Pro golfers in Hawaii freaked out by false ballistic missile alert

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NASSAU, Bahamas — Jon Rahm turned a potential shootout into a Bahamas breeze Sunday, closing with a 7-under 65 for a four-shot victory in the Hero World Challenge. Starting the final round in a three-way tie with Tony Finau and Henrik Stenson, Rahm took the lead when Finau made bogey on the par-3 eighth hole, and the 24-year-old Spaniard never trailed the rest of the day at Albany Golf Club. Finau was the last challenger until the 14th hole, when he went from a sandy area to a bunker and over the green, leading to double bogey. Rahm made birdie on the hole, and suddenly had a five-shot lead without much trouble to get in the way. Rahm ends his year with three victories, just like in 2017, his first full year as a pro. And in some respects, it was a fitting end. Even with his individual trophies, no moment for Rahm will top facing Woods in the Sunday singles at the Ryder Cup and beating him on the 17th hole, putting the first point on the board for Europe that day. And then Rahm ended his year with Woods handing him the trophy from his holiday event. “That Sunday with Tiger is still the most emotionally, most important moment of my golf career,” Rahm said. “It means so much to play against Tiger. A couple months later, to win his event, it’s really special.” Even with a runaway victory, there was a small measure of drama on the final hole. Justin Rose, needing to finish in a three-way tie for second to return to No. 1 in the world, closed with a 65 and was in position to go back to the top of the ranking until Finau rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt for a 69 to finish alone in second. Brooks Koepka, who did not play this week, remains No. 1. Rose has one more event left in two weeks at the Indonesia Masters. Finau, meanwhile, cracked the top 10 for the first time in his career at No. 9. The tournament host was never in the picture until it was time to hand out the trophy. Woods got off to another rough start, rallied on the back nine and had to settle for a 1-over 73 to finish 17th against the 18-man field. He finished 19 shots behind, the biggest gap this year from the winner over 72 holes. “Overall, it was a long week, but one that I hope the players enjoyed,” Woods said. That starts with Rahm, who previously won the CareerBuilder Challenge on the PGA TOUR and the Spanish Open on the European Tour. He fell behind briefly when Finau rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-3 second, only to fall back into a share of the lead when a 4-foot par putt lipped out at No. 4. Rahm took a two-shot lead to the back nine with a 4-hybrid to 12 feet on the par-5 ninth that set up a two-putt birdie, and he held his own until Finau’s double bogey. Rahm, making his first trip to the Bahamas for this event, figured out early that the key to scoring at Albany were the five par 5s and two reachable par 4s. He made birdie on all seven of those holes Sunday. Stenson was only one shot behind when he made the turn, but the Swede made only one birdie on the back nine and finished alone in fourth. Patrick Cantlay was 12 shots better than Saturday, closing with a 64 to tie for fifth with defending champion Rickie Fowler.

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Here are nine tidbits from the final round of the CareerBuilder Challenge that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Be looking for the Emergency 9 shortly after the close of play of each round of the tournament. Rah Rah Rahm The most picked player in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO and PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO did exactly what he was supposed to do. Jon Rahm, the highest ranked player in the field at No. 3 in the OWGR, needed four playoff holes to win for the second time on TOUR. What a difference a year makes as this time last year he was No. 137 and had zero wins. He’s added the Farmers Insurance Open, the Irish Open and the DT World Tour Championship in those 12 months. He’s played two events on TOUR this season and has finished first and second. There’s nothing better in fantasy golf when the player meets the gamer’s expectations. Gracias! #NappyFactor Andrew Landry’s wife is due in March. This is his third top 10 in seven events in the new season and best finish on TOUR. He showed his meddle down the stretch as his birdie putt on the final hole forced a playoff. He only made one bogey on the week, his 60th hole, but it didn’t deter him. He’ll rue his chance on the second playoff hole as his putt for birdie and the win didn’t scare the hole. He’ll add this to his Oakmont experience from last summer and should be in the mix as 2018 rolls on. I’d stick him in any keeper league and watch him grow. No Questions for John John Huh hasn’t cashed a top 10 check since last March at Innisbrook before T3 Sunday. He hasn’t landed on the podium since the 2014 Barracuda Championship! Gamers might want to put a circle around him for next year as this was his third top 30 in four tries in the Coachella Valley. His weekend (65-66) included eight birdies on Saturday and six birdies and an eagle on Sunday. Had Another Chance Adam Hadwin didn’t show any signs of life in four events during the fall and only put two rounds of 16 in the 60’s. Course historians will point out that he was T6 in 2016 and second last year after his 59 Saturday at La Quinta. While his normally trusty putter wasn’t firing like he expected, his iron game saw him peg T7 GIR. His 68 Sunday was his worst round of the week and he still finished T4. It’s obvious that this course rotation fits his eye and game. California Dreamin’ Fresno native Kevin Chappell (T6) is going to petition the tournament committee to have ALL four rounds at the Stadium Course. He fired a bogey-free 64 Friday on his first trip. He added six more birdies for 67 on Sunday. The Stadium Course was the only track of the three to use ShotLink and it validated Chappell’s love. He led those who played the Stadium Course twice in SG: Approach to the Green, Tee to Green and Total. He was also T2 in GIR for the week across all three tracks. Chappell has never MC in six tries at this event. All in the Family His grandfather Arnold Palmer won this event five times. Grandson Sam Saunders collected a check for the first time in four tries. His 64 on Sunday was the low round of the day by two shots and vaulted him up the leaderboard 34 spots to T8. His 28 birdies were T1 for the week. He flashed signs at the Web.com Finals last fall as he fired 59 at Atlantic Beach. He hovered around the top 10 at Sony last week before fading on Sunday to T25. He’s never had more than two top 10’s in a season or finished in FedExCup top 125. Caution. Grandstand Finishers Canadian Nick Taylor’s 66 saw him quietly collect his fifth top 32 paycheck in seven starts this season. … Bud Cauley, one of my favorites, kept his streak of hitting T14 or better in the new rotation with his closing 66. He’s now cashed T14, T3 and T14 the last three years and is 51-under-par. … Harris English popped onto the radar for a hot second last week. His second round 65 caught my eye but his weekend (70-72) kept me away. He flashed 66 Sunday to move up 22 spots to T11. Noted. Familiar Faces PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO most popular player won the tournament but only two of the top 10 selected players missed the cut, Phil Mickelson and Patrick Reed. Mickelson broke a streak of 12 events in a row once again proving that there are no guarantees in fantasy golf. Reed is a former champion but his win is his only top 10 in six tries. Of those eight selected playing on Sunday none finished inside the top 20. Fantasy golf is hard. Study Hall Sergio Garcia won the Singapore Open by five shots to start his 20th year as a professional. Pat Perez collected T21 money but will not play in his hometown event this week at the Farmers Insurance Open. … Tommy Fleetwood shot 65 and came from five shots off the pace to defend his title at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. Rory McIlroy (70) cashed T3 while Dustin Johnson was T9. Justin Rose, who is playing Torrey Pines, was bogey-free in the final round to claim T22. … C.T. Pan tweeted Sunday he had the flu this week and that was a factor to him missing the cut. He was T2 at the Farmers Insurance last year. … The top four finishers at the Singapore Open (not previously qualified) Jazz Janewattananond, Lucas Herbert, Danthai Boonma and Sean Crocker booked their spots at The Open Championship at Carnoustie. 

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