When world number one Scottie Scheffler, USA, and Swedish world number five Ludvig Åberg tee off on Thursday for the invitational Hero World Challenge on the Bahamas, host Tiger Woods will be missing.
The 15-time major winner has often used his own tournament to make a comeback after an injury, but now he has only played it once since 2019.
"Wasted year"
This year is wasted. I couldn't play enough before the majors and I didn't play well in them, says Woods at a press conference.
He was forced to withdraw from his season debut in February after one round. He made the cut in this year's first major, the US Masters, but then missed the cut in the PGA Championship, the US Open, and the British Open. There were no more starts this year.
In February 2021, he was injured in a car accident. Even before the accident, he had undergone five back surgeries and in September this year, he had a sixth operation.
I had quite severe pain at the end of the season and therefore I had to do another surgery to alleviate the pain that radiated down to my legs.
In previous years, he has said that he will try to play tournaments once a month, but the last seasons have even contained fewer starts than this year.
Now he is unsure of what he can hope for.
Debut for Åberg
To be honest, I don't know. I'm just trying to do my rehab and get stronger and better. Try to create the best conditions for next year.
Even though the starting field in this year's tournament on the Bahamas is weaker than in previous years, nine of the world's top 20 are present. Ludvig Åberg, who makes his debut in Woods' tournament, is the second-highest ranked after world number one Scheffler.
I'm not good enough to compete with them at their level. When I'm ready to compete and play at this level, then I'll do it, says Tiger Woods, who turns 49 on December 30.
