Rivals know exactly what to expect from Woods

Justin Thomas is paired with Tiger Woods in the Hero World Challenge for the second straight year, and like last time, has an idea what to expect. By now, so does everyone else. Woods was a mystery a year ago. He was No 1199 in the world rankings when he returned from a fourth back surgery, having competed in only one PGA Tour event since August 2015. Thomas had played golf with him at home in Florida and thought he looked great, a tough sell to those who hadn’t seen Woods.

“The consistency wasn’t there,” Thomas said yesterday after his proam round at Albany Golf Club. “But the great shots — the ones that made you stop and think a second — were.

“The more we played, the more we saw it. I wasn’t going to say anything because you don’t know what’s going to happen and how he’s going to feel. But I thought if he stays healthy, I think he’s going to win this year.

“First off, it’s him. You always feel like he’s going to do what people don’t expect, because that’s what he loves to do.”

There are no surprises this year. Woods now is No 13 in the world as he hosts this holiday tournament for the 20th time. It’s his first 72-hole tournament since he ended his remarkable comeback by winning the Tour Championship in late September for his 80th career PGA Tour victory.

It’s another strong field at Albany with six of the top 10 in the world among the 18 players. Missing is Koepka, the US Open and PGA champion, who returned to No 1 in the world this week, along with Jordan Spieth, who got married at the weekend in Texas.

Francesco Molinari, the British Open champion and Ryder Cup star, also chose to take this year off, leaving Masters champion Patrick Reed as the only major champion in the field.

The unofficial event offers world ranking points, which matters most to Justin Rose because he has a chance to return to No 1 in his see-saw battle with Koepka. The winner gets US$1 million ($1.46m) — everyone in the field earned at least US$2.6m on the PGA Tour this season.

Woods has a chance to build on momentum going into 2019.

“A guy like Tiger, just give him a speck of confidence or a speck of just feeling good, anything can happen,” said Keegan Bradley, a late entry at the Bahamas when Tommy Fleetwood withdrew.

“You can see that with Tiger . . . He’s going to get some momentum and he’ll do great.”

Woods said of his plans for next season: “Now it’s just about managing and making sure I’m fresh for events, because I know I can win tournaments again.”