Tiger Woods will not play in the 2024 Hero World Challenge, the 15-time major winner announced Monday on social media. The tournament, hosted annually by Woods, takes place Dec 5-8 at Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas. While there was a spot for him in the 20-man field, the 48-year-old has chosen to forgo what would have been his first competitive start since The Open and first since undergoing a sixth back surgery in September.
"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 at the time. "I look forward to tackling this rehab and preparing myself to get back to normal life activities, including golf."
In recent years, this has been the time during which Tiger has emerged from his hibernation. Playing with his son, Charlie, at the PNC Championship the last four years, Woods added a stop at the Hero World Challenge in 2023 as he eyed a busier playing schedule for the upcoming PGA Tour season.
Playing in his event for the first time since 2019, the 15-time major champion put his game and physical endurance to the test. While Woods finished in 18th place with rounds of 75-70-71-72, he proved capable of walking 72 holes of tournament golf and appeared to get stronger as the week progressed. Unlike the PNC Championship where golf carts are permissible, the Hero World Challenge does not allow them.
Woods believed playing once a month was a "reasonable" goal in 2024, but unfortunately, the ambitions were never met. He played in five sanctioned tournaments and saw the weekend once. After getting off to a solid start in his season debut at the Genesis Invitational, Woods withdrew from the tournament due to illness and back spasms during his second round. He was not seen again until the Masters where he made the cut for a record 24th consecutive time but ultimately finished last.
Missed cuts followed at the final three major championships of the season. Woods has played in just 10 official PGA Tour events since he was seriously injured and hospitalized following a single-car crash in February 2021. His last top-20 finish on the PGA Tour came at the 2020 Farmers Insurance Open just two starts after securing his 82nd career victory at the Zozo Championship that prior fall.
