The first tournament of the 2023 Arab Super League, the LIV Golf Mayakoba, goes to Charles Howell III. In Playa del Carmen, Mexico, full swag for the American who won the individual competition with a score of 197 (68 66 63, -16) strokes leading the “Crushers GC” team to success – led by Bryson DeChambeau, with Paul Casey and Anirban Lahiri – in the team competition conquered with a total of ‘-26’
The double feat, arrived on the El Camaleón Mayakoba course (par 71), earned Howell III $4,750,000.
Charles Howell III, statements
The 43-year-old from Augusta (Georgia, USA) hadn’t won a tournament since November 2018, when he managed to win the RSM Classic on the PGA Tour.
“This is an incredible success, far beyond what I could have ever imagined or dreamed of. Unfortunately, I haven’t won many races in my career and being able to do so in this event is something sensational”, the joy of Howell III.
That in the third and final round he recorded a bogey free with eight birdies, six of which came in the first nine holes. Howell III overtook fellow countryman Peter Uihlein, 2/o with 201 (-12) ahead of South African Branden Grace, 3/o with 203 (-10).
While the Australian Cameron Smith, fifth in the world, did not go beyond the 6th position with 207 (-6). Disappoints Dustin Johnson. Former number 1 in the world ranking, the American with a last round in 79 (+7) out of a total of 217 (+4) finished the competition in 37th place.
Job opportunities and a pleasant climate all year round, as well as the beauty of the Caribbean Sea, have transformed this fishing village into the epicenter of a tourist development unparalleled in the world. With it came infrastructure, health care, department stores, and often luxury housing, especially in the Playacar area.
Although there are many large and very large so-called all-inclusive hotel structures (often with entertainment), the dozens of small and charismatic hotels in Playa del Carmen convey to the visitor the charm of the small village, while an endless series of bars, restaurants and clubs on the Quinta Avenida, the pedestrian artery, offers itself as a fashionable alternative to the many typical restaurants and taquerias that can be easily reached with cheap taxis.
Unlike Cancún, a favorite destination for North American tourists, located about 65 km further north, buildings taller than 13.5 meters cannot be built in Playa del Carmen. The Free Trade Treaty which came into force in 1994 also allows foreigners to buy or build.
Also for this reason Playa del Carmen is currently the most successful resort of the so-called Rivera Maya. If Cancun is defined as a small Miami and Tulum is a place more appreciated by ecological tourism and with few economic resources, Playa is perfectly connected with any archaeological site or ecological tour of the Peninsula, and the informal style of its nights makes the stay more pleasant even to the youngest visitors.
Certainly it is no longer the fishing village it once was, but it is nonetheless a cauldron of cultural initiatives, a multi-ethnic laboratory where every rosiest improvement forecast is always exceeded, year after year.
