Tiger Woods Announces Hero World Challenge Field, With One Spot Left to Be Filled

Tiger Woods has announced 19 of the 20 players who will tee it up in Albany, Bahamas, on Nov. 30 for his annual limited-field event. The final exemption for the tournament will be announced “at a later date,” according to the official release, and it’s not out of the question that the last spot is being reserved for Woods himself. But the 15-time major champion has not committed to playing in the event at this time.

The tournament, which benefits Woods’s foundation, will feature world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler as well as two-time defending champion and 2023 FedEx Cup champion Viktor Hovland. Three members of the victorious European Ryder Cup team will be in attendance, as well as 11 of the Americans from the 2023 squad. LIV Golf’s Brooks Koepka is the only U.S. team member who will not be in attendance; he is not eligible to compete on the PGA Tour (the Hero World Challenge is an unofficial PGA Tour event).

Will Zalatoris also was announced as a member of the 19-man field. Zalatoris underwent surgery for a lingering back injury following the 2023 Masters, and the Bahamas event likely will be his first appearance back on Tour.

The first 19 players in the Hero World Challenge field are:

Scottie Scheffler

Viktor Hovland

Patrick Cantlay

Xander Schauffele

Max Homa

Matt Fitzpatrick

Brian Harman

Wyndham Clark

Jordan Spieth

Cameron Young

Keegan Bradley

Collin Morikawa

Tony Finau

Sam Burns

Jason Day

Sepp Straka

Will Zalatoris

Rickie Fowler (tournament exemption)

Justin Thomas (tournament exemption)

The final “tournament exemption,” which was marked “TBA” in the official event release, could be filled by the host himself. Woods underwent ankle surgery in April to treat arthritis which developed after his car accident in February 2021. Recently, however, the five-time Masters champion has been spotted at Pebble Beach and at a Liberty National charity event, where he hit wedge shots and appeared to be tuning up his game.

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— TGR Live (@TGRLiveEvents) October 7, 2023

Woods has played in just five official tournaments since he made his return to competition in 2022 at Augusta National. In 2023, he played at the Genesis Invitational at Riviera in Los Angeles, where he made the cut and placed T45. At the Masters, Woods withdrew before the final round due to his reaggravated plantar fasciitis.

Woods’s foot condition also forced him to withdraw from last year’s Hero World Challenge, in which he was originally slated to play. There is no guarantee that Woods will give this year’s event a shot, but the remaining exemption leaves him the option.