TYRRELL HATTON IS ONE OF THE 20-MAN FIELD THIS WEEK MATT HOOPER PHOTOGRAPHY
AFTER ONE OF THE MOST TRANSFORMATIVE, DRAMATIC AND CONTROVERSIAL YEARS IN THE HISTORY OF THE SPORT, THE GOLFING YEAR IS SET TO COME TO A CONCLUSION IN THE SERENE SETTING OF THE BAHAMAS AND THE HERO WORLD CHALLENGE, RUN BY and benefitting the tgr foundation. a stellar field of 20 of the world's best golfers have assembled at Albany for the tournament first played in 1999.
after playing the 1998 nedbank million dollar challenge, tiger woods created the tournament as a way of raising funds for his foundation and creating the tiger woods learning center, and bringing together the world's best for one last pre-christmas get together.
THE FIRST EDITION WAS PLAYED AT GREYHAWK IN ARIZONA, AND STARTED IN 1999 AND CONCLUDED, BIZARRELY IN 2000, HOLDING THE DISTINCTION OF BEING THE LAST EVENT OF THE 20TH CENTURY AND THE FIRST OF THE 21ST CENTURY. ROUNDS 1, 2 AND 3 WERE PLAYED 29, 30 AND 31 DECEMBER WITH A DAY OFF ON NEW YEAR'S DAY AND ROUND 4 WAS PLAYED ON JANUARY 2. THE EVENT DIDN'T CARRY OFFICIAL WORLD GOLF RANKING POINTS, AS IT DOES NOW, AND WAS AN UNOFFICIAL MONEY EVENT CARRYING A PURSE OF $3,500,000 AND A $1,000,000 WINNER'S CHEQUE.
THE FIELD WAS: TIGER WOODS, DAVID DUVAL, TOM LEHMAN, PHIL MICKELSON, SERGIO GARCIA, JUSTIN LEONARD, HAL SUTTON, VIJAY SINGH, PAUL LAWRIE, DAVIS LOVE III, MARK O'MEARA, JOHN HUSTON.
TOM LEHMAN WON THE TOURNAMENT BY BIRDIEING 5 OF THE LAST 6 HOLES.
THE TOURNAMENT THEN MOVED TO SHERWOOD COUNTRY CLUB NEAR LOS ANGELES AND CLOSER TO THE LOCATION OF THE TIGER WOODS LEARNING CENTER, WITH A SLIGHTLY EARLIER DATE IN THE CALENDAR AND REMAINED THERE THROUGH 2013 BEFORE MOVING IN 2014 TO ISLEWORTH COUNTRY CLUB AND THEN SINCE 2015 HAS BEEN PLAYED AT ALBANY IN THE BAHAMAS.
THE TOURNAMENT HAS, AS YOU WOULD EXPECT, A STELLAR ROLL OF HONOUR:
TIGER WOODS, DAVIS LOVE III, TOM LEHMAN, ZACH JOHNSON, GRAEME MCDOWELL, JON RAHM, HENRIK STENSON, HIDEKI MATSUYAMA, JORDAN SPIETH, BUBBA WATSON, JIM FURYK, VIJAY SINGH AND PADRAIG HARRINGTON ARE THE MAJOR CHAMPIONS WHO HAVE ALSO WON THE HERO WORLD CHALLENGE, WITH THE ONLY NON-MAJOR CHAMPIONS TO HAVE WON THE EVENT BEING RICKIE FOWLER AND LUKE DONALD.
ONCE AGAIN MANY OF THE WORLD'S BEST HAVE CHOSEN TO END THEIR YEAR'S AT THIS EVENT, PLAYED OVER 72-HOLES WITHOUT A CUT AND CARRYING A PRIZE FUND OF $3,500,000 and a winner's cheque of $1,000,000, just as it was in 1999. the open champion, wgc-workday champion, dp world tour champion and race to dubai winner collin morikawa headlines the field, alongside rory mcilroy, defending champion henrik stenson, BRYSON DECHAMBEAU, BROOKS KOEPKA, TYRRELL HATTON, MATT FITZPATRICK, JUSTIN ROSE, SAM BURNS, XANDER SCHAUFFELE, TONY FINAU, JUSTIN THOMAS, VIKTOR HOVLAND, ABRAHAM ANCER, HARRIS ENGLISH, JORDAN SPIETH, WEBB SIMPSON, DANIEL BERGER AND SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER.
TV COVERAGE IN THE UK IS ON SKY SPORTS GOLF:
THURSDAY 2ND DECEMBER 1830
FRIDAY 3RD DECEMBER 1830
SATURDAY 4TH DECEMBER 1700
SUNDAY 5TH DECEMBER 1600
THURSDAY 2ND DECEMBER 1830
FRIDAY 3RD DECEMBER 1830
SATURDAY 4TH DECEMBER 1700
SUNDAY 5TH DECEMBER 1600
