Tiger Woods speaks during a press conference ahead of the 2023 Genesis Invitational. | Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
Tiger Woods will make his return to competitive golf on Nov. 30, more than six months after his appearance at the 2023 Masters.
Tiger Woods will return to competitive golf exactly one week from Thursday.
He has not played a professional round since the 2023 Masters, where he withdrew after a cold, wet, and windy third round. Woods cited issues with his foot and ankle. He subsequently had surgery on his ankle a few weeks later.
Since then, Woods has rehabbed, caddied for his son Charlie, and teased fans with some videos of his swing. But he seems fully recovered, as Woods will tee it up at the 2023 Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.
Interestingly, Woods picked the Hero World Challenge to return from injury in 2017. He underwent multiple back surgeries that year and even told close friends that he could be done playing professionally.
Alas, the competitive spirit within the 15-time major champion will never die. That week, he finished in a tie for ninth, carding three rounds in the 60s.
Photo by Ryan Young/PGA TOUR
Tiger Woods plays a shot during the final round of the 2017 Hero World Challenge.
Rickie Fowler ended up winning the 2017 Hero World Challenge by four shots.
The following year, Woods went on to win the Tour Championship, his first PGA Tour victory since 2013. He almost won the 2018 PGA Championship at Bellerive, too, finishing runner-up to Brooks Koepka. Of course, that was just a harbinger of things to come, as Woods recorded his greatest triumph at Augusta National in the spring of 2019—his 15th major title.
But now things are different for Woods.
He had a near-death experience in February 2021, as a car crash almost forced the amputation of his leg. He has struggled to walk golf courses consistently since then, signaling that his time in professional golf could be drawing to a close.
Yet, we should never count him out.
So, with that in mind, what are your expectations for Woods next week?
Are you looking for him to break par?
Or to simply finish 72 holes?
I hope Woods can play all four rounds without any issues. Hopefully, he can show glimpses of his extraordinary past, too. If he does that, the 2023 Hero World Challenge will be a resounding success. Whether I expect him to do this is a different story, however.
What do you think? What are your expectations?
Let us know in the comments below or on X at @_PlayingThrough.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
