Tiger Woods announced Justin Thomas, Jason Day and Nick Dunlap as three sponsor exemptions for the Hero World Challenge.
Tiger Woods announced Justin Thomas, Jason Day and Nick Dunlap as three sponsor exemptions for the Hero World Challenge. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
Woods announces Justin Thomas, Jason Day and Nick Dunlap as final three exemptions into 20-man field
Tiger Woods announced Monday that he will not play in the Hero World Challenge this December as he continues to recover from back surgery.
Woods hosts the annual TOUR stop in the Bahamas but has played the event just once in the last three years as he’s navigated health issues.
Woods underwent his sixth back surgery in September, aimed at alleviating back spasms and pain he experienced throughout the 2024 season.
“I am disappointed that I will not be able to compete this year at the Hero World Challenge, but always look forward to being tournament host and spending the week with @HeroMotoCorp,” Woods wrote on X.
In the same social media post, Woods announced the final three exemptions into the 20-man field: Justin Thomas, Jason Day and Nick Dunlap. Thomas and Day have both played the event before, while Dunlap will make his debut at Albany GC.
Woods last played in The Open Championship in July and left Royal Troon hoping he would play in his traditional December exhibitions, the Hero World Challenge and the parent-child PNC Championship that he plays alongside son Charlie. They have not committed yet to the PNC.
Woods has played infrequently since he sustained significant injuries in a 2021 single-car accident. He’s made 10 official starts since and completed four rounds twice.
He made the cut at this year’s Masters but shot 82-77 on the weekend to finish last. He missed the cut at the next three major championships.
Woods’ back issues are nothing new. The 82-time TOUR winner underwent five microdisectomy surgeries on his back from April 2014 to January 2021, the last coming just a month before Woods was involved in a single-vehicle rollover accident outside of Los Angeles.
The accident further complicated Woods’ health, particularly in his lower body. Woods suffered comminuted open fractures to the upper and lower sections of his right leg, as well as significant trauma to his right ankle.
Doctors inserted a rod, screws and pins to stabilize Woods’ leg. He withdrew from the third round of the 2023 Masters, citing plantar fasciitis in his right ankle. Later that month, he underwent a subtalar fusion procedure to the issue and missed the next 10 months.
Woods had hoped to play more frequently in 2024, saying at the Hero World Challenge last December that his goal was to play once a month. That didn’t come to fruition.
Woods’ procedure is not expected to impact his participation in the inaugural season of the TGL, which begins on Jan. 7, 2025, with Woods’ Jupiter Links set to play the following week.
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