Tiger Woods will be making his way back on the green at the Hero World Challenge. Woods has not played since the Wyndham Championship because of back surgery last year.
“I am excited to make my return at the Hero World Challenge at Albany and play in this terrific tournament,” Woods said. “This is our 18th year, and every year we put together a top field that showcases the best golfers from the previous season. Albany is an outstanding setting, and I can’t thank Hero MotoCorp enough for their support of the tournament and my foundation.”
Woods at one point was ranked number one in the world for 683 weeks, which was the most for any player in the PGA. Woods is currently ranked 89th in the world. It will be interesting to see how Woods looks after all this time. He stated that he is fine and his stroke is getting better every day.
“The golf ball is the most important club in the bag,” Woods said. “ … It’s a lot of testing, but I’m getting my golf stamina back so I can do this.”
There is a lot of pressure on Woods and the performance that he could bring coming back on the green. Woods was asked if he was nervous and this is what he said. “Yes, I’m nervous.” “I’m nervous for every tournament I play in, whether it’s after a layoff, or six in a row, or a major. I care. If I care, I’m nervous. And it’s good to be that way. To have that nervous energy and channel it, into aggression, into focus, into concentration, that’s good stuff.”
“If I wasn’t nervous, that would mean I didn’t care. I don’t want to be out there flat. I want to be out here so bad and now I am.”
The Hero World Challenge consists of four-round 72-hole stroke play event with a $3.5 million purse. It will be held at the challenging par-72, 7,302-yard Albany for the second consecutive year.
Live television coverage of the Hero World Challenge will be provided by Golf Channel during all four rounds and by NBC during the third and fourth rounds.
Here is the list of players that will play this weekend:
Dustin Johnson (2), USA
Jordan Spieth (4), USA
Henrik Stenson (5), Sweden
Patrick Reed (7), USA
Bubba Watson (8), USA
Hideki Matsuyama (10), Japan
Rickie Fowler (11), USA
Justin Rose (12), England
Jimmy Walker (17), USA
Matt Kuchar (19), USA
Russell Knox (20), Scotland
Brandt Snedeker (22), USA
Brooks Koepka (23), USA
Louis Oosthuizen (24), South Africa
J.B. Holmes (25), USA
Emiliano Grillo (26), Argentina
Tiger Woods (tournament host), USA
Zach Johnson (exemption), USA
