Tiger thoughts ... and three to play at Hero
Let’s start out this week’s preview with a quick trivia question: Which two events has Tiger Woods played more than any others over the past decade?
If you answered the Masters as one of them, congratulations. You’ve clearly been paying attention over the past quarter-century, as Tiger does indeed seem to enjoy that tournament.
The other answer isn’t so easy — unless you know which tournament is being played this week then used the clues to unearth this solution.
That’s right, it’s the Hero World Challenge, at which the tourney host will make his sixth start of the past decade this week, tying his number of appearances at Augusta National. This statistic alone should tell us a few things, some of which we already knew.
Obviously, Woods has played sparingly over the past decade. Despite winning his fifth Masters title during this time, he’s competed in more than three events in just half of these years, the result of multiple back surgeries and a near-fatal car accident which caused serious leg injuries.
It also, though, tells us what the Hero means to him. It would be easy enough for Tiger, who this week is returning after an eight-month absence, to show up as the host, pal around with the players, conduct a press conference and leave the sticks at home, but instead he again views this event as a chance to start anew. Don’t be surprised if he looks surprisingly sharp.
No, I’m not picking Woods at 66/1 win this week, but it doesn’t take an expert to realize that he wouldn’t be competing if he thought he was going to embarrass himself. As I’m writing this preview Monday morning, we’ve yet to witness him prepping for this week, but reports are that his health is better, his swing looks solid, and there appear to be no red flags beforehand.
He’s also likely to be fresher and more motivated than just about anyone else in the field. Many are using this as a late-year money-grab in the tropical paradise of the Bahamas, but he’s using it as a barometer to understand if his game is ready to go up against some of the game’s best players.
My best guess is that by the end of this week, we’re collectively more optimistic about the soon-to-be 48-yearold’s prospects for next year and beyond, whether that means simply playing more frequently, contending with the game’s top talents or even winning again. As for other predictions, let’s get to ’em.
Outright winner
Justin Thomas (14/1): Unlike many others in this field, those who have enjoyed varying levels of success in 2023, Thomas is entering this week with one final chance to save his year. Not that a win here will make up for a T65 and three MCs at the majors or missing the FedExCup Playoffs, but it would at least give him a little peace of mind entering the holidays.
With fifth-place finishes in each of his last three starts at this one, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him treat this like a big-time event.
Wyndham Clark (20/1): Many of those making their tourney debut have enjoyed immediate success here in recent years.
In 2018, Jon Rahm won in his first start. Two years ago, Viktor Hovland, Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns went 1-2-3 on the final leaderboard. And last year, Cameron Young posted a third-place finish. Clark is one of three players — along with Brian Harman and Will Zalatoris — who will make his debut this week, and there’s reason to believe he could thrive like so many others have before.
Will Zalatoris (33/1): As I wrote above in regard to the tourney host, there’s a definite possibility that he owns more motivation to show off in a lateyear event than his fellow competitors, but that notion might go double for Zalatoris, who’s very likely been raring to return from a back injury, though he didn’t see much reason to come back sooner than this week. He’s actually been sidelined longer than Woods, having last played at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in March. All things being equal, I don’t mind taking a shot on a guy who’s particularly hungry when so many others might not be.