Hero Shot winner Aaron Rai with Dr Pawan Munjal at Albany on Tuesday. Image courtesy HWC.
By Rahul Banerji
England’s Aaron Rai, among the eight debutants in the Hero World Challenge field made a telling start with victory in the Hero Shot curtain raiser to the $5 million tournament hosted by Tiger Woods.
One of three players of Indian origin in the star-studded 20-strong field that will see world number one Scottie Scheffler defend his title, Rai landed two of three shots on a floating platform to beat Jason Day in the final at Albany on Tuesday.
The fast-paced event, which had six competitors, took place soon after Hero Executive Chairman Dr Pawan Munjal and Woods announced the extension of their partnership until 2030, a statement said
The tournament which has had an Indian, only once – Anirban Lahiri in 2016 in the field – will see three players of Indian origin this time in Sahith Theegala and Akshay Bhatia of the US and Rai, all of whom have won on the PGA Tour.
Competitors hit six shots each at a floating target and Rai beat out Nick Dunlap, Bhatia, Robert MacIntyre Justin Thomas and Day.
The Hero World Challenge, in the Bahamas for a ninth year, will have eight members of the victorious US Presidents Cup team – Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay, Theegala, Keegan Bradley, Russell Henley, Sam Burns and Brian Harman.
The Internationals are represented by Koreans Sungjae Im and Joohyung ‘Tom’ Kim, and Australia’s Day.
Continuing recovery
Woods, a five-time winner of the event, announced that he would not be playing this year as he continues to recover from back surgery.
Fan Code will provide live television coverage of the 2024 Hero World Challenge in India.
On tournament eve, Woods said he was hopeful of coming to India for a competitive event, something he has not been able to do in the 10 years he has been Hero’s Global Partner.
Ahead of the World Challenge 2024 edition, Woods, who has not played competitive golf since July and is not in the field, said, “This is exciting news for all of us at the foundation (TGR) to be able to have Hero MotoCorp who have supported us here for the last 10 years.
“We’ve had a great relationship and great partnership for the last 10 years, so I think it was a very natural thing for us to continue this relationship going forward through 2030 and hopefully we can make it better in the next five or so years.”
Hero, the Tiger Woods Foundation and Woods came together for the event in 2014 and will now be together till at least 2030, making it one of longest relationships on the PGA Tour.
On his fitness, Woods said, “I am disappointed. I’m not physically ready yet to compete at this level. I still need to keep training to give myself the best chance going into next year and the events ahead.
“The fire still burns to compete. The difference is the recovery of the body to do it is not what it used to be. I still love doing it, I love competing, I love competing in anything whether we’re playing cards or we’re playing golf. No matter what it is, I love competing.”
Round 1 tee times
10:46 a.m.: Aaron Rai and Matthieu Pavon
10:57 a.m.: Brian Harman and Russell Henley;
11:08 a.m.: Cameron Young and Sepp Straka;
11:19 a.m.: Robert MacIntyre and Akshay Bhatia;
11:30 a.m.: Sungjae Im and Sungjae Kim;
11:41 a.m.: Nick Dunlap and Sam Burns;
11:52 a.m.: Ludvig Åberg and Jason Day;
12:03 p.m.: Wyndham Clark and Patrick Cantlay;
12:14 p.m.: Scottie Scheffler and Sahith Theegala;
12:25 p.m.: Justin Thomas and Keegan Bradley.
Also read: Tiger Woods opts out of Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas
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