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Tiger Woods is back in action after more than seven months with a Hero World Challenge that is set to kick off on Thursday, November 30 at Albany, Bahamas.
On Tuesday, November 28, Woods was spotted practicing at the Albany Golf Club, ahead of the first round of the Hero World Challenge. In a few clips shared online, he was seen sporting a grey t-shirt and black trousers as he did some swinging practice. Looking limp-free after a long time, the veteran golfer practiced with the FullSwing KIT to monitor his swing. The swing was still looking excellent despite the long break.
Paul Hodowanic shared one clip on X (formerly called Twitter) and wrote:
"It still sounds pure, if you were wondering."
The Hero World Challenge is Woods' first event since he withdrew from the third round of the Masters Tournament after his knee couldn't take it any longer. A few days later, he underwent subtalar fusion surgery on his right ankle and remained out of professional golf to recover completely.
While there were many speculations on the 82-time PGA Tour champion's return, he put all of them to an end after announcing his comeback with the Albany event, which is hosted by himself.
Although Tiger's swing looked sublime, his game is still rusty, which is understandable given what he has gone through. Speaking at the pre-event conference on Tuesday, he said he was excited to be back.
He said:
"I'm just as curious as all of you are to see what happens because I haven't done it in a while. I can tell you this, I don't have any of the pain that I had at Augusta or pre that in my ankle. Well, other parts are taking the brunt of the load so I'm a little more sore in other areas, but the ankle's good. So that surgery was a success."
The 20-player field consists of 11 of the top 20 players in the OWGR fighting for the purse size of $4.5 million and ranking points. Viktor Hovland is a two-time defending winner, as he beat Scottie Scheffler on both occasions. He is the only multiple-time champion of the event apart from Tiger Woods. For the uninitiated, the 47-year-old golfer has won the Hero World Challenge five times in his career.
TGR Ventures' Vice President Rob McNamara to caddie Tiger Woods at Hero World Challenge
Tiger Woods' longtime business partner, Rob McNamara, will be caddying for Woods at the Hero World Challenge. McNamara serves as the executive vice president of Woods' company, TGR Ventures.
During the pre-event press conference at Albany on Tuesday, November 28, the 15-time major champion confirmed McNamara as his caddie for the week. He expressed doubt over his son Charlie Woods ability to caddie for him.
While this week's caddie situation is resolved for Tiger Woods, there is currently no clarity regarding the PGA Tour 2024 season. Earlier this year, he parted ways with his former caddie and longtime friend, Joe LaCava, who is now caddying for Patrick Cantlay.
