The PGA Tour is in recess until the first week of January, but golf will stay in the news because Tiger Woods is heavily involved in events the next two weeks.
Woods, who is Captain of the United States Team for the 13th Presidents Cup next week at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia, is hosting the 21st Hero World Challenge beginning Wednesday at Albany Golf Club https://www.albanybahamas.com in New Providence, Bahamas.
Woods, Jordan Spieth, Gary Woodland, Henrik Stenson of Sweden, Jon Rahm of Spain and Bryson DeChambeau kicked off the week on Monday with the Hero Shot at nearby Baha Mar Resort in Nassau, each taking shots from a makeshift tee box at a makeshift green 130 yards away.
Spieth and Woods reached the final, with the tournament host twirling his wedge after hitting the bullseye to win the competition.
“My swing felt pretty good tonight,” said Woods, who has won the Hero World Challenge five times, but not since 2011. “It’s a big week and a big day.”
Woods and defending champion Rahm lead the 18-player field, and other former champions playing are Spieth (2014), Rickie Fowler (2017) and Bubba Watson (2015).
There are 11 of the 12 players on the U.S. squad for the Presidents Cup in the field, including Woods, Fowler, DeChambeau, Woodland, Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Webb Simpson, Matt Kuchar, Tony Finau and Patrick Reed.
All 12 would be there had Dustin Johnson not withdrawn to continue therapy from knee surgery and practice in order to be ready for the Presidents Cup.
Rounding out the strong field are Stenson, Justin Rose of England, Kevin Kisner and Chez Reavie—who replaced Johnson.
“The only thing that I have control over at the Hero is the first-round pairings,” Woods said. “Put together the pairings the first day and that’s about it. Other than that, we re-pair every single day and after that, it’s a crapshoot and based on how you play. Some of the guys may want to play with certain players. We’ll talk about that. They can use that.
“More than anything, I want them to use that as a tournament to get sharp, knock the rust off and be ready to go to Oz and be ready to bring home a Cup.”
Of course, he wants to win this one first.
For first-round pairing and tee times, visit https://heroworldchallenge.com/pairings/
