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  Sports   In Other sports  30 Nov 2016  Hero World Challenge: Stage set for Tiger’s return

Hero World Challenge: Stage set for Tiger’s return

THE ASIAN AGE. | RAHUL BANERJI
Published : Nov 30, 2016, 2:32 am IST
Updated : Nov 30, 2016, 6:44 am IST

Woods is scheduled to tee up on Thursday for his first competitive round since the Wyndham Championship in August, 2015.

Tiger Woods and Pawan Munjal strike a moment at Albany, venue of the Hero World Challenge that tees off in The Bahamas on Thursday.
 Tiger Woods and Pawan Munjal strike a moment at Albany, venue of the Hero World Challenge that tees off in The Bahamas on Thursday.

Albany (The Bahamas): Though his formal return to the golf course is still two days away at the Hero World Challenge, tournament host Tiger Woods already has the social media space buzzing. Woods will first play the Pro-Am here on Wednesday, but it is Thursday’s tee-off at Albany that is fuelling the fire.

Woods is scheduled to tee up on Thursday for his first competitive round since the Wyndham Championship in August, 2015. He is the only five-time champion of the World Challenge, having won the tournament in 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2011.

“I am excited to make my return at the Hero World Challenge at Albany and play in this terrific tournament,” Woods said.

“This is our 18th year, and every year we put together a top field that showcases the best golfers from the previous season. Albany is an outstanding setting, and I can’t thank Hero MotoCorp enough for their support of the tournament and my foundation.”

Woods, whose Tiger Woods Foundation is the event’s charitable beneficiary along with the Tavistock Foundation and Albany Scholars Programme, last played in the tournament in 2014 in Orlando. What has the internet agog is something almost laughably mundane. “Which club will he pick up for his first competitive drive — on the 423-yard par-4 first hole at Albany”? is the speculation.

The hole itself on this links course, is a slight dog-leg right, which means laying the ball up well for the second shot. The narrow fairway bends just a shade around two-thirds of the way up, which means that Tiger will have to land the ball around the 260-270 yard mark, So will it be a wood, or a long iron?

On Monday, Woods spent extended time on the pitching green, hitting the ball at two holes, one about 15 yards away, the other 10 yards further up.

The swing was easy, relaxed and many of the resultant chips were no more than three-four feet from the pin. With his short game virtually the stuff of legend, it made for an encouraging sight.

Joining Woods in the field is defending champion Bubba Watson. Watson makes his title defence in a field that includes 13 of the top 25 players in the official world golf ranking, three major championship winners from 2016, the Rio Olympics’ gold, silver and bronze medallists, and 12 players who competed in October’s Ryder Cup.

The field: Dustin Johnson (3) USA, Henrik Stenson (4) Sweden, Jordan Spieth (5) USA, Hideki Matsuyama (6) Japan, Patrick Reed (8) USA, Bubba Watson (10) USA, Rickie Fowler (12) USA, Justin Rose (15) England, Brooks Koepka (17) USA, Russell Knox (19) Scotland, Jimmy Walker (20) USA, Matt Kuchar (22) USA, Emiliano Grillo (25) Argentina, Louis Oosthuizen (26) South Africa, J.B. Holmes (27) USA, Brandt Snedeker (28) USA, Tiger Woods (tournament host) USA and Zach Johnson (exemption) USA.

I have missed being a player: Tiger Woods
“There are nerves, sure, but I think that’s a good thing. It means I really want to be here, to be back,” Tiger Woods said ahead of the Hero World Challenge that tees off at this testing, sand-lined par-72 course here on Tuesday.

Speaking exclusively to a group of Indian media, Woods said that physically he was still some way from being fully ready, but was confident that his body would hold out after a near 17-month-long absence from competitive golf.

“We’ve been working on that (stamina and fitness). I started with a few rounds of four holes, worked up to nine, and then 18. We then played four days at a stretch and it’s looking good.

“There’s still some way to go before I can feel fully comfortable and I am not as filled up as I would like to be but that will take some time.”

So how does he feel it would be like being up against the new generation? “I am hitting the ball longer than ever before. I used to average 293 yards and John Daly back then was the first to average above 300.

“The guys now land the ball over 300 yards. So that’s one big adjustment. I can go long too but it just shows you how much things have changed since I’ve been away.

“Like I said, the important thing is that the nerves are there. And I’ve missed being a player. Missed the guys, the needling and the banter that is part of the Tour. Once you are inside the ropes you are competing, trying to beat each other’s brains out, but away from it, the camaraderie is what I am really looking forward to.”

Woods tees off in the first group in the Pro-Am on Wednesday morning, playing alongside Hero MotoCorp head honcho Pawan Munjal.

Tags: tiger woods, hero world challenge