Hero World Challenge Recap: Stenson Eagles for Win

Certain golfers are inextricably linked with certain clubs. There's Rory McIlroy with the driver, Tiger Woods with long irons, Phil Mickelson with wedges, Jordan Spieth with the putter. And Henrik Stenson with fairway metals.

The Swede's two-decade career has been defined by laser-like efficiency with those clubs. But for all the soaring, majestic missiles that Stenson has launched through the years, he may never have hit one like he did in the final round of the Hero World Challenge on Saturday.

Stenson trailed by one stroke when he stood in the middle of the fairway, 259 yards out on the par-5 15th hole at Albany Golf Course in the Bahamas. From there, he unleashed a monumental 5-wood to eight inches for a kick-in eagle and a lead he would not relinquish.

"The shot of the day," Stenson said in the understatement of the day, or the year, maybe the decade.

The near-albatross vaulted Stenson past leader and defending champion Jon Rahm, and he parred the final three holes to close out his first victory in more than two years.

When Stenson won the 2017 Wyndham, he was ranked sixth in the world. At the Hero, he had plummeted to 40th after a largely disappointing year. With Stenson at 43 years old, it was natural to wonder what his golfing future would be.

While winning an 18-man invitational, even one with the best golfers in the world, is not a good indicator of really anything, Stenson will now move to No. 26 in the world and is assured of playing in all the biggest tournaments at least in 2020.

Stenson wound up a stroke in front of Rahm, two ahead of Patrick Reed and four clear of Woods, the tournament host.

Eleven Americans in the field were soon aboard a charter flight to Australia for the Presidents Cup, which begins on Thursday.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Tiger Woods
Woods was in the mix until a bogey on the par-4 14th, and that's really saying something, what with all he has on his plate these days. Woods will be the playing captain for the U.S. squad against the Internationals, and simply going through the motions at the Hero would've been completely understandable. Instead, the solo fourth moved Woods to No. 6 in the world rankings, and that's where he will finish the year, his highest year-end standing in six years.

Jon Rahm
It took a shot for the ages to keep the hottest golfer on the planet from another win. Rahm was coming off victories in his past two starts, including the DP World Tour Championship that landed him the European Tour's Race to Dubai championship. Now up to No. 3 in the world, it's hard to envision Rahm going through 2020 without winning his first major. He might be the best golfer in the world right now.

Patrick Reed
Reed finished two strokes behind Stenson, which was fitting because that's how many shots he was penalized for grounding his club in a bunker during the third round. TV cameras clearly showed Reed touching and moving the sand during practice swings not once but twice. Afterward, he said it was accidental, but Twitter was having none of it. It's not the first time the words "Patrick Reed" and "cheating" have made their way into the same sentence. There were allegations when he was in college, too. None of the other Hero golfers said anything pointed about Reed, but you have to wonder how the long plane ride to Australia went, and how the interpersonal dynamics of the Presidents Cup will play out. In golf, once you are branded a cheater, it's a tough title to lose. In fact, Reed touched down in Australia to see that International team member Cameron Smith already was taking aim, following in the footsteps of fellow Aussie Marc Leishman.
 

Emirates Australian Open

At 39, Matt Jones notched only the third worldwide win of his career, by a knee-knocking one shot over Louis Oosthuizen. Jones had won his national championship once before, in 2015, and also won the 2014 Houston Open. Jones will get a berth in the Open Championship, as this was part of the Open Qualifying Series. Aaron Pike, an Aussie ranked 848th in the world and who has never played in a major, got a berth, as did Japanese amateur Takumi Kanaya. Cameron Tringale, who hasn't played in a major since 2016, missed out by one shot after a bogey on 17. Oosthuizen was the runner-up and made things interesting with an eagle-3 at 18, and Paul Casey tied for fifth, but overall the field was very weak (roughly equal to last month's RSM Classic). Adam Scott and Sergio Garcia missed the cut. Jones moves to 103rd in the world and Oosthuizen is back in the top-20, at 20th. Of note, Smylie Kaufman not only made a cut, which he had done only one other time in 2019, he tied for 27th, his best worldwide showing in more than two years. As we said, the field was very weak, but for Kaufman, baby steps. This will move him inside the top-2000 in the world (Yes, that's three zeros.)

AFRASIA BANK Mauritius Open

It was quite a finish in South Africa, where an 18-year-old won the European Tour event. Rasmus Hojgaard of Denmark became the third-youngest winner in Tour history in a stirring playoff over Antoine Rozner of France and Renato Paratore of Italy. Hojgaard birdied the 72nd hole to join the playoff, then ended it with an eagle on the third extra hole. In moving to around 200th OWGR, Hojgaard is a younger winner than only Italy's Matteo Manassero (twice) and New Zealand's Danny Lee. This was only his fifth Tour event. And to make matters worse for his fellow pros, he has a twin brother, Nicolai Hojgaard, as former Euro Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn alerted in a tweet.
 

Golf Nippon Series JT Cup

Ryo Ishikawa – yes, the same Ryo Ishikawa who has been around forever – is only 28. He just won for the third time in five months on the Japan Tour, beating Australian Brad Kennedy in a playoff and also fending off Japan's top player, Shugo Imahira. Ishikawa hadn't won in three years before this latest surge, which moves him to No. 82 in the world. Imahira, by finishing solo third, climbs to a career-best 32nd OWGR.