Hovland rallies from 6 back to stifle Morikawa

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Viktor Hovland made consecutive eagles and closed with consecutive bogeys while overcoming a six-shot deficit to win the Hero World Challenge on Sunday and keep Collin Morikawa from reaching No. 1 in the world.

So wild was this final round of the year for golf ’s elite that Morikawa, who started the day with a five-shot lead, wasn’t even a factor over the last hour at Albany Golf Club.

Hovland closed with a 6-under 66 in his debut at a holiday event that was filled with pure chaos involving eagles and triple bogeys, none more bizarre than Jordan Spieth hitting his drive off the ninth tee from what was a new 17th tee for the final round.

“I didn’t think a win was going to be very possible,” Hovland said. “But I know this course is tricky. You can make birdies, but it’s easy to make bogeys and doubles. If I put a good score up there, you never know what’s going to happen.”

Just about everything did. Ultimately, this was about another 24-year-old star in the making adding to a big year. It just wasn’t the one so many expected.

Morikawa, the British Open champion and first American to be No. 1 on the European Tour, missed three birdie chances from 10 feet or closer at the start of the round and then went sideways with two shots into the bushes at Nos. 4 and 6 that led to double bogeys and a 41 on the front nine.

He closed with a 76 and tied for fifth. A victory would have made him the 25th player to reach No. 1 in the world since the ranking began in 1986. That still belongs to U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm, who didn’t play here.

Hovland was among five players who had at least a share of the lead at some point. That changed on the reachable par-4 14th for more than just Hovland.

First it was Sam Burns, a two-time winner this year who was tied for the lead when he put his tee shot just right of the green. Four times, with a fairway metal and a wedge, he hit up the slope and watched it roll back to his feet. He made triple bogey to fall back.

Next came Hovland, hitting his tee shot into a bunker. He blasted out and lightly pumped his fist when it dropped for an eagle. On the par-5 15th, Hovland hit his second shot with a breeze at his back to 20 feet and holed that for another eagle.

And he wasn’t done. He dropped his approach to 3 feet for birdie on the 16th. That allowed him two bogeys at the end to finish at 18-under 270.