‘Shot of the Year’ helps Henrik Stenson beat Tiger and co. in the Bahamas

Henrik Stenson’s eagle at the par-5 15th propels him to victory over a star-studded field at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas

Henrik Stenson had to say goodbye to an old friend just two months ago. Gone from his golf bag was his trusted Callaway Octane Tour 3-wood, the club he used to win the FedEx Cup in 2013, the Open Championship in 2016, and a silver medal at the 2016 Olympics.

But in October, when he started to notice that the face of the club had started to warp, he knew it was time to ditch it and find something else. He began using a new Callaway model of fairway woods, the Epic Flash Sub Zero.

So when Stenson was standing in the middle of the fairway on the par-five 15th hole on Saturday in the final round of the Hero World Challenge, out came his new club. With it he hit what might be, given the circumstances, the shot of the year on the PGA Tour, a towering shot from 259 yards out to within a few inches for a tap-in eagle.

https://twitter.com/PGATOUR/status/1203393993725399040

The eagle jumped Stenson ahead of Jon Rahm on the leaderboard as the 43-year-old Swede went on to win by one shot at 18-under. While it’s not considered an official PGA Tour victory, the win does snap a more than two-year winless drought.

Stenson spent the better part of five seasons firmly planted inside the top-10 in the World Golf Rankings, reaching as high as No. 2 in the world. But after a lackluster 2019 season, where he finished in the top-10 just three times in 15 events, he has fallen all the way to 40th in the world. It was, admits Stenson, a season to forget, one he hopes a win in the Bahamas this week will help him overcome.

“It’s just been a very average season,” he said at his post-victory press conference. “But it finished on a high and this should give us some good momentum. Rest up and start the next season fresh, looking forward to the challenges ahead.”

Rahm, who briefly took possession of the lead after making his own eagle on the same hole, had to settle for a runner-up finish. With all apologies to Brendon Todd, there is no hotter player in the world right now than the Spaniard. Since the U.S. Open in June, he’s finished inside the top-10 in 10 of 13 events. Apart from a missed cut at the Alfred Dunhill Links in September, he hasn’t been worse than 13th in any event. He had won his previous two starts, including the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai on the European Tour two weeks ago. And he came a shot away from defending the title he won at the Hero World Challenge a year ago.

Tiger Woods started the Hero World Challenge in 2000 to benefit his foundation. Now in its fifth year at Albany Golf Course in the Bahamas, an elite field of 18 players showed up to participate this year. And while Woods didn’t win his own tournament for the sixth time, he did take the lead on Saturday with a birdie at the seventh hole.

At the short, 296-yard par-four 14th, though, Woods drove his tee shot into the waste area and saw his approach roll off the green. His chip shot failed to get up and over the hill guarding the green and came back to his feet, and Woods had to scramble just to save bogey. He then failed to birdie the 15th, and his chances of winning the tournament were over.

But Woods has other things on his mind now. In four days he’ll be the player-captain for the U.S. team in the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne in Australia. Eleven members of that team were also in the field this week and face a lengthy plane ride across the Pacific to take on the Internationals (only Dustin Johnson, who pulled out with an injury, was missing). Captain Woods says the planning of the event will begin even before their plane touches down in Australia.

“First things first, we’re going to be locked up in a tin can for 23 hours,” he told NBC after his final round. “So we’re just going to enjoy the ride down there and then we’re going to do a bit of talking, a couple of meetings on the flight so we’ll all have an understanding of what our roles are going to be down there.”

Woods ended up in fourth place, four shots behind Stenson. Patrick Reed, who was handed a two-shot penalty on Friday for altering his lie in the sandy waste area, finished at 16-under and in sole possession of third place. Reed and Woods are now off to Australia, while Stenson heads home with a coveted trophy by his side.