Fifteen-time major winner and tournament host Tiger Woods said on Monday he would not compete in next month’s Hero World Challenge at Albany in the Bahamas from December 5 to 8 which suggests he has not recovered completely from lower back surgery in September.
In a statement, Woods said he was disappointed at missing the Bahamas event after not being listed in the initial field announced last month but expected to take one of the three tournament exemptions to complete the 20-strong entry list.
"I am disappointed that I will not be able to compete this year at the Hero World Challenge, but always look forward to being tournament host," the 48-year-old Woods posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Named to the tournament's three exemption places were Woods’ fellow-American and two-time major winner Justin Thomas, 2015 PGA champion Jason Day of Australia and two-time PGA Tour winner in 2024, Nick Dunlap, 20, of the US.
Woods did not make the halfway cut at The Open in July and had surgery for nerve impingement on his lower back in September. He is, however, scheduled to play the TGL series for Jupiter Links Golf Club at Palm Beach Gardens on January 14, 2025. Woods and Rory McIlroy are co-promoters of the technology-heavy arena-style event that involves six teams in all.
If he is fit, Woods and McIlroy are expected to face off for Jupiter Links GC and Boston Common Golf respectively on January 27 following the NYGC versus Atlanta Drive GC clash on January 21 with ESPN covering the series live.
The 2024 edition of the Hero World Challenge, t be held in the Bahamas for the ninth time, is headlined by world number one and defending champion Scottie Scheffler, and includes four of the world’s top ten-ranked players. Also in the field are Indian-Americans Sahith Theegala and Akshay Bhatia, for whom it will be a tournament debut.
Besides them six others -- Ludvig Åberg, Russel Henley, Robert MacIntyre, Aaron Rai, Matthieu Pavon, and Dunlap – will also be playing the World Challenge for the first time. The field will have players from seven countries including the US, Korea, England, Australia, Sweden, France and Scotland.
The field features six golfers who between them have won eight major championships – 2022 and 2024 Masters champion Scheffler, 2023 US Open champion Wyndham Clark, 2023 The Open winner Brian Harman, 2017 and 2022 PGA champion Justin Thomas, 2015 PGA Championship winner Jason Day, and 2011 PGA champion Keegan Bradley.
The field (nationality, world rankings in parentheses): Scottie Scheffler (1, USA), Ludvig Aberg (5, Sweden), Wyndham Clark (6, USA), Patrick Cantlay (9, USA), Sahith Theegala (12, USA), Keegan Bradley (13, USA), Russel Henley (15, USA), Robert MacIntyre (16, Scotland), Sam Burns (17, USA), Brian Harman (19, USA), Sungjae Im (20, Korea), Tony Finau (21, USA), Joohyung Kim (23, Korea)
Aaron Rai (24, England), Matthieu Pavon (26, France), Akshay Bhatia (28, USA), Cameron Young (29, USA), Justin Thomas (exemption, USA), Jason Day (exemption, Australia), and Nick Dunlap (exemption, USA).