Debutant Hovland rallies to win HWC
Nassau (Bahamas), Dec. 6: Debutant Viktor Hovland overcame a six-shot deficit in a dramatic final round to win the star-studded Hero World Challenge golf tournament here. The 24year-old shot back-to-back eagles to afford back-toback bogeys and win the HWC for his third international win of the year. Hovland (66) finished at 18under 270 and won by one shot over Scottie Scheffler (66).
“Honestly, when I first teed off and obviously got off to just making a few pars early on, I didn’t really think winning was even in question,” Hovland said.
“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 and 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.”
Overnight leader Collin Morikawa, who was primed to win the tournament after gathering a fiveshot lead in 54 holes, slipped to tied-fifth after two double bogeys on the final day and shot 76.
On a chaotic final day, as many as five players had at least a share of the lead at some stage. Among them was Hovland, who picked five shots between 14th and 16th to be able to afford bogeys on the last two.