Playing for the first time since undergoing fusion surgery to his right ankle after withdrawing from the Masters, Woods finished 18th in the 20-man event with a final-round 72 Sunday at Albany to complete 72 holes at 288. The key, though, was that he completed 72 holes without incident or reinjury to his right leg, which has plagued him since he badly injured it in a single-car accident in 2021.

“I’ve come a long way being a little bit rusty to like four days and knock off a lot of rust, which is great,” said Woods, who turns 48 at the end of the month. “And just the physicality of actually playing and competing again, I’ve done this in once, so it was nice to get out there with the guys and have some fun and compete and I wish I would have played a little better, but always nice.”

Woods made 19 birdies for the week but that was offset by 15 bogeys and two double bogeys. He was particularly displeased with his play on the par-5 holes, where he was three under for the week. The highlight, he said, was his ability to drive the ball. He continued to show plenty of power despite the surgery and long layoff. Among the highlights Sunday was driving the green at the 307-yard 14th hole to set up a two-putt birdie, one of five birdies on the afternoon.

“I drove it on pretty much a string all week,” he said with a big, satisfied grin. “Granted, these fairways are big. I felt like I had my ball speed up, which was nice, and I was hitting the middle of the face the entire week, which is nice. So it’s not like I have to go and try and find something the next few weeks or something going into next year; what I’ve been working on is right there and maybe just tighten up a little bit.”

Next up for Woods is his so-called “fifth major,” the PNC Championship, where Woods can ride in a cart while competing for a third time alongside his 14-year-old son Charlie.

Tiger said before the Hero World Challenge that a goal in 2024 was to play a tournament per month. At the end of the week, he felt that was still realistic – Tracy Wilcox

Then he will prepare for the 2024 season. He still believes, as he claimed in his pre-tournament press conference, that competing once a month is a realistic goal.

“I think that if you asked me right now I’m a little sore, but once a month seems reasonable,” said Woods, who had TGR executive and close friend Rob McNamara on the bag but hasn’t figured out yet who will caddie for him next year. “I think that having a couple of weeks off to recover, a week to build up, there’s no reason why I can’t get into a rhythm. It’s just a matter of getting in better shape basically. I feel like my game’s not that far off, but I need to get in better shape.

“That’s what the plan was going into next year and I don’t see why that wouldn’t change.”

Images – Tracy Wilcox

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Now he has three.

With a bogey-free four-under-par 68 at Albany, the mighty Texan posted a three-stroke victory in the 20-man unofficial event hosted by Tiger Woods.

The win comes after runner-up finishes to Viktor Hovland the last two years here. Beginning the day with a three-stroke lead over Matt Fitzpatrick, Scheffler cruised home in 20-under 268, three ahead of Sepp Straka, who tried to make it interesting with a closing 64 but simply started too far adrift. Justin Thomas, vying to remain in the top 30 in the world to qualify for early season signature events on the PGA Tour, was another stroke back after a 67.

“I’m very proud of how I played today,” a scruffy-faced Scheffler said. “Ted [Scott, his caddie] and I did a good job out there staying patient, kept the ball in play, gave myself a lot of looks. I didn’t feel like I gave the rest of the field much of, I don’t know if much of a chance is the right word, but I didn’t make any bogeys, so there wasn’t a ton of mistakes for them to kind of use as momentum. It was more of make them come and catch me kind of day. I did a really good job of not trying to force things, not trying to do anything outside of my comfort zone.”

Speaking of comfort, Scheffler won $1 million to cap off a year in which the 27-year-old collected a record $21 million on the PGA Tour. Not that anyone is counting.

Scheffler insists that he doesn’t really count wins, though he won’t deny the enjoyment from them. “I try not to place too much of my identity of what I shoot on the golf course or how many tournaments I’ve won,” he said. “Sometimes when you really struggle with something it kind of helps you reset to remember why I come out here to play this game every week and why I love to do it.”

He loves it because he’s really good at it. But, yes, he has struggled, too.

It bears pointing out that Scheffler avoided a three-putt this week on the slick greens at Albany. He began working with Phil Kenyon on his putting prior to the Ryder Cup and came armed this week with a new putter. It’s the worst-kept secret in golf that Scheffler was thwarted throughout 2023 by substandard performance on the greens. He can be forgiven for harbouring a woulda-coulda-shoulda mentality.

But that wouldn’t be him. He just knows that this win was the product of a complete game.

“Coming into this week I felt like I was in a good spot, but I didn’t really know because I hadn’t really played much tournament golf,” said Scheffler, who had been off since the Ryder Cup, where he went a tearful 0-2-2. “Got off to a pretty slow start the first day, but ever since I think probably after the first six holes I played some really, really great golf. Yeah, that [putting] why I’m walking out of here with a win versus coming out not with a win. I’m very pleased with how I putted, I feel like I rolled it solid. It’s definitely nice to see some early results with the stuff that Phil and I have been working on.”

While his consistency has been impressive—and puts him firmly in the conversation for repeating as PGA Tour Player of the Year—Scheffler won’t deny that there is satisfaction in closing out a victory, even the unofficial variety. “I like winning, winning is a tremendous amount of fun. It’s definitely nice to win and also nice to be consistent,” he said. “Finishing second is not nearly as good a feeling as finishing first.”

Scheffler came into the week feeling refreshed after setting his clubs aside for a spell. He will tell you that he is guilty sometimes of working too hard—and that definitely was the case as he battled to refine his putting much of the year. Now he’ll take another month off before the new season begins at the Sentry at Kapalua Resort in Maui.

The difference is that he’ll be equally refreshed but also more confident, given the proceedings at Albany.

“It’s nice to finish off the year with a win, and it will be good as we go home and get ready for Christmas and get ready for Kapalua to kind of have the momentum of this week,” Scheffler said.

The last thing this guy needs, besides another million dollars, is momentum. But he’s got both. In what has been a strange year in golf, this seems just about right.

Image: Mike Ehrmann

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Woods started fast with birdies on four of his first seven holes, but he couldn’t sustain the pace, struggling in the same area of the golf course where he encountered trouble during Thursday’s opening round. But a birdie on the par-three 17th hole was a soothing balm after a few scrapes, and he ended up with a somewhat satisfying two-under 70 at Albany.

“It was better than yesterday, for sure,” said Woods, 47, who played alongside Rickie Fowler, who also shot 70. “I’ve been more committed than I was yesterday. I made a few mistakes and overall the round was better, for sure. The start was better, the middle part of the round was better. I missed a couple putts there towards the end I thought would have kept the round going, and, unfortunately, it kind of stalled out a little bit.”

The rough patch came in the middle of the back nine starting with a bogey on the 13th hole. At the par-5 15th, Woods faced an approach of only 182 yards, but he found the bunker, blasted out poorly and then putted off the green back into the bunker before saving bogey with a 15-footer. He then bogeyed the 16th for the second day in a row.

At one-over 145, Woods is in 15th place in the 20-man field and trails leaders Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth by 10 strokes.

Mental fatigue? Physical fatigue? Rust? “I think it’s all of the above, and I just haven’t done it,” he replied. “I haven’t played in six months. Things are not as sharp as they normally would be. Hey, it certainly … there’s some good in there and just got to make sure that the good is more consistent than it has been.”

It was just his second competitive round since undergoing ankle fusion surgery in April after having to withdraw from the Masters. There are sure to be bumps along the way as he gets reacclimatised to tournament conditions. At least he had more reasons to smile than grimace.

“I can play at home, I can walk, walk beaches, do all those things at home, but it’s different when you’re at game speed,” Woods said. “Like I was saying yesterday, game speed’s different than home speed. You can simulate all you want at home, and I had it the best I possibly can. We played a lot of money matches at home and tried to simulate it, but it’s just different. The mind’s racing more, the anxiety, the emotions are just different than at home. You can always drop a ball at home, no big deal. Here it’s going to cost you.

“As I said to you guys in the press conference on Tuesday, this week is a great beta test to figure out what I can do, what the plan is going forward, what we’re going to do in the gym, what I need to do, and just overall just analyze what it’s like to compete and play and the things I need to strengthen and the things I need to work on in the gym to be ready for next year and the next season.”

Image: Tracy Wilcox

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Yep, he definitely is back.

It wasn’t a thing of beauty, but Woods’ first competitive round in seven months Thursday still was a thing to behold—simply because he was out there. Showing considerable rust of both the physical and mental variety, Woods opened the Hero World Challenge with a three-over-par 75 on a windswept afternoon at Albany.

“I hit a lot of shots,” Woods cracked, forcing a smile. “I didn’t have my feels. I didn’t finish off the round the way I wanted to, and, consequently, it kind of went sideways at the end.”

Playing for the first time since undergoing ankle fusion surgery two weeks after withdrawing from the Masters, Woods struggled over the closing stretch as fatigue undoubtedly set in. He managed his game decently amid a perplexing wind and was one under par through 14 holes. But a poor drive at 15 into a shrub led to a double bogey at the par-5 15th, and he bogeyed the next two holes as well, the second with a three putt from 45 feet.

Relatable. pic.twitter.com/K8JqO39R8W

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 30, 2023

Up until then, Woods had four birdies, including a four-footer at 14. He also dropped birdie putts of 12 feet at the third, a 28-footer at the par-3 fifth and a monster 48-foot birdie at the par-5 11th hole.

Woods, 47, hit six of 13 fairways and just 10 greens in regulation. Six of his drives traveled 300 yards or more, so he still showed some pop off the tee. However, he played the five par-5 holes in one over par. Acclimating to competitive golf clearly is going to take a bit of time.

“I had really a lack of commitment through most of the middle part of my round and finishing. I just didn’t quite commit to what I was doing and feeling,” he said. “You take it for granted, I guess, when you’re playing all the time. OK, the wind, it’s coming up, move the ball back, you just kind of lean on it just a little bit, just flight it down a little bit, add a couple yards in. Instead of reacting to it, I was thinking about doing it. Then as I was thinking about it, should I do this or not, by then I’m pulling the trigger. I shouldn’t really pull the trigger. Hit a bad shot. I kept doing it time and time again. It was a lack of commitment to what I was doing and feeling. I’ve got to do a better job of it.

Two birdies in five holes.@TigerWoods is looking sharp. pic.twitter.com/jYo6BleMU1

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 30, 2023

“I wanted to compete, I wanted to play. I felt like I was ready to compete and play,” the 15-time major winner added. “I hit it solid most of the day. As I said, I just didn’t mentally do the things I normally would do, and I need to do. I still hit it solid, but I hit it crooked. I’ve always had a knack of hitting the ball in the middle of the face, but I need to do a better job where I need to hit it in my windows.”

Fortunately, his right ankle held up to the stress of walking and playing a variety of shots, sometimes from awkward lies. He barely showed a limp most of the day, though he was seen shaking out and stretching his leg a few times.

“I’m sore, there’s no doubt about that. We’ve got some work to do tonight,” said Woods, who also cited discomfort with his neck and back after the round. “Tomorrow get back in the gym and activate and get ready for it. Hopefully hit some better shots. And now I know mentally what I need to do better. I think that’s something that physically I knew I was going to be OK. Mentally, I was really rusty and made a lot of errors in the mind that normally I don’t make.”

"Who needs an ice bath more?"

"Me."
@TigerWoods and @JustinThomas34 are having some fun in the Bahamas ? pic.twitter.com/irJT2lHkiy

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 30, 2023

Woods played alongside Jupiter, Florida, neighbour Justin Thomas, who has become one of his closer friends. Thomas rallied from an early triple bogey to shoot two-under 70. Tony Finau and Open champion Brian Harman share the lead at five-under 67.

Tiger’s gallery of a few hundred included Arthur Blank, owner of the Atlanta Falcons and an investor in Woods’ TGL venture, the start of which was put on hold for a year after a mechanical failure led to damage of the league’s domed venue, the Sofi Center. (Thomas, by the way, is a member of Blank’s Atlanta TGL team.)

Though frustrated by his effort, Woods said he enjoyed the day playing in the $4.5 million event that he hosts, but is also using as preparation for playing in the PNC Championship in two weeks with his son Charlie.

“We were joking [at home in Florida] that we’re both getting ready for the fifth major in a couple weeks,” Woods said with a wide grin. “We were looking forward to that. And the fact that I’m able to play and compete against him [Thomas] in this arena, not just at home, it was nice to feel that again.”

Main Image: David Cannon/Getty Images

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That was the disaster that befell Will Zalatoris prior to his opening round in the 2023 Masters. The back problems that had plagued him for a number of years and cut short his 2022 season just days after he claimed his first PGA Tour title, came back with a vengeance as he prepared for the opening round of the year’s first major at Augusta National Golf Club. Two days later, he underwent surgery, a microdiscectomy that cost him the rest of the official 2023 season.

Now fully recovered, much wiser and in good spirits, Zalatoris will find out if his patience and perseverance have paid off when he tees it up at this week’s Hero World Challenge at Albany. The 27-year-old Texan makes his debut in the 20-man, $4.5 million event, hoping it’s the first steppingstone to resuming a career that had shown so much promise in such a short time.

“I had a goal of playing this fall, but it was just too soon in my opinion of where I was at,” said Zalatoris, who considered coming back at the RSM Classic and was glad he didn’t because of the inclement weather. “Playing 72 holes, having everybody here, playing obviously against the best players in the world, even though this week is an unofficial event, it’s still really good for me to get 72 holes and kind of see where I’m at.”

And maybe see where he might be headed, too. Obviously, he’d like to regain the form that elevated him to seventh in the world and enabled him to finish second in three majors in short order, including T-2 in his Masters debut in 2021.

So, yeah, having to leave Augusta early and missing the remainder of the season was a huge blow, especially on the mental side.

“The first five, six weeks were probably the hardest,” said Zalatoris, who was told early on that the recovery period after surgery is hardest from the mental side. “I would say the toughest part early on was having no timeline.”

Fortunately, he received plenty of good advice, none more important than to be patient. Among those who gave him counsel was none other than Hero World Challenge host Tiger Woods, who has undergone multiple back surgeries performed by the same doctor. Zalatoris had a conversation with Woods in September at the Nexus Cup, an amateur team event in New York, and the Hall of Famer provided Zalatoris some valuable insights.

“He really asked me more questions than really … than I was able to. It was also the questions that he asked were really kind of thought provoking,” Zalatoris said. “So now, as opposed to just looking at videos down the line and face on, I’m looking at videos from my rear side and seeing how my back’s doing and seeing how I’m moving.”

Woods also advised Zalatoris not to change “who I am as a golfer and my golf swing, but just refining things to where they’re a little bit more simple.”

With his coach Troy Denton, Zalatoris has done just that, remaining more vertical in his swing and eliminating the reverse-C finish he always had. He also keeps his left heel on the ground throughout the downswing, which lessens stress on his back. What he has discovered is that he can still generate enough power but is more accurate with his driver.

“The part I’ve kind of enjoyed about it is I’m driving it straighter, even though it might be 10 yards shorter,” Zalatoris said. “I think my best year on tour I was 150th in fairways hit, so anything [would be] better on that end by far.”

Zalatoris said he has thrown 2023 “in the bag,” meaning he has moved on, but he can’t say it was a wasted year. He took a few online college courses to complete his degree in psychology from Wake Forest, and he has learned a lot more about himself. “I feel like I know myself better physically, know myself better mentally. I think there’s going to be a lot of positives that are going to come from this time off,” he said. “It’s not like I just sat around and didn’t even watch golf or think about golf. I was watching guys every day, seeing how some of my buddies were playing. So my mind was always there, but when you’re not able to have a club in your hand.

Zalatoris, now 33rd in the world, has been encouraged by his play at home—he shot successive rounds of 63-65-64 at Brook Hollow in Dallas—but now comes a real test. He isn’t sure what to expect. But he knows what he wants to get out of it. He said he is on a mission to get better. This is the start of the process before he makes his official return at the Sony Open in Hawaii in January.

“I think this week is a lot of almost kind of R&D, with let’s see how I feel going into the last round physically. This week I’m going to be able to take a lot away from it, regardless of how I play,” he said. “The little things, kind of like the feels of playing a round and playing through wind and playing through different conditions, there will be a build up to it. I don’t have a certain score or place or whatever. It’s more of if I put 72 holes together pain free and we’re able to take away a lot of things of what I can work on over the next month before I start up for the next year, you know, either way it’s a positive.”

Image: Patrick Smith

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The 15-time major champ revealed he’s returning to pro golf later this month at the Hero World Challenge. Woods, the host of the 20-man event in the Bahamas, retweeted this announcement from TGR Live account.

Tournament host @TigerWoods to play in the 2023 #HeroWorldChallenge. He is joined by exemptions @JustinRose99 and @Lucas_Glover_ to round out the field of 20 set to complete at Albany, Bahamas Nov. 30 – Dec. 3 pic.twitter.com/gBsTXGrTVl

— TGR Live (@TGRLiveEvents) November 18, 2023

Woods hasn’t played competitively since withdrawing during the third round of the Masters in April. Days later, he underwent subtalar fusion surgery on his ankle.

Numerous sightings on the golf course, mostly caddying for his son, Charlie, had sparked speculation that Woods was close to returning. Barring a setback, this also likely means he’ll compete with Charlie, who helped his high school team win a state title earlier this week, at the PNC Championship again in December.

The 47-year-old Woods’ most recent health update came via the Associated Press earlier this month.

“My ankle is fine. Where they fused my ankle, I have absolutely zero issue whatsoever,” Woods told the AP. “That pain is completely gone.

“… But all the surrounding areas is where I had all my problems and I still do,” he added. “So, you fix one, others have to become more hypermobile to get around it, and it can lead to some issues.”

Woods is joined by Justin Rose and Lucas Glover to round out the 20-man field competing at Albany Golf Course, Nov. 30-Dec. 3. Victor Hovland is the two-time defending champ.

Image: Andrew Redington

The post Tiger Woods to make pro golf return at Hero World Challenge appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Dave Shedloski
This Viktor Hovland character, amiable and largely unflappable, seems well suited to the laid-back atmosphere that permeates the grounds of Albany Resort and the Hero World Challenge. Then again, he seems to thrive at just about any casual golf locale.

In a tournament that is essentially a friendly gathering of 20 very good golfers, Hovland has been very good and very unfriendly, taking the title and $1 million first prize for the second year in a row to join host Tiger Woods as the only back-to-back winners. Further buttressing his reputation as the so-called “Resort King,” Hovland corrected a late mistake by sinking a 20-foot bogey putt on the 72nd hole to hold off World No. 2 Scottie Scheffler for a two-stroke victory.

Viktor Hovland joins @TigerWoods as the only back-to-back Hero World Challenge winners. pic.twitter.com/z95pjqdaSm

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) December 4, 2022

“That’s pretty bad ass,” the native of Oslo, Norway, said after closing with a three-under 69 and learning he joined Woods as the only players to successfully defend in tournament history. “I’m just happy he didn’t play the last two years. It got pretty nerve-racking there. You’ve got the best players in the world here, basically, and you’ve got to play your best to win. To win is always fun.”

With a 16-under 272 total, Hovland, 25, won for the seventh time worldwide and fifth time in PGA Tour-sanctioned events—in Puerto Rico, twice in Mexico at Mayakoba Resort and now twice at Albany.

Resort King, indeed. “At least I’m the king of something,” he said with a laugh. “Yeah, I like this place, but I would like to do it [win] a bit more often.”

Scheffler, the reigning PGA Tour Player of the Year, was relegated to second place for the second straight year and was thwarted in his bid to overtake Rory McIlroy for the top spot in the Official World Golf Ranking after closing with a 68.

“I’m proud of how I played the back nine,” said the native Texan, who began the day three behind Hovland. “I got some good looks and made some nice putts and it was good to kind of make a little run. Granted, it wasn’t enough, which definitely hurts, but it was nice to make a run. I don’t like just showing up here, and I don’t like finishing second. It’s not a great feeling right now.”

Scheffler threatened early when he eagled the par-5 sixth to climb within one stroke, but then he bogeyed the drivable par-4 seventh from a greenside bunker while Hovland birdied it to restore a three-stroke differential. When Scheffler took four to get down from 70 yards at the ninth for a double bogey, Hovland was four ahead of Xander Schauffele and five up on Scheffler and firmly in command.

Not so fast, said Scheffler, who gathered himself and birdied four of the next seven on the inward nine to get back within two. Then Hovland opened the door by pulling a 6-iron from an uphill lie in the right rough into the water short and left of the green at the par-4 18th. “When you’re standing there with a two-shot lead, it’s like that’s the last thing you can do, he said. “Basically, just do anything else but hit it in the water on the second shot.”

Viktor Hovland reacts to making his bogey putt on the 18th hole. Mike Ehrmann

From 120 yards, Hovland wedged to 20 feet. Scheffler, meanwhile, had pushed his approach into the right greenside bunker, and though his third was on line with the hole, it skidded over it and sped 10 feet beyond. Hovland ended any hope by calmly burying his bogey putt—just his 24th putt of the round after 23 the day before—and reacted with a single fist pump.

“It was a lot more stressful than it should have been,” he said of his wire-to-wire victory, which stands in stark contrast to his win last year, when a final-round 66 enabled him to overcome a six-stroke deficit to Collin Morikawa.

He seemed to handle it well.

Experience, he’ll tell you, makes a difference. And not just the experiences garnered since he turned professional three years ago.

“Yeah, I’ve obviously been in this situation a little bit more than when I first came out on tour, so I think the more you put yourself in that situation, you’re going to handle it better,” Hovland said before pulling back to a wider lens.

“I’ve had a very good upbringing, but it’s, you know, whether it’s taking the bus to school with a golf bag and my books and gym clothes and it’s packed on the bus, I’ve got to stand there for an hour to school and then back home and then to practice, I think those little things just makes you a little bit tougher,” he continued.

“Growing up in Norway, it’s not necessarily great for golf, and I think you have to just make do with what you have. I think those things just build character a little bit and makes you handle stress a little better than, you know, if you just had everything on a silver platter.”

You know what other experience is nice? Receiving a compliment from the tournament host.

“He just told me I did a good job of handling my nerves at the end and hanging in there in the second round [a two-under 70] when the conditions were the toughest of the week,” said Hovland, who moved up three places to ninth in the world. “You hear something like that from Tiger, and you definitely take it to heart.”

Heck, you take that with you wherever you go.

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The post Viktor Hovland matches Tiger Woods feat at Hero World Challenge appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Woods, who serves as host for the 20-player exhibition event, announced via social media on Monday that he has developed plantar fasciitis in his right foot. “After consulting with my doctors and trainers, I have decided to withdraw this week and focus on my hosting duties,” Woods said in a statement.

Despite the ailment, Woods said he still plans on competing in the latest installment of ‘The Match’ with Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth on December 10, along with playing with his son Charlie at the PNC Championship the following week.

The Hero World Challenge was supposed to mark Woods’ return to competition since his possible goodbye to St Andrews at this year’s Open Championship in July. Woods, 46, has played just three times in 2022, highlighted by making the weekend at both the Masters and PGA Championship, as he continues to recover from injuries suffered in a car crash in February 2021. Since the incedent, Woods has had multiple surgeries to rebuild his right leg and has said that he’ll never be able to play a full schedule on the PGA Tour because of on-going pain.

Sixteen of the top 20 players in the world will attend Woods’ charity event in the Bahamas. That group includes defending Hero champion Viktor Hovland, World No. 2 Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, Thomas and Spieth.

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The post Tiger Woods withdraws from Hero World Challenge after suffering foot injury appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Special Correspondent
RAS AL KHAIMAH, UAE: Nicolai and Rasmus Højgaard will team up for an exciting new televised exhibition event, the Hero Challenge, in Ras Al Khaimah today with the Danish twins hoping to make it another Højgaard double following Nicolai’s spectacular DP World Tour victory last week.

The Hero Challenge will feature 26 teams of two professionals per team playing over nine holes in a Texas Scramble best-ball format.

The event will be broadcast across the world and viewers will get a unique inside-the-ropes experience, with closer interaction between players and course commentators, and with certain players mic’d up throughout their round.

Nicolai Højgaard, the Ras Al Khaimah Championship presented by Phoenix Capital winner, said: “I always look forward to playing with Rasmus, now we get nine holes with a fun tournament so it will be a lot of fun and I’m really looking forward to it.

“I have full confidence in Rasmus, when we play together we trust each other 100%. Maybe it sounds a bit like we’re going to take it seriously, but we’re going to have fun for sure and try to do our best while we’re having fun. We’ll see what happens.”

The Højgaards, who last year became the first brothers to each win a tournament in back-to-back weeks, are one of the many teams featuring players from the same country, with Spain’s Rafa Cabrera Bello and his Spanish compatriot Alfredo Garcia-Heredia playing in the same group as the Danes.

“I’m very excited, it looks like he’s driving the ball pretty good so that should make my job a little easier!”, said Rasmus Højgaard.

“I think we’ll just go out and try to have fun. It’s going to be a relaxed little competition. We’re here for two weeks so it’s nice to have something a little different to do, to have a little nine hole competition is great and will just be a lot of fun.

“We’ve been talking about what we’re going to wear and maybe wearing the same outfit, it will be a little surprising I think!”

Marcus Armitage and Jordan Smith – a former winner in Ras Al Khaimah on the Challenge Tour, who finished runner-up to Højgaard last week – play in an all-English team while Scots Stephen Gallacher and Robert MacIntyre pair up hoping to claim the lion’s share of the $150,000 prize pot.

An all-Swedish group, meanwhile, will feature Marcus Kinhult pairing up with Alexander Björk and they will play alongside a team featuring Sebastian Soderberg and Joakim Lagergren.

Fans can access the Hero Challenge free of charge. No ticket or registration is needed.

The post Højgaard twins to team up for innovative Hero Challenge in Ras Al Khaimah   appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joy Chakravarty
Freshly-minted Hero World Challenge champion Viktor Hovland has given a glowing appraisal of Dubai-based amateur Rayhan Thomas.

The 24-year-old Hovland is an Oklahoma State University alumnus and remains a regular at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, the home base of the OSU Cowboys, even two years after turning pro. The Norwegian, who climbed to world No.7 following his win in the Bahamas, also has his residence there.

Thomas, who became the first amateur to win on the MENA Tour (2016 Dubai Creek Open) and was tied second at the 2018 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, joined OSU in 2019. But he struggled with his swing for more than a year and spent most of his time in the driving range and sidelines watching his teammates continue to add to the legacy of such stars as Hovland and Matthew Wolff.

RELATED: Dubai prodigy Rayhan Thomas reveals ‘mental and physical’ toll of his return from rock bottom

In his quest to get back his swing, the 21-year-old decided not to come home to Dubai in the summer of 2021, playing tournaments and putting in the reps in the US. He played several rounds with Hovland over the period, feeding on the experience of the three-time PGA Tour champion, and forging a strong bond with the Norwegian.

The move is now paying dividends as Thomas has had several encouraging outings in the past couple of months. He played a key role in OSU finishing second at the season-ending East Lake Cup and was second in his last individual event – the Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate. Having dropped down close to 2,000th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, his recent form has helped him climb to No. 951.

Thomas believes his best in college golf is yet to come, and from what he has seen, Hovland has complete faith in the Indian.

Photo by Joy Chakravarty.

“I think he is having a good year, and I think he has a really good future,” said Hovland speaking exclusively to Golf Digest Middle East during the Hero World Challenge in Bahamas.

“He is such a fun guy to be around and he has got a very good head on his shoulders. He is still very young, but speaks very eloquently and thinks about everything that he does. He goes about his business with purpose, and he is pretty smart.

“You know, he struggled a little bit early in his first year in college, but it was really nice to see him kind of get into a rhythm and start playing well at the end of this year.

“I think he is pretty motivated too. He keeps working hard and I see no reason why he should not have a great year.”

Having spent his years with coach Alan Bratton and his team at one of the most successful college golf programmes, Hovland says he completely understands what Thomas has gone through in the first couple of years.

“He is not the only player at Oklahoma State to have struggled. Karsten Creek is a tough place. It is one of the most prestigious golf programmes in the State. There are a lot of things that put pressure on you. When you are part of such a team, you just want to play well so badly. And there are times when it just doesn’t work out. We have had a lot of success, but unfortunately, we also have a lot of experience of players struggling as well,” explained Hovland.

“But then again, our struggles help us kind of know more about ourselves. It’s all about the team telling him the right things and making him comfortable, making him relaxed. He is very well-liked by Coach Bratton and he is working on good things, and eventually, his game is gonna turn around.”

Thomas had earlier told Golf Digest Middle East that Hovland had become a mentor for him and he seeks a lot of advice from the PGA Tour star.

“Yeah…that’s one thing I like about him. He keeps asking questions. We speak a lot, but it’s not like just golf stuff. Swing advice is probably not the best advice I can give, but it’s things like asking about how life on tour is, how do you think mentally in a certain situation. The small things. He seems like he listens and asks more questions. And that’s good,” said Hovland.

Thomas is back in Duba for his winter break.

The post Viktor Hovland backs fellow OSU Cowboy Rayhan Thomas to have ‘great year’ in 2022 appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.