Stenson rides late eagle to title; Woods takes 4th
Henrik Stenson delivered the biggest shot on a back nine filled with them, a 5-wood within inches on the 15th hole for eagle that carried him to a 6-under 66 and a one-shot victory Saturday at the Hero World Challenge in Nassau, Bahamas.
Tournament host Tiger Woods finished fourth but was among five players who had a chance to win on the back nine, four of them with at least a share of the lead at some point at Albany Golf Club.
Woods fell out with a chip that didn’t make it up the slope on the 14th hole, and he had to scramble for bogey. Justin Thomas had a pair of 12-foot birdie putts burn the edge. Defending champ Jon Rahm appeared to seize control with a birdie-eagle-birdie stretch to take the lead. And then Stenson struck the decisive blow.
From 259 yards away on the par-5 15th hole, he hammered 5-wood and couldn’t see beyond a dune as it bounced onto the green, tracked toward the hole and settled about 8 inches away for a tap-in eagle.
That took him from one shot behind to one shot ahead, and he closed with three pars. Rahm had to settle for two pars to close out his 66 and a runner-up finish.
Stenson won for the first time in 50 tournaments worldwide, a drought dating to the Wyndham Championship in August 2017.
France’s Antoine Rozner, Scotland’s Calum Hill and Belgium’s Thomas Detry shared a one-stroke lead after the third round of the European Tour’s Mauritius Open. ... Aussie Matt Jones shot a third-round 3-under 68 to extend his lead to three strokes at the Australian Open in Sydney. Cameron Tringale (69) was second.
Boxing: Anthony Joshua of England reclaimed his WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight titles, beating Andy Ruiz Jr. on points in their rematch in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In the first title fight in the Middle East, Joshua won a unanimous verdict 119-110, 119-110 and 119-109. Ruiz knocked down Joshua four times on the way to a seventh-round upset win last summer in New York.
NFL: The Panthers signed LB Shaq Thompson to a four-year, $54.2 million extension with a maximum value of $57 million and $28 million guaranteed. Thompson, 25, has three sacks in 12 games this season. ... RB Le’Veon Bell will miss the Jets’ game against the Dolphins on Sunday because of an illness.
Soccer: Marcus Rashford converted a penalty and Anthony Martial added another goal six minutes later to help visiting Manchester United upset two-time defending Premier League champ Manchester City 2-1. Thirdplace City fell 14 points behind league leader Liverpool, which beat host Bournemouth 3-0. ... Lionel Messi recorded a hat trick to lead two-time defending La Liga champ and host Barcelona to a 5-2 victory over promoted Mallorca. Barca remained atop the table, tied on points with Real Madrid but ahead on goal difference.
— News services