“The timing of the event” – Tiger Woods reveals why he has picked Hero World Challenge as his ‘comeback platform’

Tiger Woods has kept himself away from the golf course since April. He had last competed at the 2023 Masters but failed to complete the tournament and withdrew after the third round.

Woods found it difficult to stand on the golf course and decided to withdraw from the competition. He had been on a break since April before finally announcing his comeback at the 2023 Hero World Challenge.

Ahead of the start of the competition, Woods was part of a press conference held on Tuesday, November 28 where he opened up about his game and health, and also revealed the reason why he opted for this competition for his comeback.

The 15-time Major winner acknowledged that the occasion was well-timed given his recent improvement in health. Speaking about the Hero World Challenge, Woods said:

"The timing of the event, with the injuries that I have had. Also the way the event has been with a smaller field size. And the fact that it's at the end of this year, which sets me up for expectations going into the following year. And most importantly my foundation benefits from it. So there's so many positives that come about because of my ability to be able to play in that event."

Tiger Woods last competed at the Hero World Challenge in 2019, where he finished T4.

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Has Tiger Woods ever won the Hero World Challenge?

Tiger Woods is a five-time Hero World Challenge winner. He won the third iteration of the competition in 2001 after defeating Fiji golfer Vijay Singh by three strokes to earn $1,000,000 in prize money. The competition was held in Sherwood and Woods finished with a score of under 15 to clinch the trophy.

Woods was runner-up in the next two editions before recapturing the title for the second time in 2004. The competition was again held at Sherwood and he settled for a score of under 16, registering a two-stroke victory over Irish golfer Padraig Harrington.

In 2005, Luke Donald won the tournament and then Tiger Woods had two straight victories, taking his tally of Hero World Challenge counts to four. He had a seven-stroke victory over Zach Johnson in 2007 and defeated Geoff Ogilvy by four strokes in 2006.

Woods went on to win the Hero World Challenge for the fifth time in 2011 by defeating Johnson again. However, this time he had a one-stroke victory. Notably, in 2013, Johnson won the tournament by defeating Woods in a playoff.

This week, reigning Hero World Challenge champion Viktor Hovland will be attempting a three-peat. He defeated Scottie Scheffler to win the competition in 2021 and successfully defended the championship against Scheffler in 2022 by winning the tournament by two strokes.