Winners and Losers from the Hero World Challenge
Tiger Woods' tournament, the Hero World Challenge, is in the books. With it, all the quasi-serious golfing is done for 2014.
Jordan Spieth went out with a bang. He outclassed the field at Isleworth Golf & Country Club to the tune of 262 strokes and 26 under par for four days. The 21-year-old Texan bested the second-place finisher by 10 strokes.
That's impressive.
Under Armour's golf poster boy, then, is the big winner this week.
Who else joins young Mr. Spieth?
Click through to see.
Winner: Tiger Woods
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How can the guy who finished last in the field be a winner?
Here's how:
Even though Tiger Woods opened with a 77 and chipped and pitched like a 20-handicapper for most of the tournament, he was pain-free (at least in the back department) for four rounds of golf.
The absence of pain is a great victory in his first professional golf tournament since the PGA Championship, and really nothing else that happened inside the ropes for Mr. Woods should be of lasting significance.
Tiger will likely next see action at the Farmers Insurance Open at the beginning of February.
Loser: The 1st Fairway
2 of 7Tiger Woods wasn't feeling well Friday and Saturday at the Hero World Challenge, and it showed.
The first fairway at Woods' former home course got caught in the crossfire of Woods' sickness. The former world No. 1 dry-heaved and vomited on the first hole during his third round and was pouring sweat for much of the round.
The malady that afflicted Woods Friday and Saturday got worse during the third round. As the golfer said, via Brent Read of The Australian, "The nausea and the vomiting before and during the round, I didn’t have that issue yesterday."
He seemed better Sunday. The first fairway though still bears the psychic scars of being upchucked upon. It can stand in solidarity with the countless fraternity brothers.
Winner: Masters Fans
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Masters fans are rarely not in for a treat. This year, however, things are really shaping up for an exciting four days at Augusta.
Here's why (and what this week has to do with why):
Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson and Jordan Spieth all played well at the Hero World Challenge. All three were factors at the Masters last year (Watson won, obviously). With the trio finishing the season strong, Masters fans have no reason to think they won't continue to play well heading into the Masters in four months.
Rory McIlroy, of course, will be pursuing the career Grand Slam at Augusta, which is another point of interest. And the fact that Tiger Woods played four competitive rounds of golf without his back giving him trouble (and played reasonably well tee to green) bodes well for that golfer as we head down the long road to the first major of 2015.
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Loser: Roger Maltbie
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NBC Golf on-course commentator Roger Maltbie wasn't exactly high on Jordan Spieth as the latter was blitzing the field over the weekend.
Maltbie, who has been something of a Tiger Woods fanboy throughout his tenure, low-balled Jordan Spieth's achievements and ability.
While Maltbie's comments don't seem to have been captured on video or in text, they were bizarre. Brent Read of The Australian wrote: "Noted television commentator Roger Maltbie questioned whether Spieth had the ability to become a dominant player. Maltbie suggested Spieth’s lack of power would ultimately cost him."
What gives, Rog?
Winner: Keegan Bradley, Short-Putter Edition
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Keegan Bradley went to the short putter at the Hero World Challenge.
As Adam Schupak of Golfweek tweeted: "Short stick staying in @Keegan_Bradley's bag at start of new year. Says, why wouldn't it?"
Why wouldn't it indeed? Bradley rolled in 24 birdie putts for the week (second in the field) with the standard-length flatstick.
Regarding the switch ahead of next year's anchoring ban, Bradley said, per Mike Walker of Golf.com: "It's fun to come out here and prove to everybody and myself that it's not a big deal. This is probably the best three days of putting I've had in a couple of years."
Loser: Weekend Jimmy Walker
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Jimmy Walker opened the Hero World Challenge with rounds of 68 and 69. Walker made just one bogey over his opening two days against eight birdies.
Saturday and Sunday were a different story for last season's three-time winner.
Walker fired a Saturday 75 that included two double bogeys. He continued the theme Sunday with a closing-round up-and-down 72.
He finished 15th, which doesn't sound that bad until you remember that there were only 18 golfers in the field.
At least he collected a little Christmas cash...
Winner: Jordan Spieth
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We saved the biggest winner for last. And he's not just the winner of a silly season money grab. Jordan Spieth is the big winner this week because he has announced his intention to light it up in 2015 with a torrid couple of weeks to round out the 2014 year.
Spieth absolutely lit up Isleworth and blew away the field. Rounds of 66, 67, 63 and 66 placed him 10 strokes clear of second-place finisher Henrik Stenson. He made 29 birdies for the week, hit 83.9 percent of fairways and 80.5 percent of greens in regulation.
The win is Spieth's second in a row after last week's impressive showing at the Australian Open.
The 21-year-old Texan is the hottest man in the game heading into the new year. He's set the bar high for 2015. If you're a golf fan, you have to be excited to see what this kid does in the upcoming season.
All stats via PGATour.com.
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