Jon Rahm claims Hero World Challenge by four shots
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Jon Rahm produced a bogey-free final round 65 to win the Hero World Challenge by four shots
It was a faultless display from Rahm as he claimed his third victory of 2018 at Albany Golf Club on Sunday, stringing together seven birdies as he pulled away from fellow overnight leaders Henrik Stenson and Tony Finau.
The Spaniard made the most of the five par-fives on Sunday, carding birdies on each of them during the final round and adding two other gains at the par-four 7th and par-four 14th.
Yet it was Finau who pulled ahead first, carding back to back birdies on the second and third holes to grab a one-shot lead over Stenson and Rahm, before handing that back at the next with a dropped shot on the fourth.
On the eighth hole a second bogey for Finau put Rahm one shot clear, and it was a lead he wouldn’t give up for the remainder of the day.
Behind Rahm, Tony Finau birdied his final hole of the day to finish in solo second, one shot clear of Justin Rose – who fired a final round 65 to end up third. But the knock-on implications meant that Rose was denied the chance of taking back the World No.1 spot from Brooks Koepka, who opted not to play in the Bahamas.
A win at Tiger’s event was a fitting end to the year for Rahm, who defeated Tiger in singles at the Ryder Cup earlier this year and took putting advice on the greens from the 14-time major champion this week.
“He was putting next to me and I asked him, because I’m not the best putter on Bermuda grass and I know it’s kind of funny to say that now,” Rahm said. “I said, ‘Hey, Tiger can you please teach me how to putt on Bermuda?’”
“He told me it’s all about feel,” Rahm recalled.
After his victory, Woods presented Rahm the trophy and apparently made a quip about his asking for advice. However, Rahm quickly told him he credited ball striking and not the flat stick for his win.
“[Woods] was like, ‘That’s a pretty good performance for somebody who can’t putt on Bermuda greens,’” said Rahm.
“I did tell him, ‘My man, you should look at my stats because it was all ball-striking,’’ Rahm said. “I think I made one putt outside 10 feet, and I didn’t miss a shot the last three days, it’s as simple as that. But I don’t think he believed me really.”
At the other end of the leaderboard Tiger Woods and Hideki Matsuyama battled it out for last place, but it was . It’s a disappointing end to a successful comeback for Woods, who won the Tour Championship but struggled to keep dropped shots off his card – including a double bogey on the 18th on Friday that saw him at the center of a rules issue.
WITB: Jon Rahm
Driver: TaylorMade M2 (9.5 degrees)
Shaft: Aldila Tour Green 75TX
3-wood: TaylorMade M3 (16 degrees)
Shaft: Aldila Tour Green 75TX
Driving iron: TaylorMade RSi TP UDI (23 degrees)
Shaft: Project X Rifle 6.5
Irons: TaylorMade P-750 (4-PW)
Shaft: Project X Rifle 6.5
Wedges: TaylorMade Milled Grind (51, 55), TaylorMade Hi-Toe (60)
Shaft: Project X Rifle 6.5
Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour Red
Grip: SuperStroke Ultra Slim 1.0 P
Ball: TaylorMade TP5X
