Tiger replacement Sepp Straka shares lead in the Bahamas & More Trending News

NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — Sepp Straka was residence in Alabama getting ready for a giant week of golf matches at his membership, a pal’s marriage ceremony and the SEC Championship sport. And then Tiger Woods couldn’t play in the Bahamas due to a foot damage, and Straka had a change in plans.

It labored out OK for him.

The replacement for Woods managed six birdies at rain-soaked Albany for a 3-under 69 that gave him a share of the lead at the Hero World Challenge with defending champion Viktor Hovland, Tom Kim and Collin Morikawa.

Straka was first off in the pro-am, the time often occupied by Woods. He was paired with Justin Thomas, who usually performs the first spherical with Woods.

Did he get the rest from the match host?

“The iron game wasn’t as good as his, but maybe rubbed off a little bit on me,” Straka. “So yeah, that was nice.”

Hovland was the solely participant to succeed in 4 underneath at any level earlier than a bogey on the sixteenth. He is attempting to affix Woods as the solely gamers to win this vacation occasion back-to-back.

Hovland is staying with Morikawa once more. A yr in the past, Morikawa had a five-shot lead and wanted a win to succeed in No. 1 in the world when he shot 76 in the ultimate spherical and Hovland rallied with a 66 to win.

And then there’s Kim, the 20-year-old rising star from South Korea who already has gained twice on the PGA Tour and delivered on a giant stage in the Presidents Cup. His week started by assembly Woods for the first time — “It was really cool. I have to pinch myself a little bit,” he stated — after which he by some means went bogey-free at Albany.

The course usually yields low scores, aside from rain that left foot-deep puddles in a few of the sandy areas and made chipping troublesome from tight lies on soggy turf.

Sepp Straka, of Austria, tosses a ball to his caddie throughout the first spherical of the Hero World Challenge PGA Tour at the Albany Golf Club, in New Providence, Bahamas, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022.

Kim was very good along with his brief sport. He was in the entrance bunker on the par-3 seventeenth and clipped the shot of muddied sand with such pace that it checked 3 toes from the gap.

Cameron Young, who got here inside inches of an ace on the gap, smiled at his father and stated, “He’s allergic to bogeys.”

Young, the PGA Tour rookie of the yr and certainly one of seven newcomers to the elite, 20-man subject, had a 71 and was amongst solely eight gamers who broke par.

Straka is the solely participant to have by no means performed in a Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup at Albany. He is No. 29 in the world, a winner for the first time at the Honda Classic, earlier in the yr, and had no intention of being in the Bahamas.

He is a member at Shoal Creek, and this was the week of the membership matches towards Greystone. J.T. Poston, a two-time winner on tour, is getting married on Friday. The massive day was Saturday, when Georgia performs LSU in Atlanta.

He was about to tee off Monday afternoon to prepare for the matches when the name got here in to say Woods had plantar fasciitis in his proper foot and wouldn’t be enjoying.

It was a simple resolution for Straka, who was born and raised in Austria and moved to Valdosta, Georgia, when he was 14, performed at Georgia and bounces seamlessly between German and Southern in speech.

“It was a huge opportunity and just awesome to be here,” he stated.

Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, a runner-up at the World Challenge final yr, had a 72. He must win to get again to No. 1 in the world.

As for Woods, he stored up his presence at the match spending time in the tv sales space. He has not performed since the British Open in July.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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