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Norway’s Viktor Hovland used an eagle-eagle-birdie stretch to propel himself into the lead Sunday at the Hero World Challenge, then survived a bogey-bogey finish to capture his second professional title in as many starts during a wild final round in the Bahamas.
The 24-year-old Norwegian, who came into the Tiger Woods-hosted event off a successful title defense last month in Mexico at the Mayakoba and making his tournament debut, started the final day six shots off the lead at Albany Golf Club, where world No. 2 Collin Morikawa held a commanding five-stroke lead after 54 holes. But an uncharacteristic 41 for Morikawa on the front nine turned the leaderboard into a revolving door, with five different players enjoying a moment at the top before Hovland seized control. He ended with a 6-under 66 to finish at 18-under 270, besting Scottie Scheffler by a shot and holding off Sam Burns (69) and Patrick Reed (69) by three.
“I didn’t really think winning was even in question,” said Hovland, who moved to No. 7 in the world rankings and earned his fourth career Tour victory. “But after I made three birdies in a row at the end of the front nine and I got to No. 9 and I was in the greenside bunker and I looked up at the leaderboard, I saw I believe I was tied for the lead, maybe one shot behind or something like that, that’s when I knew that, okay, if I play really well on the back nine, I’ve got a chance.”
Morikawa came into the week off an historic win at the DP World Tour Championship in the European Tour’s season finale, where he became the first American to capture the Race to Dubai title. He also was riding high from his recent engagement to longtime girlfriend Katherine Zhu and was aiming to take over No. 1 in the world rankings from Spain’s Jon Rahm, who was not in the 20-player field. Although the Hero is not considered an official PGA Tour event and does not award FedExCup points, it does award Official World Golf Rankings points.
But the wheels fell off early in the day for the 24-year-old two-time major winner, who made double bogey at the fourth, another double at the sixth and a bogey at the ninth to slip from contention. Two birdies on the back weren’t enough to mount a challenge, and Morikawa finished with a bogey at the 18th to card a 4-over 76, tying Jordan Spieth (also 76 on Sunday) for high round of the tournament. He finished T-5 with Justin Thomas (64) at 14-under 275.
“I expected Collin to play a little better than he did today,” said Hovland, who shared a house with Morikawa during the week and shared that he happily relinquished dibs on the master suite to the newly engaged couple. “I’m sure he did as well and he’s going to be a little upset with that, but that’s one of the things I think is very commendable about Collin is that, you know, he’s genuinely happy for me, and when he does well, I couldn’t be happier for him. It’s a good friendship.”
Hovland opened with a 68, two shots behind the first-round pace set by Daniel Berger (T-7), Abraham Ancer (T-14) and Rory McIlroy (18th). He followed up with a lackluster 69 to head into the weekend four strokes behind second-round leader Bryson DeChambeau. The world No. 7 was making his first start in the new season and shot 69-64 to hold a one-shot lead after 36 holes over Morikawa (66), No. 13 Tony Finau (T-7) and No. 16 Brooks Koepka (T-9). DeChambeau shot 73-74 over the weekend to finish T-14 at 8-under 280.
In a day filled with several uncommon occurrences (for example, in his best “everyman” impersonation, Burns needed three tries to get a chip onto the 14th hole before taking a triple, while Reed pulled off not one but two lefthanded chips; and perhaps delivering the head-scratcher of the day were Spieth and defending 2020 champ Henrik Stenson, who inadvertently hit their drives from the wrong tee box on the ninth hole and were each assessed a two-stroke penalty), Hovland’s back-to-back eagles on Nos. 14 and 15 were among the highlights. After driving his tee shot into the bunker at 14, he holed out for his third eagle on the hole this week. At the par-5 15th, he dropped a clutch 20-footer for eagle then followed up with a birdie putt from 3 feet on 16.
“There’s only 20 guys in the field, but the players here are really good and I feel like my wins have come when the field hasn’t been as strong, so for me to do well in a field like this gives me a lot of confidence,” said Hovland, whose four Tour titles have come outside the United States (Puerto Rico, Mexico twice, Bahamas).
Scheffler had a rollercoaster ride of his own on Sunday, starting the day seven shots back and overcoming a triple bogey at No. 4 with nine birdies including four in a row on Nos. 14-17. He moved from No. 19 to No. 11 in the world rankings, ending a year highlighted by his Ryder Cup debut and a 4-and-3 win over Rahm in singles -- but still chasing a PGA Tour victory.
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Spieth, Stenson find humor in tee-shot debacle
Playing in the first group of the day Sunday at Albany, former Hero champions Jordan Spieth (2014) and Henrik Stenson (2020) may not have been in contention when they headed to the ninth tee, but they swear they had their heads in the game.
Explained Stenson: “We kept our heads down off the finishing out on hole No. 8 and walked to the 9 tee box that we did on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and put the ball down and hit some beautiful tee shots. Then when we went down to the hole, went down to the balls.”
That’s when they were approached on a golf cart by Chief Referee Stephen Cox, who informed them they had hit from the wrong tee box. Although it was true that the tee box had been used for No. 9 over the three previous rounds, on Sunday it was designated as the tee for No. 17. And while the players were informed of the move for 17, Spieth and Stenson were unaware of the change at the ninth.
Someone in the TV trucks caught the mistake and informed Cox, who caught up to the players before they hit their second shots. Spieth and Stenson returned to proper tee – each taking a two-shot penalty – and resumed their round.
“We didn’t pay attention being first out and just motoring along. Yes, it was just, ‘Go back and reload.’ It was only two shots each, so it wasn’t a big deal,” deadpanned Stenson.
“My question was if we could just finish 19th and 20th (place) and leave after nine (holes), but that wasn’t an option, either.”
Spieth chimed in, confirming: “Yeah, he did. He asked them if we could just go to the airport, and I said, ‘I’m down.’”
Back on the correct ninth tee, the two were so out of sorts that Spieth initially tried to take the honor even though it was Stenson’s. His caddie, Michael Greller, alerted him to the mistake and Stenson went first, but then Spieth accidentally teed his ball too far forward and had to be told to move back.
The two managed to find the humor in the whole incident.
“Now you’re really, you just spoiled the whole thing,” Stenson said, both laughing. “Like look at these guys, they don’t know who’s going to hit. Once they figured out who’s hitting, one guy’s trying to tee up in front and then they both hit from the wrong tee box. It’s like I guess we got what we deserved. …
“Have a nice Christmas everyone, and we’ll see you in the new year.”
Stenson carded a 72 to finish 19th, while Spieth shot 76 to finish 20th. However, it in fact could have been worse: If they had started to play the 10th hole without going to back to the correct tees for the ninth, they would have been disqualified.
Tiger Woods steals the show, hints at return
Tournament host Tiger Woods nearly broke the internet last week when he posted a three-second clip showing him take a full swing with a wedge, sparking excitement that he might a make an appearance at Albany. That spark turned into a full-blown headlines takeover in the Bahamas, where Woods was seen on the practice range daily, met with the media and made an extended appearance in the broadcast booth.
In his first sit-down interview with the media on Tuesday, the 45-year-old Woods admitted that “amputation was on the table” after his right leg was badly injured in a car accident in February. However, he opened the door to a return to Tour action, although he also noted his days of playing a full schedule are over.
“I don’t foresee this leg ever being what it used to be, hence I’ll never have the back what it used to be, and clock’s ticking,” said the 82-time Tour winner. “…But to ramp up for a few events a year as I alluded to yesterday as Mr. Hogan did, he did a pretty good job of it, and there’s no reason that I can’t do that and feel ready.
“I may not be tournament sharp in the sense I haven’t played tournaments, but I think if you practice correctly and you do it correctly, that I’ve come off surgeries before, I’ve come off long layoffs and I’ve won or come close to winning before. So I know the recipe for it, I’ve just got to get to a point where I feel comfortable enough where I can do that again.”
That point may come faster than you think: Woods is reportedly considering playing later this month with son Charlie in the 36-hole PNC Championship at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club Grande Lakes, Dec. 16-19.
“I can play hit-and-giggle golf,” said Woods, who would be able to take a golf cart at the PNC and could even skip hitting drives on holes where Charlie has it covered, like he did last year.
“Well [Charlie] carried me, there’s no doubt about it,” he said of their performance last year.
As for his game, “I can hit it, it just doesn’t go as far,” said Woods. “The power’s not there, but yeah I can hit drivers. I can hit any club in the bag, it’s just … I’m not to the point where I can hear it land, so I’m OK.”
Up next: QBE Shootout
Matt Kuchar and Harris English, who finished T-14 at the Hero World Challenge, will take aim not only at their title defense and but also their fourth win overall at the QBE Shootout, which kicks off Friday at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla.
The event features 12 two-person teams and is headlined by several notable pairings including former FedExCup champ Billy Horschel and Sam Burns, who finished T-3 at the Hero and is already a winner this fall at the Sanderson Farms. The two previously partnered at this year’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans, finishing fourth.
LPGA star Lexi Thompson will tee it up again, paired this year with Bubba Watson. Thompson finished eighth in the 2021 CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon and won there in 2018. Reigning PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Will Zalatoris replaced Steve Stricker in the field and will be paired with Sean O’Hair, who has won the event twice.
Last year at Tiburon, which also hosts the LPGA’s season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, Kuchar and English partnered together for the sixth time and finished at 37-under for the three-round event to win by nine shots over Rory Sabbatini and Kevin Tway. Their 37-under 179 was a new tournament record, breaking the mark of 34 under they set in 2013.
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