Aaron Rai wins Hero Shot

Aaron Rai, one of the three Indian-origin players in the star-studded Hero World Challenge won the Hero Shot, the curtain raiser to the USD 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 to 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. Sahith Theegala, Akshay Bhatia and Rai, all of whom have won on the PGA Tour, will be the Indian-origin players taking part in HWC.

Round one of Hero Shot saw each player taking six shots at the target, with golf balls landing in an outer ring worth 250 points. The balls coming to rest in the inner circle was worth 500 points and any ball splashing down in the two-foot-diameter cup fetched 1,000 and an automatic advancement to the next round. The sixth ball in each round was worth double points.

As many as eight players make their HWC debut including Ludvig Åberg, Theegala, Henley, MacIntyre, Rai, Matthieu Pavon, Bhatia and Dunlap. World No.1 Scottie Scheffler is the defending champion. Woods, a five-time winner of the event, is not competing in his own event as he continues to recover from a back surgery. PTI COR BS BS