Morikawa favourite in a strong field

The Hero World Challenge, which was cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, makes its return to Albany Golf Club here on Thursday.

The $3.5 million prize money golf tournament features a strong field, which includes 14 of the top 20 in the official World Golf Ranking (WGR) list. Tournament host Tiger Woods, who discussed his February car crash at a pre-event press conference here on Tuesday, will not compete in the tournament.

American Collin Morikawa, who won the Open Championship (his second major win) earlier this year, starts as a favourite.

A title win here could see Morikawa rise to the top spot in the WGR.

Rory McIlroy will look to put the disappointment of a sixth-place finish in the recent DP World Tour Championship behind him.

The Northern Ireland golfer was primed to take the title at Dubai, sitting on a one-stroke lead with five holes left in the final round, but a bad break saw him slip down the leaderboard.

Morikawa makes his maiden appearance at Albany.

Patrick Cantlay, who was won the ZOZO Championship, The Memorial, the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship this year, enters full of confidence.

Multiple-time winner on the PGA Tour and U.S. Amateur champion, Viktor Hovland, is among the bright young talents in action.

English golfer Justin Rose will be keen to arrest his dip in form. Rose, the 2013 US Open champion, is close to falling out of the top-50 in the WGR.

Major winners

The field also features other major winners in Hideki Matsuyama, Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas.

Proceeds from the tournament support youth from underserved communities through education programs. The TGR Foundation, a Tiger Woods Charity, is the primary benefiting charity.

(The writer is in Nassau on invitation from Hero MotoCorp)