By Christopher Powers
Eighteen of the top-ranked players in the world head to The Bahamas this week for the Hero World Challenge, held at Albany in New Providence. While the event is recognized on the PGA Tour schedule and has a purse of $3,500,000, it is not an official money event, but it does offer World Ranking points. Tiger Woods is the tournament host, and the event is a benefit for his foundation.

Headlining the field is Woods, who began his latest comeback at the Hero a year ago and showed flashes of his former self. At the time, his T-9 finish in a field of 18 was nothing special, but his Friday and Sunday 68s would be a sign of things to come in a season that saw him climb from 1,199th to 13th in the Official World Golf Ranking, win the Tour Championship and contend in the final two majors of the season. He returns to the Hero this year fresh off an eventful loss to Phil Mickelson in “The Match,” where neither he nor Mickelson had their best stuff. Woods will play alongside Justin Thomas on Thursday and Friday.

Also back in the field is defending champion Rickie Fowler, who carded a final-round 11-under 61 at Albany last year to win by four strokes. The incredible performance leads many to believe the four-time tour winner was in for a big season, but Fowler was unable to notch another victory, though he came close at the Masters. He’ll play with Dustin Johnson on Thursday and Friday.

Thursday Tee Times (all times ET)
Tee No. 1
11:10 a.m. — Tony Finau, Gary Woodland
11:21 a.m. — Keegan Bradley, Hideki Matsuyama
11:32 a.m. — Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele
11:43 a.m. — Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson
11:54 a.m. — Jon Rahm, Alex Noren
12:05 p.m. — Justin Thomas, Tiger Woods
12:16 p.m. — Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson
12:27 p.m. — Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson
12:38 p.m. — Jason Day, Bryson DeChambeau

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By Ryan Herrington
A pain-free practice round at the site of the Hero World Challenge was the latest hurdle that Tiger Woods cleared on Sunday as he prepared for his return to competitive golf this week.

According to Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard, Woods made his way around the Albany course on Sunday in the Bahamas in 2 hours and 10 minutes, using a cart and joined by caddie Joe LaCava, as he got in more prep work in anticipation of this week’s return.

Woods didn’t elaborate on a score or whether he played a full 18 holes, but sounded pleased with his game as he discussed his preparation of late ahead of the 18-man tournament he’ll compete in and host, the proceeds of which benefit the Tiger Woods Foundation.

Specifically, Woods talked about his round on Friday in Florida with President Donald Trump, Dustin Johnson and Brad Faxon. It was Faxon who told Golfweek that Woods was outdriving Johnson on “half the holes,” adding to the anticipation for how Tiger will fare in his return.

“[Johnson is] the No. 1 player in the world. He’s been playing, I haven’t been playing,” Woods told reporters on Sunday. “It’s nice to compare my game to some of the other guys, like Dustin or Rickie [Fowler] or Rory [McIlroy]. It’s nice to do something like that and compete and have a couple little denominations [a bet] we’re playing for. I like seeing where I’m at.”

Most importantly, Woods was asked about his swing and whether there’s any issues in terms of pain or discomfort. His response should make any Tiger fan hopeful that this comeback is far different from his recent, short-lived attempts to play again.

“I am a little surprised,” Woods said. “The fact that I don’t have any pain in my lower back compared to what I was living with for years, it’s just remarkable.”

Here’s a look, courtesy of the tournament’s Twitter feed:

Welcome to the 2017 #heroworldchallenge | @TigerWoods pic.twitter.com/p4MfWOyz32

— Hero World Challenge|TGR Live (@TGRLiveEvents) November 26, 2017

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On Monday, Woods announced on Twitter he’ll return to competitive golf at next month’s Hero World Challenge (Nov. 30-Dec. 3) in the Bahamas. Woods and Daniel Berger were given the final two spots in the 18-man field. Just a guess, but it probably wasn’t a tough decision to add the 14-time major champ to the event.

RELATED: Tiger Woods looks good in practice, according to observers

“I am excited to return to competitive golf at the Hero World Challenge,” Woods said in a statement on his website. “Albany is the perfect setting, and it will be great to join this outstanding field. I want to thank Pawan Munjal and Hero MotoCorp for their continued support of this tournament and my foundation. I would also like to thank the fans for their unwavering support during my injury.”

Woods hasn’t played in a tournament since withdrawing after the first round of the Dubai Desert Classic in February. In April, he underwent a fourth back surgery.

Woods also made a long-awaited return at the Hero World Challenge in 2016. He tied for the most birdies made at the event, but only finished 15th of 17 players.

At the very least, Woods has a chance to finish what has been a rough year off the course with some positives on it. In addition to dealing with his bad back, on Friday Woods pled guilty to reckless driving after entering a pre-trial diversion program stemming from a Memorial Day DUI arrest.

An assistant captain at last month’s Presidents Cup, Woods admitted at Liberty National that he could “definitely” see a scenario in which he never returned to competitive golf. However, that statement seemed less likely with each swing video Woods shared, including one last week that he captioned “Return of the Stinger” and showed off his patented low-trajectory tee shot.

Return of the Stinger. #starwars pic.twitter.com/R7srIDGXjl

— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) October 23, 2017

Two days later, Ian Baker-Finch created more buzz when he said Woods “looked good” when he saw him playing at Medalist Golf Club. And in just a few weeks, golf fans will get to see for themselves.

The post Tiger Woods to return to competitive golf at Hero World Challenge appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The nine-time major champion had made it clear that he wanted in for this year’s post-Masters spring break with Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Justin Thomas and Smylie Kaufman.

Looks like he didn’t make the cut.

Mr. Player had made it pretty clear he wanted to hang with the fellas out at Baker’s Bay, sharing this great tweet last year.

#SpringBreak c.1965. @JackNicklaus and I out on safari in South Africa. Good times. How about an invite to #SB2K17 pic.twitter.com/RNJ0S0VPhb

— GARY PLAYER (@garyplayer) April 26, 2016

There’s no doubt in our mind the 81-year-old could’ve kept up with the boys — no one’s in better shape than Player.

Sorry, Gary. You’ll just have to enjoy #SB2K17 as it plays out on Snapchat with the rest of us. Let the FOMO sink in. –– By Stephen Hennessey

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Last Friday, Smylie Kaufman looked me in the face and said #SB2K17 was in serious jeopardy of not happening.

“We’ve talked, but I doubt we can get anything on paper,” Kaufman said. “Everybody’s got such busy schedules.”

Well, either Smylie was a last-minute invite (unlikely since he was voted the MVP of #SB2K16) or he was just throwing everybody off the scent (there were a lot of thirsty pros looking for an invite), because the boys are back in town. And by town, we mean Baker’s Bay.

On Tuesday, just two days after the Masters ended, Smylie, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas all began sharing photos and videos from their latest brocation to this exclusive location in the Bahamas.

https://twitter.com/JustinThomas34/status/851854470455709696

#SB2K17 is on!! SnapChat ? RickieFowler15

— Rickie Fowler (@RickieFowler) April 11, 2017

And this year, they’ve even got their own Snapchat filter:

The Spring Break boys are back ?

A post shared by Golf Digest (@golfdigest) on Apr 11, 2017 at 12:01pm PDT

So if you care to follow along, hop on Snapchat or check back here for more of this fun foursome’s shenanigans. Prediction: There will be more to come. A LOT more to come.

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