Albany (Bahamas), Dec 4 (IANS): Aaron Rai, one of the eight debutants in the field of 20 and one of three Indian-origin players in the star-studded World Challenge got off to a fine start winning the Hero Shot, the curtain raiser to the $5 million event hosted by Tiger Woods.
In the final, Rai landed two of three shots on the platform floating between the ninth-hole and 18th-hole greens and beat Jason Day.
The fast-paced event had six competitors picked from the field of 20 who will play the main 72-hole event from December 5 to 8. The event took place soon after Hero’s Executive Chairman Dr Pawan Munjal and Woods announced the extension of their partnership till 2030.
The tournament, which has had an Indian player only once - Anirban Lahiri (in 2016) in the field – will see three players of Indian origin in the field. They are Sahith Theegala, Akshay Bhatia and Aaron Rai, all of whom have won on the PGA Tour.
The three Indian-origin players exemplify the global nature of the game. Rai’s parents are of Indian origin and his mother grew up in Kenya but they are now living in England, where Aaron was born.
Theegala’s parents moved from Andhra in India to the United States, as did Akshay Bhatia’s parents and his mother is currently in India attending a family wedding. Theegala, who celebrates his 27th birthday a day before the event, and Bhatia were born in California.
Rai beat the field of six Hero Shot competitors who hit six shots each in a target on a floating platform in the lake next to the 18th Green.
The field for ‘Hero Shot’ included Nick Dunlap, Bhatia and Robert MacIntyre who were newcomers as was Rai, while Justin Thomas and Day are experienced hands, with Majors in their Trophy cabinet.
Round one saw each player taking six shots at the target, with golf balls landing in an outer ring worth 250 points, those coming to rest in the inner circle worth 500 and any ball splashing down in the two-foot-diameter cup worth 1,000 and an automatic advancement to the next round. The sixth ball in each round – the “Hero Ball” – was worth double points.
Bhatia kicked things off as he dunked his fourth shot of the first round on the bullseye to advance. Rai and Day set the pace with 4,000 first-round points each. Dunlap fell just short of advancing to the second round, falling just 500 points behind the advancing trio.
In the second round, Bhatia and Day each scored 3,000 points and were forced into a shot-for-shot playoff to face Rai (4,000 second-round points) in the final. After Bhatia hit the inner circle, Day knocked it closer to advance.
In the final round, Rai continued his hot streak, hitting two balls on the target after Day landed only one. The second ball earned Rai the title and the trophy was given away by Dr Munjal.
The tournament, returning to the Bahamas for the ninth year, sees World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler defend his title. The field has eight members of the victorious US Presidents Cup team - Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay, Sahith Theegala, Keegan Bradley, Russell Henley, Sam Burns and Brian Harman - and three members of the International team (Sungjae Im, Tom Kim and Jason Day).
As many as eight players make their tournament debut including Ludvig Åberg, Theegala, Henley, MacIntyre, Rai, Matthieu Pavon, Bhatia and Dunlap.
Scheffler is also the reigning FedExCup champion and the 2024 Olympic gold medallist, who won seven times on the PGA Tour in 2024.
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.
Proceeds from the 2024 Hero World Challenge benefit the TGR Foundation, Tavistock Foundation and Bahamas Youth Foundation.