Fans will have to wait a little longer to see the return of Tiger Woods. The golf legend recently announced that he will not play in the Hero World Challenge this week due to an injury to his right foot. Woods said he still plans to compete in The Match and PNC Championship with his son Charlie.
“In my preparation and practice for this week’s Hero World Challenge, I’ve developed plantar fasciitis in my right foot, which is making it difficult to walk,” Woods explained in a statement posted to his Twitter account. “After consulting with my doctors and trainers, I have decided to withdraw this week and focus on my hosting duties.”
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The last tournament Woods competed in was The 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews in July where he missed the cut. This past season, Woods just competed in nine rounds in three majors, which were also his first starts since he was injured in a car accident outside Los Angeles in February 2021. In April this year, Woods finished 47th in the Masters. In the following month, Woods withdrew from the PGA Championship after playing 54 holes.
Sepp Straka will take Woods’s place in the Hero World Challenge, which is a no-cut tournament. Straka is ranked No. 29 in the world and won one PGA Tour tournament in his career. While speaking with the Florida Times-Union earlier this month, Straka talked about the success he had this season.
“The whole season was kind of a dream come true,” Straka said. “Playing the 150th Open at St. Andrews was amazing, with my brother on the bag there. There’s just so many tournaments that I’ve always kind of dreamed of playing and was able to play last year … dreams come true.”
Straka, who is from Austria, also talked about living playing golf in Lowndes, Georgia. “It was big … [Lowndes] is very different,” he said. “We had spent a decent amount in South Georgia, my mom’s side of the family is in South Georgia, so we always went and visited them. So we kind of knew what we were getting into, but yeah, the difference is huge, mostly in the school side.” The Hero World Challenge takes place in the Bahamas and starts on Thursday.
