New Delhi: Tiger Woods is back. Again. Following a nine-month hiatus, the 14-time major winner and tournament host will make a comeback to competitive golf at the 2017 Hero World Challenge that will be played from November 30 to December 3 at Albany, the Bahamas.
The first signs that Woods would be back for this event that is backed by Hero MotoCors came when he posted a series of videos, the most recent of which was with a long iron, suggesting he was able to swing the club freely to test his mending back. Last year at Albany, Tiger played the full four rounds, posting the most birdies in the field, and also the most dropped shots.
“I am excited to return to competitive golf at the Hero World Challenge,” Woods, a five-time winner of the event, said. “Albany is the perfect setting and it will be great to join this outstanding field.”
The 18-strong invitational field is top heavy as always with the world’s top four — Dustin Johnson, Jordan Speith, Hideki Matsuyama and Justin Thomas — being joined by the likes of Jason Day, Rickie Fowler, Brooks Koepka, Justin Rose and others. Daniel Berger joins the field on exemption after one of his best years as a professional, earning his second career PGA Tour win and representing the USA in the Presidents Cup.
Woods last played a competitive round, a 77 in the first round of the Dubai Desert Classic in February. He pulled out the next day and had to go through another back operation in April, his fourth, that sidelined him for the remainder of the season. Woods’ last win in a major came at the US Open in 2008.
Likely field:
Dustin Johnson (1), USA; Jordan Spieth (2), USA; Hideki Matsuyama (3), Japan; Justin Thomas (4), USA; Jason Day (7), Australia; Rickie Fowler (8), USA; Brooks Koepka (11), USA; Matt Kuchar (12), USA; Justin Rose (13), England; Alex Noren (14), Sweden.
