Tiger Woods, Will Zalatoris — Storylines to watch at Hero World Challenge،
NASSAU, Bahamas — The PGA Tour regular season may be over, but the men’s golf season is underway, starting with this week’s Hero World Challenge in Albany, Bahamas.
The unofficial event brings together 20 of the tour’s best players, including perhaps the greatest of them all, Tiger Woods, who will play for the first time in more than seven months.
“My game seems rusty; I haven’t played in a while,” Woods said at a news conference Tuesday. “I got my subtalar fused. I’m excited to compete and play, and I’m just as curious as all of you to see what happens because I haven’t done it in a while.”
Here are some of the main storylines to watch out for in the Hero World Challenge, in which reigning FedEx Cup champion Viktor Hovland is the two-time defending champion:
The GOAT is back
Woods, the tournament host, will participate for the first time since he withdrew from the weather-delayed third round of the Masters in April. Woods played nine holes in the event’s 18-hole pro-am Wednesday and doesn’t mind going 81 holes in five days.
Woods, who turns 48 next month, said he no longer feels severe pain in his right ankle and foot after undergoing fusion surgery less than eight months ago to treat post-traumatic arthritis which he suffered due to a car accident in February 2021.
When Woods was asked Tuesday if he thought he could win tournaments again, he said, “Absolutely.
“I’m very excited to have Tiger back this week,” Justin Thomas said. “I think we all do. I know he misses spending time with us, and the competitor that he is, he doesn’t like not being able to come here and compete. It’s great.”
Will Zalatoris said Woods’ latest comeback continues to amaze him.
“It’s ridiculous,” Zalatoris said. “There’s no other way to say it. What he does and what he’s been through with his body, especially to come back and win another major tournament after everything he’s been through. “It’s mind-blowing to me in so many ways, and we all appreciated that.”
The return of Willy Z
Woods isn’t the only ball-striking machine making a return to the Hero World Challenge this week. Zalatoris, who has not competed since the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in March, is among the 20 players.
Zalatoris underwent a microdiscectomy on his back on April 8, after being forced to withdraw from the Masters.
“It’s been an interesting seven months,” Zalatoris said. “You know, a golfer’s worst nightmare is feeling your back give out on the Augusta driving range 30 minutes before your tee time. But no, it’s been a game of patience. It’s been a chore.”
Zalatoris’ back problems have accumulated since the 2021 Open Championship. He suffered two herniated discs in August 2022, a week after scoring his first PGA Tour victory at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis. He missed the final two stages of the FedEx Cup playoffs, the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship, as well as the Presidents Cup.
Zalatoris then considered having back surgery, but opted instead for injections and rehabilitation.
“No surgeon wants to come in and operate on a 26-year-old’s back,” Zalatoris said.
Zalatoris returned and finished solo fourth at The Genesis in February, but otherwise struggled last season before calling it quits.
During his rehabilitation after surgery, Zalatoris said he couldn’t get his dogs back for four or five months. He did rehab six days a week. He started hitting balls a few months ago and was following a strict ball count. He was not allowed to play golf for more than three consecutive days. He no longer sits on bar stools or carries a backpack when he travels.
“I got a lot of really good advice from guys who had been through the same thing and they all said, ‘Take your time. No one ever comes back from an injury that took too long.’ ” Zalatoris said.
Zalatoris filled his time by completing his psychology degree at Wake Forest. All he had to do was take a few courses to achieve this.
“It was pretty funny taking electives when all the kids were 18 or 19 in the summer, and I’m 27,” Zalatoris said. “I’m writing my resume for work and, you know, a LinkedIn account and so on. There were some pretty fun aspects to that.”
Zalatoris, who has slipped to 33rd in the Official World Golf Rankings, isn’t sure what to expect this week.
“You know, playing 72 holes, having everyone here, obviously playing against the best players in the world, even though this week is an unofficial event, it’s still very good for me to go 72 holes and see where I’m in.,” he said.
The mystery of Spieth’s wrist
Jordan Spieth injured his wrist for much of last season, and he injured it again in October while searching for a toaster to make his son’s breakfast. He had already injured his wrist in May and almost missed the PGA Championship.
“I was out for a few more weeks,” Spieth said. “And I finally got to the bottom of it all, so I had some really good physical therapists and I had to add that to my routine over the last couple of months, and I’ll continue to do that. But basically, I went deep down and I was able to do a very good job, although perhaps not as much as I would have liked.”
Spieth said he treated the first injury with ice and rest, thinking it was inflammation. After the most recent setback, doctors discovered the injury involved the ulnar nerve, which Spieth said “isn’t something to mess with.”
“It ended up being a nervous thing, which is good because I didn’t do anything every time I got hurt that should have caused what happened,” Spieth said. “Both MRIs were very similar and should not have caused the pain and lack of mobility I initially had after this happened. It didn’t make much sense with the MRIs, so I just did a bunch of testing and work.
Spieth didn’t win any tournaments last season, but he feels good about his game heading into the offseason.
“I feel healthy,” he said. “I feel really, really optimistic about some of the things we’ve done and so I intend to take it further.”
Morikawa’s big changes
Two-time major champion Collin Morikawa is also on the mend after being forced to withdraw from the made-for-TV Netflix Cup on November 15 due to back pain. Morikawa also suffered a back injury at Memorial in June.
“It’s not fun to be in this position,” Morikawa said. “I’ve spoken to other players about it. It’s not good. I’m 26 and now it’s been twice in the last few months, but it’s something we’ll get on top of. We kind of know what to do.”
At least Morikawa no longer has to talk about his long winless streak on tour. He ended a 27-month winless drought by winning the Zozo Championship in Japan on October 22. It was his first victory since winning his second major at the 2021 Open Championship at Royal St. George’s Golf Club in Sandwich, England.
Morikawa’s sixth PGA Tour victory came weeks after he left longtime coach Rick Sessinghaus after an 18-year relationship. Morikawa now works with Mark Blackburn, who also trains Max Homa and Justin Rose.
“He’s more than just a coach, he’s a very good friend of mine,” Morikawa said of Sessinghaus. “He’s someone I’ve always admired, someone who’s been there every step of my life, not just in golf but just in my life, right? It was It’s not easy, and sometimes things happen like that. But 18 years is a long time.
“So it wasn’t easy at all. I had to do it, I just felt like it was time to make a change at some point. What I’ve seen over the last couple of years didn’t live up to my expectations and standards and goals that I wanted.”
