Tiger Woods at the 152nd Open Championship. | Photo by Pedro Salado/Getty Images
Following another back operation, Tiger Woods is not among the initial field at the Hero World Challenge in December.
As of right now, Tiger Woods will not play in the Hero World Challenge.
The Hero World Challenge, which Woods hosts every December in the Bahamas, is a made-for-TV event featuring a 20-man field. The 15-time major winner, when healthy, typically plays in this event annually. He indicated he would play again this year after missing the cut at Royal Troon this past July.
“I’m not going to play until then,” Woods said in July when asked about playing in the Bahamas.
“I’m going just to keep getting physically better and keep working on it.”
He also noted that he would again play in the PNC Championship in Orlando, a father-son event on the PGA Tour Champions.
But another back operation in mid-September has jeopardized that plan. Woods underwent microdecompression surgery of the lumbar spine for nerve impingement in his lower back in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 13.
“The surgery went smoothly, and I’m hopeful this will help alleviate the back spasms and pain I was experiencing throughout most of the 2024 season,” Woods said in a statement on X.
“I look forward to tackling this rehab and preparing myself to get back to normal life activities, including golf.”
That said, Woods did leave the door open for him to play. Only 17 players have officially committed, with the three remaining spots saved for “TBA tournament exemption.” Woods, of course, could use one of those on himself should he feel healthy enough to tee it up.
Last year, Woods finished in solo 18th as Scottie Scheffler took home the title by three shots over 2023 Ryder Cup rookie Sepp Straka.
Scheffler is slated to defend. The other 16 players committed to this year’s Hero World Challenge follow below:
Scottie Scheffler
Ludvig Åberg
Wyndham Clark
Hideki Matsuyama
Patrick Cantlay
Sahith Theegala
Keegan Bradley
Russell Henley
Robert MacIntyre
Sam Burns
Brian Harman
Sungjae Im
Tony Finau
Tom Kim
Aaron Rai
Billy Horschel
Matthieu Pavon
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
