Not the Blues Brothers: Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka at opening ceremonies for the 43rd Ryder ... [+]
There will be no play by Tiger Woods at the 2021 Hero World Challenge this time around. But Woods’ annual tournament held in the Bahamas will boast the usual field stack with top-flight golf talent.
Among top-ranked players on hand will be Patrick Cantlay (No. 4), Olympic gold medalist Xander Schauffele (5) as well as Justin Thomas (6) and Bryson DeChambeau (7), plus former world No. 1 Brooks Koepka, who is currently ranked at No. 16.
The tournament is a no-cut event, scheduled to take place Nov. 29 through Dec. 5, at the luxury resort community of Albany. Tiger Woods, who is said still to be recovering from February's car accident, founded the annual tournament. The Hero first kicked off in 2000.
Henrik Stenson won the last installment of the event, back in 2019 and is the defending champion. Currently ranked 179th in the world, Stenson was ranked No. 26th at the time of the last event. Last year’s Hero World Challenge was cancelled because of the pandemic.
Yet as a primer for next Monday’s event, golf fans will get to watch the fifth installment of The Match on Turner’s TNT network. This time around, it’s being billed as “the feud” and a competition in which DeChambeau and Koepka face off to settle scores and decide who gets bragging rights after a series of spats and backhanded comments to each other over the last three seasons.
While the precise origin of the DeChambeau-Koepka feud is perhaps debatable, the ire between the two players jumped up a notch and became a public spectacle, just over a year ago, when DeChambeau made comments about Koepka’s physique during a Twitch livestream.
Some 18 months after Koepka was featured in Sports Illustrated’s Body Issue (in August 2019), Bryson commented that Koepka had “no abs.”
DeChambeau, who at the time had not yet won a major golf championship, had just undertaken a new workout regimen; one in which he put on 20 lbs. of muscle within the months of 2020. DeChambeau went on to win the U.S. Open later in 2020, at Winged Foot.
But DeChambeau’s barb was not with out reply from his some time USA Golf teammate. Koepka, winner of four major golf championships (the U.S. Open and PGA Champs, both twice), fired back at Bryson, ostensibly about his lack of trophies, claiming “You were right @b_dechambeau I am 2 short of a 6 pack!”
Whether or not the relationship between the two well-known players is as acrimonious as their on-camera barbs or social media exchanges, TNT and the golf world seem to have latched onto it, hoping to create a buzz and high TV ratings on Black Friday.
The Hero: A Bahamas golf tradition
In past year the Hero World Challenge has begun its week of golf with the Hero Shot at Baha Mar. It’s a fun competition in accuracy, in which a select slate of the world’s best PGA stars aim to hit a target outside the back of the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar in Nassau.
This year regular play begins Thursday, Dec. 2.
NASSAU, BAHAMAS - DECEMBER 02: Tiger Woods of the United States high fives with Bryson De Chambeau ... [+]
Perhaps one of the best draws of the Hero has less to do with the sun and Caribbean breezes, or even the breathtaking coastal beaches. It’s the proximity to the play that stands out for fans who attend.
Unlike Augusta National, home of The Masters, or other top U.S. venues such as Pebble Beach and TPC Sawgrass, where each green is crowded with spectators, guests at Albany get the opportunity to walk the grounds freely, and even stand right behind the tee box at every hole, each day of the Hero tournament.
VIDEO: Twelve feet away from the greats, at Albany Golf Club
Tiger Woods himself was the winner of the last of the Hero Shot, in 2019. And prior to Stenson’s 2019 win on the course, other Hero World Challenge tournament winners include current world No. 1 Jon Rahm, in 2018, as well as Rickie Fowler (2017), this year’s Masters winner Hideki Matsuyama (2016), plus past Masters champs Bubba Watson (2015) and Jordan Spieth (2014).
Overall, the Bahamas is a golfer's paradise with a wide array of spectacular locations across The Exumas, Nassau and Paradise Island, Abaco and Eleuthera. First-class courses include Albany’s 18-hole desert links golf course design by Ernie Els, as well as the Baha Mar golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus, the Tom Weiskopf-designed Ocean Club Golf Course, and Greg Norman’s course in Exuma, to name a few.
Henrik Stenson poses with the trophy after winning the Hero World Challenge, at Albany Golf Club, ... [+]
The Hero’s tournament director Mike Antolini thinks that not only that the ideal weather and beautiful location attracts the best talent. He also thinks that top players like Rahm, Dustin Johnson, DeChambeau and Koepka signal that the Hero is has become a Caribbean golf tradition.
“The enthusiasm among the world’s best golfers to compete in the 2021 Hero World Challenge is at an all-time high,” Antolini said. “We are excited for the tournament’s return to Albany, Bahamas.”
The Hero World Challenge will be and broadcast on Golf Channel and NBC Sports.
Read Andy Frye’s Q&As with Patrick Cantlay and Brooks Koepka.
