PGA featured holes: The Northern Trust

ALBANY, Bahamas – The field for the 2021 Hero World Challenge has been announced, as the limited-field PGA TOUR event hosted by Tiger Woods is set to return to Albany, Bahamas, Nov. 29 – Dec. 5. This year’s event will include two additional players after the field was permanently expanded from 18 to 20. Fifteen of the players set to compete rank inside the top 20 in the Official World Golf Ranking. Collin Morikawa, winner of the 2020 PGA Championship and 2021 Open Championship, will make his tournament debut and be joined by 2020 U.S. Open winner Bryson DeChambeau, 2021 Masters winner Hideki Matsuyama and defending Hero World Challenge winner Henrik Stenson. Starting this year, the winner of THE PLAYERS Championship also received an invitation to the Hero World Challenge, with Justin Thomas set to compete again at Albany. Xander Schauffele returns to Albany following his gold medal performance at the Tokyo Olympics this summer. 2021 Hero World Challenge field: Name (Official World Golf Ranking as of 9/6/21), Country Collin Morikawa (3) USA Viktor Hovland (14) Norway Patrick Cantlay (4) USA Jordan Spieth (15) USA Xander Schauffele (5) USA Daniel Berger (16) USA Justin Thomas (6) USA Tyrrell Hatton (17) England Bryson DeChambeau (7) USA Hideki Matsuyama (18) Japan Tony Finau (9) USA Patrick Reed (19) USA Brooks Koepka (10) USA Henrik Stenson, defending champion, Sweden Harris English (11) USA Webb Simpson, tournament exemption, USA Abraham Ancer (12) Mexico Scottie Scheffler, tournament exemption, USA Rory McIlroy (13) Northern Ireland Justin Rose, tournament exemption, England The field for the Hero World Challenge features three previous winners of the event in Stenson (2019), Matsuyama (2016) and Spieth (2014), the winners of 20 major championships and 14 players who competed in the Ryder Cup in September. Tournament rounds will be held Thursday, December 2 – Sunday, December 5, 2021 at Albany, bringing the event back to The Bahamas for its sixth year. Live television coverage of the 2021 Hero World Challenge will be provided by GOLF Channel during all four rounds and by NBC during the third and final rounds. Good-any-one-day grounds tickets and a limited number of premium hospitality packages for the Hero World Challenge are available for purchase at HeroWorldChallenge.com. Proceeds from the 2021 Hero World Challenge benefit the TGR Foundation, Tavistock Foundation and Bahamas Youth Foundation.

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Reigning FedExCup champion Rory McIlroy has fired his caddie and will use his best friend at this week’s World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and next week’s PGA Championship, according to published reports. Officialsportsbetting.com cited a source it did not identify as saying McIlroy has parted ways with J.P. Fitzgerald. They have worked together for the past nine years, during which McIlroy has won four major championships and reached No. 1 in the world. McIlroy is due to speak about the change Wednesday during his previously scheduled news conference at the Bridgestone Invitational. The Belfast Telegraph reported that McIlroy’s caddie at the next two tournaments will be Harry Diamond, a childhood friend from McIlroy’s hometown of Holywood in Northern Ireland. Diamond was the best man at McIlroy’s wedding to American Erica Stoll in April. According to the Telegraph, Diamond has prior experience on McIlroy’s bag. At the 2005 Irish Open, Diamond caddied for the then-16-year-old McIlroy in a practice round. They were also together at the 2011 Masters during the Par 3 contest, as well as the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in 2014. McIlroy, having battled through injury issues earlier this year, has made just nine starts this season on the PGA TOUR. He has five top-10s but no wins and is currently ranked 53rd in the FedExCup standings. His last win was the TOUR Championship in September when he claimed the FedExCup. He’s currently ranked fourth in the world after his tie for fourth at The Open Championship. If he doesn’t win next week at Quail Hollow – a course on which he’s won the Wells Fargo Championship twice – it will be his third consecutive year without a major victory. Before joining McIlroy, Fitzgerald spent several years as the caddie for Irishman Paul McGinley, the successful 2014 European Ryder Cup captain. McIlroy was a member of that winning team. “They’ve had a great partnership, culminating in four Majors and a huge amount of wins. They both can walk away from the relationship with really good memories,â€� McGinley told the Belfast Telegraph. “There’s a sell-by date with caddies, which is regularly illustrated on Tour. They’ve shared a lot of experiences, and they’ll walk away as friends, I’m sure.” It is the second significant player-caddie split this summer. Phil Mickelson and Jim “Bones” Mackay decided to end 25 years together. Mackay since has taken a job as an analyst on the course at NBC Sports.

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