Nassau (Bahamas), Dec 2 (Golf news) With an eye on the top spot in the rankings list, Collin Morikawa will aim to end his impressive 2021 campaign on a high at the Hero World Challenge golf tournament but standing in his way is field studded with major champions and PGA Tour winners, including the likes of a resurgent Rory McIlroy.
The tournament, which was cancelled last year due to the pandemic, will include two additional players after the field was permanently expanded from 18 to 20 this year.
Tournament host Tiger Woods, who is still recovering his near-fatal car crash in February, will not be competing but the veteran golfer has assembled plenty of star-power for the event.
World No. 2 Morikawa, who will make his maiden appearance, heads into the Albany Golf Club on the back of a sensational year that includs winning his second Major (the Open Championship) besides clinching the Ryder Cup and claiming the European Tour’s season-long points race, the Race to Dubai.
The 24-year-old, who joined Woods as the only player to win a major and WGC before turning 25, could end the year as the top ranked golfer, overthrowing Spaniard Jon Rahm with a win here.
Asked how he will approach the tournament Morikawa said, "I could have thought about scenarios and obviously there's one scenario here, I have to win, but I've got to focus on the tournament." “I said it all two weeks ago in Dubai, I've got to be ready on Thursday. I've got to be ready once I tee it up and that's the focus.” However, Morikawa will face stiff competition from four-time majors winner McIlroy who will also be making his debut.
The world No. 8 from Northern Ireland seems to have found his mojo back after an inconsistent run earlier this year. He won the CJ Cup in October. He was agonisingly close to winning the DP World Tour Championship but a bad break in the final round saw him finish sixth last month.
Talking about his year, McIlroy said,"Obviously there was a stretch during the year where I didn't feel like I was playing my best and went on a different path in terms of sort of looking for answers and came back sort of down that road, came back up that road and learned some things.
"Feel like I'm certainly a more like a wiser player than I was maybe nine months ago. It's been a year where I've struggled in parts, but I still got two wins on Tour, which is still pretty good. I got myself — I was tied for the lead with nine holes to go in the U.S. Open.
“I played well in parts, I just didn't do it consistently enough. I go back to 2019 and had like 19 top-10 finishes or whatever it is, that's the level I want to play at.” Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Xander Schauffele will also be eager to register a win on the Tour.
The world No. 5 from USA has had eight top-10 finishes, including three second place finishes but a victory has eluded him.
Others in the field include three-time major winner Jordan Speith, Justin Thomas, Bryson DeChambeau, Viktor Hovland, Patrick Cantlay and defending champion Sweden’s Henrik Stensen, who will look retain his title.
The tournament purse is USD 3.5 million and the winner gets USD 1 million.
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News Source : PTI
