Tournament host Tiger Woods released the initial field list for the Hero World Challenge and once again has attracted many of golf’s stars to the 20-man exhibition.
The biggest name in golf, however, is not on it: His.
Woods has not competed since July 15, when he missed the cut at the Open Championship at St. Andrews’ Old Course. After he mangled his right leg in a single-car crash in early 2021, the 46-year-old Woods has struggled to regain some semblance of the form that led to a record-tying 82 PGA Tour victories, including 15 major championships.
Woods has slid to No. 1,195 in the Official World Golf Ranking but has one of the final three exemptions waiting to the Dec. 1-4 event at Albany in The Bahamas, should he feel up to it. The tournament, an unofficial event on the PGA Tour calendar, nonetheless awards world-ranking points and benefits Woods’ TGR Foundation.
Sixteen of the top 20 in the OWGR have committed, led by world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.
Woods has competed in only three tournaments since returning from reconstructive leg surgery and extensive rehabilitation, compiling a 75.1 stroke average in nine rounds. He typically circles the Hero event and the PNC Father-Son Championship, in which he has teamed with his son, Charlie, and will be played two weeks later in Orlando, Florida, on his December calendar.
“We might see him one time this fall,” Notah Begay III, who roomed with Woods in college at Stanford and remains a confidant, said on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio. “He might surprise everybody.” READ MORE
LIV Golf lost another round in its court fight against the PGA Tour when a federal judge ruled that the four remaining plaintiffs must disclose communications between themselves and “outside counsel” that might predate the Aug. 3 filing of the antitrust lawsuit, according to media reports.
The plaintiffs are LIV Golf and players Bryson DeChambeau, Matt Jones and Peter Uihlein. Originally, 11 LIV Golf players filed an antitrust lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Northern California, but Phil Mickelson and seven other players dropped out as plaintiffs and LIV Golf added its name to an amended complaint. In answering the amended complaint, the PGA Tour filed a countersuit against LIV Golf on Sept. 28.
Judge Susan Van Keulen ruled against LIV Golf’s argument that the rival tour would be “costly, time consuming and unduly burdensome” and could provide “sensitive business information.”
Summary judgment is scheduled for July, and a trial date has been set for Jan. 8, 2024. READ MORE and MORE
TAP-INS
The Japan Golf Tour is considering an alliance with the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, according to a report by Associated Press golf writer Doug Ferguson. The PGA Tour is scheduled to visit Tokyo for the Zozo Championship this week. READ MORE
Na Yeon Choi, 34, whose nine LPGA victories include the 2012 U.S. Women’s Open, announced that she will retire from competitive golf after the BMW Ladies Championship on Oct. 20-23 in her native South Korea. Choi also won eight times on the Korean LPGA. READ MORE
The Korn Ferry Tour will play 26 tournaments spanning five countries and 18 American states in 2023, officials announced in releasing the schedule for the PGA Tour’s top developmental circuit. The schedule includes three new stops – Chile, Oklahoma and New Jersey – a return to four playoff events and a record $28 million in prize money, up 37.6 percent from this year’s $20.35 million. The tour will award its top 30 finishers on the season points list with promotions to the PGA Tour. READ MORE
The developmental PGA Tour Latinoamérica will visit seven countries for a 12-event schedule that was announced last week by the parent PGA Tour. READ MORE
The USGA has opened nominations for the 2023 Bob Jones Award, which recognizes sportsmanship, character and respect in honor of the late champion. READ MORE
Golf will make its debut in the Commonwealth Games in 2026 in Australia, organizers announced. Golf returned to the Olympics in 2016 after a 112-year absence. The quadrennial Commonwealth Games invite teams from the 56-member Commonwealth of Nations, most of which hold historical ties to the British Empire. READ MORE
Eighty qualifiers were announced for the Drive Chip and Putt National Finals to be held Sunday, April 2, ahead of the 2023 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. The three-event finals will feature boys and girls ages 7-15 in four age divisions competing in driving accuracy, chipping and putting. READ MORE
Brit Stenson of Shaker Heights, Ohio, was elected to a one-year term as president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects. READ MORE
Work on the first Jack Nicklaus-branded residential golf community in Europe has begun, according to a report by London’s The Golf Business. A 1,600-acre site at the Ury Estate in Stonehaven, Scotland, will feature an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course and luxury homes READ MORE
The R&A has purchased land about a mile from its clubhouse in St. Andrews, Scotland, with plans to consolidate staff in new offices, according to a Golf Digest report. READ MORE
Staff and Wire Reports