Hero World Challenge Recap: Rahm Wins by Four Shots

There really is no end when it comes to golf. There are tournaments somewhere in the world every week of the year, even Christmas week, when the Asian Tour's Q school, of all things, will be contested. There are lesser European Tour events in South Africa the next couple of weeks, and there's an event of note in Indonesia coming up – Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson are even supposed to play in that one (woo-hoo). But the Hero World Challenge surely seems like the last hurrah of 2018. And, from our vantage point, it's about time. As in: We love our golf but, c'mon, take a break!

For the record, Jon Rahm won the Hero by four shots over of-course-he-didn't-win Tony Finau. And just as well that it wasn't close down the stretch, because this 18-man Bahama's cash grab has all the urgency of Sunday brunch. Really, the biggest takeaway from Albany golf course was at the other end of the leaderboard. That's where Tiger Woods, who for the first time in years arrived with a real chance to win his invitational tournament, spent the weekend battling Hideki Matsuyama for last place. More on Tiger in a moment.

As for Rahm, the win moved him to No. 6 in the world. But let's not mistake this for a monumental achievement against many of the game's best. You never know who was playing hard and who flew down to work on their bank accounts … um … we mean … to work on their tans.

The Spaniard has so much upside. He just turned 24, which means he's the youngest of anyone in the top-10. And he impressively has already won six times worldwide, three in 2017 and three in 2018. This latest development surely doesn't make our prediction from the RotoWire preview package look too good. We stated that Rahm, who was No. 8 at the time, would slip a bit in 2019 – a mini-bust, if you will – to outside the top-10.

Interestingly, the biggest of Rahm's six wins, at least in terms of world rankings points, was his first: the 2017 Farmers Insurance Open. In less than two months, that victory will be erased from his OWGR counting period, but because it was so long ago it will do little to dent his standing. Perhaps we're grasping at straws. Because even if we're somehow right and Rahm does fall from the top-10, he surely is poised to be among the game's elite for the foreseeable future. Maybe not No. 1, but elite.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Tiger Woods
Since Woods won the Tour Championship, he was a dud in the Ryder Cup, he lost The Match to Phil Mickelson and he was a nonfactor at the Hero. We've always talked about players taking a step back after a career-altering or life-altering win. But usually we're talking about a young guy and his first win or maybe first major. It's probably not applicable here. We probably won't see Woods again till Torrey Pines in close to two months, so he'll have plenty of time to recharge by then. He dropped a spot to No. 14 in the world.

Tony Finau
Finau never wins, so it perhaps would've been fitting to win a tournament that doesn't count, at least on the PGA Tour ledger. But true to form, Finau couldn't even win this kind of tournament. Still, the top-10 machine has finally cracked single digits in the world rankings, moving up to No. 9. It's not unprecedented, but it's really hard to get such a high ranking without a win (yes, we know Finau has a win, the 2016 Puerto Rico Open, but it was a second-tier event, and furthermore doesn't even still count in his OWGR points). Here's another prediction, for what it's worth: Finau will get a win in 2019, a real one. (Not a very bold take, we know.)

Justin Rose
Finau birdieing the 18th hole relegated Rose to solo third, which prevented him from overtaking Brooks Koepka for the No. 1 ranking on which they keep flip-flopping. Rose needed no worse than a tie for second. Of course, it really doesn't matter anywhere in fantasy golf what a guy's ranking is. More to the point, Rose had another high finish, even in a tournament with little relevance – he tries hard every week no matter what. Twitter's OWGR expert, Nosferatu (@VC606), says Koepka will stay at the top for two weeks, but that Rose could overtake him at the Indonesian Masters. Even though that's the flagship event on the Asian Tour, the field isn't that deep, and all Rose would need to take back the No. 1 ranking would be a top-13, according to our Twitter guy.

Hideki Matsuyama
As we keep saying, the tournament meant little so that it's not worth drawing any conclusions. Still, we would've felt a bit better about Matsuyama heading into 2019 had he not finished in last place. He was the only golfer in the field who didn't finish under par; he was even.

Australian PGA

Cameron Smith
Smith successfully defended his title to move to a career-best 28th in the world rankings. He impressively held off Marc Leishman in the final round. But outside those two, there was no one of consequence in the tournament, so take the victory for what it's worth. In fact, in terms of world-ranking points, Smith has three career non-wins more valuable than his two Aussie PGA wins. Still, he's had a bunch of top-fives in big events, including the Masters earlier this year, and is on a fast track to bigger and better results. Smith only recently turned 25.

Marc Leishman
Finishing as the runner-up did little for Leishman other than ensure he will finish the year in the top-20. He moved from 21st to 19th. Even though 2018 would be viewed as a down year for Leishman in terms of world ranking – he started the year at No. 12 – the big Aussie still is a force capable of winning any time he tees it up. Leishman won three times across 2017 and '18.

Robert Allenby
To illustrate how weak the field was, the 47-year-old Allenby tied for 16th. That was his best finish since a Web.com Tour event in early 2017 and the best in a "real" tourney in more than two years, since the 2016 Australian Open. Allenby, who is counting the days till he's eligible for the Champion's Tour – and, unfortunately for him, there are still really a lot of days to go – he jumped almost 500 positions in the OWGR, from outside the 1,700s to the 1,200s.

Afrasia Bank Mauritius Open at Anahita

Kurt Kitayama
In a tournament tri-sanctioned by the European, Sunshine and Asian Tours, the little-known Californian won his first career tournament just weeks after a successful trek through Euro Q School. The win moved Kitayama to 198th in the world, which is higher than a lot of guys playing PGA Tour events. The 25-year-old attended UNLV and has spent most of his professional time on the Web and Asian Tours. … The Sunshine Tour is South Africa's golf circuit.

Dylan Frittelli
The South African who recently locked up his PGA Tour card was the highest-ranked golfer in the field and the defending champion. Frittelli tied for fifth and moved to 74th in the OWGR. But that's down from a year ago, when he finished 2017 at 53rd. Frittelli had one good finish of note on the PGA Tour last year, tying for 11th at the Honda. He's a fringe guy on whom to keep an eye in 2019.