Following a greater than four-month absence since final teeing it up on the 2022 Open Championship at St. Andrews, Tiger Woods was anticipated to return to the course this week on the 2022 Hero World Challenge, which his basis hosts. Instead, Woods has been compelled to withdraw from his personal occasion and delay his return to golf due to an injured proper foot.
“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 ot walk,” Woods defined. “After consulting with my doctors and trainers, I have decided to withdraw this week and focus on my hosting duties.”
Sepp Straka, who’s ranked No. 29 on the planet, will substitute Woods on the occasion, bumping the variety of high 30 gamers within the subject up from 17 to 18.
Though the harm is to the identical leg that was surgically repaired in a February 2021 automotive wreck, it isn’t recognized whether or not stress on that joint precipitated the plantar fasciitis.
The Hero World Challenge was the primary of three occasions by which Woods was anticipated to play earlier than the conclusion of 2022. Woods nonetheless plans to staff with Rory McIlroy in opposition to Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth within the newest iteration of The Match on Dec. 10, and he additionally expects to be wholesome sufficient to staff along with his son, Charlie, within the 2022 PNC Championship starting Dec. 17.
The Hero World Challenge is a small-field, no-cut event that may embody Jon Rahm, Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler and final 12 months’s champion Viktor Hovland in Woods’ absence.
December was going to be a very busy month for the 15-time main winner. After enjoying simply 9 aggressive rounds all 12 months, he was slated to play in seven over the following three weeks. Now that quantity is down to three — the 12-hole match with McIlroy, Thomas and Spieth by which carts shall be used and two 18-hole rounds with Charlie in Orlando by which Tiger used a cart a 12 months in the past.
In the long run, this isn’t extremely notable. Woods’ restoration, even after enjoying three majors in 2022, was all the time going to be up and down with fixed stops and begins. This possible would not even change the expectations for what number of instances we see him in 2023. It is anticipated that he’ll play most if not the entire main championships and, as he has said prior to now, maybe tick off one other event or two right here or there.