Tiger Woods has been the PGA Tour’s special star for the past 20 years and there’s an all-star field headed to Albany in the Bahamas this week for Tiger’s Hero World Challenge.
The COVID pandemic wiped out last year’s tournament and a lot has transpired in the world of Tiger Woods since then. The world of golf took a turn for the worse last February when Tiger was seriously injured in a single car crash.
After nine months of recovery, Tiger’s actually swinging a club again, hitting golf balls on the range and it’s expected he’ll be on hand this week to play host to an elite field headed by world’s No. 2 Collin Morikawa, winner two weeks ago of the Race To Dubai and the DP World Tour Championship.
The eyes of the golf world will be focused on the Bahamas, not because of anyone in the field but because this will be the first public appearance by Woods. As host, Woods will most likely have a press conference and give him first comments and update on his physical condition since he was mangled in that wreck nine months ago.
Will Tiger actually be on site? Well, take this as a yes — his mega-yacht, The Privacy, is already there, docked and waiting for its owner — who typically stays on the yacht at tournaments where water is close.
Tiger isn’t playing but his presence will totally overshadow the field.
Morikawa’s win in Dubai was impressive. While he struggled at times the first three rounds, his “A” game came to life down the stretch as he ran down 54-hole leader Rory McIlroy and everyone else for the victory.
Speaking of McIlroy, he’ll be in the field and will no doubt get some questions about that shirt-ripping of his following his meltdown in Dubai over the final five holes.
Brooks Koepka is fresh off his tromping of Bryson DeChambeau last Friday at the fifth edition of “The Match” and even though this is far from a major, perhaps Brooks is a bit more motivated than he normally would be.
Other players in the field include:
Abraham Ancer, Daniel Berger, Patrick Cantlay, DeChambeau, DeChambeau, Harris English, Tony Finau, Tyrrell Hatton, iktor Hovland, Hideki Matsuyama, Patrick Reed, Justin Rose, Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler, Webb Simpson, Jordan Spieth and Henrik Stenson.
Stenson was the winner of the 2019 Hero World Challenge and by default, is the defending champion.
