Eager fans caught a glimpse of golf maestro Tiger Woods in action, even if it was in a fun event here. Having pulled out of the Hero World Challenge (HWC) due to a foot injury, Woods managed a few swings in the ‘Hero Shot’ at Albany. The players took their best shots at a floating target in the pond between the ninth and 18th greens at Albany.
Tournament host Woods, however, was eliminated in the early stages of the competition that saw Matt Fitzpatrick defeat young South Korean Tom Kim in the championship round to take the title.
Fitzpatrick received the biggest applause when he twice found the bullseye hit on the tricky, 87-yard shot into the wind. England’s Fitzpatrick got past a field which included Justin Thomas, Max Homa, Tommy Fleetwood, Billy Horschel, Woods and Kim.
The first round of the ‘Hero Shot’ featured each player taking six shots at the target, with balls landing in an outer ring worth 250 points, those coming to rest in the inner circle worth 500 and any ball splashing down in the two-foot-diameter cup worth 1,000. The sixth ball in each round – the ‘Hero ball’ – was worth double points.
(The author is in Nassau on invitation from Hero MotoCorp)
