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Scottie Scheffler won the 2023 Hero World Challenge on Sunday, December 3, finishing ahead of Austrian golfer Sepp Straka by three strokes. The American golfer came into the 2023 edition on the back of two consecutive Hero World Challenge runner-up finishes.
Viktor Hovland prevailed over Scheffler on both of those occasions. However, it took four rounds of 69-66-65-68 for him to finally get his hands on the trophy and the $1 million prize money. It was his first victory since The Players Championship earlier this year.
During the winner's press conference, Scheffler opened up about his win and said (via Aninews.com):
"It's great. I was kind of on the outside looking in the last couple of years on Sunday, and I needed a good back nine just to finish second, give myself an outside chance. So going in today, it was definitely nice being in the lead, and then I played golf to kind of finish it off."
Hovland, meanwhile, faltered. He was the better's favorite to clinch the trophy, considering his back-to-back wins in the FedEx Cup playoffs earlier this year. But he struggled throughout the tournament. He played three rounds over 70 until he regained his composure in the last one.
The Ryder Cup hero showed off his golfing prowess by making a set of three birdies and one eagle on the front and back nines in the final round. However, he also made a bogey on the 16th hole to settle for a score of 9-under-63. Hovland secured the 10th position on the leaderboard — 11 strokes behind the winner.
Scottie Scheffler's performance at the 2023 Hero World Challenge
Scottie Scheffler gave a strong showing at the 2023 Hero World Challenge, competing with some of the best golfers on the tour. But he remained consistent throughout the four rounds, ensuring that a 4-under-68 in R4 was more than enough to hand him a comfortable win.
The current World No. 1 had a rusty start to his game in the first round of the tournament. He carded a few birdies but also encountered difficulties with four bogeys. Nonetheless, he still managed to score 3-under 69.
Scheffler nevertheless had things in his favor right from the start of the round, with two back-to-back birdies on the second and third holes. As the game progressed, Scheffler skillfully added six more birdies along with two bogeys to score 6-under-66.
The 27-year-old made two eagles and three birdies in the third round, which took him a step closer to his victory. He then finished off the tournament after playing a bogey-free round with four birdies on Sunday.
Justin Thomas had a solo third-position finish, followed by Tony Finau and Matt Fitzpatrick, who finished T4. Tiger Woods, who returned to compete in professional tournaments after seven long months, settled for 18th place.
