyed the par-5 fifth. But he turned it around with six birdies the rest of the way and salvaged a 68.

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