Rahm takes Hero World, ends year with 3 titles

Jon Rahm turned a potential shootout into a Bahamas breeze on Sunday, closing with a 7-under 65 for a five-shot victory in the Hero World Challenge. Starting in a three-way tie with

Tony Finau and Henrik Stenson, Rahm took the lead when Finau made bogey on the par-3 eighth hole, and the Spaniard never trailed the rest of the day at Albany Golf Club.

Rahm ends his year with three victories, just like in 2017, his first full season as a pro.

Finau made a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 69 to be runner-up. It also kept Justin Rose from returning to No. 1 in the world. Rose closed with a 65 and finished third. Tiger Woods shot 73 and finished 17th in the 18-man field.

NHL TO SEATTLE?

Seattle is one step away from landing an NHL franchise.

Team and city executives have already secured more than 30,000 season-ticket deposits, got an arena plan passed through local government and wowed the executive committee of owners. It all pays off Tuesday when the NHL Board of Governors is expected to approve Seattle as the home of the league’s 32nd franchise.

“Seattle’s one of the fastestgrowing cities in the country,” commissioner Gary Bettman said recently. “It gives us a geographic balance. It creates a nice geographic rivalry with Vancouver. I know Vancouver’s particularly excited about the possibility. The ownership group, the plans for the arena — it’s all of the above. It’s never one factor. If you’re going to have a successful expansion application, all of the bases need to be touched and all of them need to be checked off as being appropriate and right.”

Renovations to the downtown arena that will be the team’s home are scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2020. The uncertainty could lead the NHL to leave the door open to a 2020 or 2021 start or push it back just to be safe.