Albany (The Bahamas): Tackling the wind and short iron play will be key factors at the course here, venue of the $3.5 Hero World Challenge that teed off on Thursday. Almost every player coming off the Albany fairways on Wednesday made a mention of the first factor, and how much wedge use would matter on this par-72 7,000-plus yard course. Said tournament host Tiger Woods after his Pro-Am round on Wednesday, “This golf course is playing tough, it's just whipping out here. But I think they (green-keepers) did the right thing, slowed the greens down, single cut them because they would have been too quick with this much wind.”
“I probably did a dumb move in not playing in sunglasses out here because we're in carts zipping around and walking between holes and I'm starting to get a pretty good headache from squinting so much.” For player of the year Dustin Johnson, it is his swing that led to a series of consistent results. Known for his long hitting, Johnson felt it was his short game that was making the difference.
“I don't think the distance has anything to do with it, just a lot of work that I put in on the wedge game, that was a big factor this year. And then why I hit it so far, ask my coach because I just swing it and hit it. For Olympic silver medalist Henrik Stenson, much of his success comes from the mental side. Speaking after Wednesday’s round, the Swede said, “Golf is a game where you're never going to reach that goal where you're finished. You can always be better at all the different areas of the game and I think that's, for me it's two different parts.
Winner of the event in 2014 at Isleworth in Florida, Jordan Speith said his short play was an area he felt had improved after a relatively lean 2015. “The only stat that really stood out was approach yardage from – it was really my wedge play, 60 to about 140, 150 yards in the strokes gained department.”
