Woods is making his return to competitive golf for the first time since April.
If you couldn’t watch Tiger Woods during the first of the 2023 Hero World Challenge on Thursday afternoon, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
The 15-time major champion returned to action this week at the 2023 Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas for the first time since the Masters. Woods, 47, is playing his first competitive round since having a subtalar fusion procedure to address his post-traumatic arthritis from his previous talus fracture (a break in one of the bones that forms the ankle). He said he has none of the pain he dealt with at Augusta National.
Woods teed it up in the first round with Justin Thomas at 11:52 a.m. ET. Check out his Thursday round with shot-by-shot analysis below from Albany in the Bahamas.
“It’s pretty cool to see a kid who started out being overwhelmed and look where he is today.”
NASSAU, Bahamas — Rick Rielly, the longtime director of golf at Wilshire Country Club, still remembers the first time Rob McNamara showed up to work for him.
“He was 13 or 14 years old and 80 pounds sopping wet,” he said. “He shows up with a towel, he might’ve had a ball retriever and I had him sit on the bench outside the golf shop until something opened up for a single because the caddie yard was a bit gruff in those days.”
Thirty-five years or so later, McNamara, 48, has a single bag for the next four days at the Hero World Challenge – the one and only Tiger Woods.
With Joe LaCava, Woods’s caddie since 2011, having moved on to Patrick Cantlay last year when Woods was sidelined following surgery to his right ankle in April, Woods was in need of a bagman this week – and likely at the PNC Championship and beyond – and turned to his right-hand man in McNamara, who has been one of his closest confidants for more than two decades.
“He’s seen me hit a few shots,” Woods said, underselling the value McNamara has brought to his game since he went without a coach beginning in 2017. (McNamara caddied most recently for Justin Thomas in The Payne Valley Cup, a made-for-TV exhibition in 2020 at the course Woods designed.)
All those years ago, McNamara’s father, who had a thick Irish brogue and lived in the neighborhood, talked his way past the gate at Wilshire, a private club not far from Hollywood, and charmed Rielly into giving his son his start in the game. McNamara was shy with a goofy laugh and a thick head of curly hair, but before long members took a liking to him and he worked his way into the bag room while also developing into a decent stick. He went off to Santa Clara University in Northern California and played on the golf team, graduating as a physics major in 1997, just as Tiger was getting started as a worldbeater. But it was golf not science where McNamara eyed making his mark.
After college, Rielly’s father, Pat, moved into the picture as an important figure in McNamara’s career development. Pat was a former PGA president and director of golf at Annandale Golf Club in Pasadena, and hired McNamara as an assistant pro, working in the shop. It wasn’t long before McNamara realized the club pro ranks wasn’t the path for him.
Tiger Woods celebrates with Rob McNamara, Vice President of TGR Ventures, as he comes off the 18th green at the 2019 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
He did a stint at a start-up golf website but when that company went under, Pat assisted on his next big break. When McNamara showed an interest in working as a sports agent, Pat asked his other son, Mike, who worked at IMG – the sports marketing giant founded by Mark McCormack – to arrange an interview. Pat was a good judge of talent, and McNamara got hired in 2000 as an account manager. Shortly after he moved to Cleveland and started at the firm that represented Arnold Palmer, Annika Sorenstam and Woods, one of the company’s top executives, Alastair Johnston, invited McNamara to his office for a get-to-know meeting.
“It took only a few minutes for Alastair to explain that in all his years Mr. McCormack had never weighed in on a hire at my level before, but after one short call with Pat that all had changed,” McNamara told Golfweek in 2022. “Pat somehow managed to convince Mark, a power-broker attorney and sports-marketing pioneer, that I was the only possible candidate that could handle the job and that it would be a massive mistake for IMG to miss out on this random ex-college golfer who at 24 years old had little to no experience.”
The curly hair is long gone but McNamara has gone on to become Woods’ right-hand man, with an official title of executive vice president of TGR Ventures.
In his early days at IMG, new media was new and he was a digital native, who helped protect Tiger’s rights.
“None of us knew what it meant, and Rob figured it out,” Mike Rielly said.
He became part of Team Tiger with the likes of Kathy Battaglia and Chris Hubman, later leaving IMG altogether when Woods formed his own company. Outside of Mark Steinberg, who has served as Tiger’s longtime agent, McNamara’s been one of Tiger’s most loyal and longest-tenured associates through thick and thin, a contemporary who speaks the same language and a second set of eyes and ears he depends on. It’s a remarkable trajectory from teenage caddie to being in the inner circle with the greatest golfer of his time in a relationship where the respect goes both ways.
“Seeing Robert on TV today, it’s pretty cool to see a kid who started out being overwhelmed and look where he is today,” Rick Rielly said. “He got his break and he took it.”
“If he wins, I am going to find someone else to stay with,” Collin Morikawa said.
NASSAU, Bahamas – Viktor Hovland is attempting to do something at this week’s Hero World Challenge that he said he’s never done before at any level in golf – win the same tournament three consecutive times.
Not even Tiger Woods has achieved that feat at the Hero, where he is the tournament host. Woods is a five-time champ and won the event in 2006 and 2007 but in 2008 he was unable to go for the three-peat. Hovland is well aware of all this and said he’s up to the challenge.
“It wouldn’t suck or else I wouldn’t be here,” said Hovland, who took a few minutes between his practice session on Wednesday to talk to Golfweek.
A year ago, Hovland arrived at Albany Golf Club as the defending champion but he wasn’t happy with the state of his game. Winning surprised Hovland but it was a good lesson that he didn’t need to play perfect golf to hold the trophy on Sunday.
“I played great obviously, but I didn’t feel great going into it and I still managed to win,” he said.
But he also refused to be complacent and earlier this year, he changed swing instructors to Joe Mayo, who helped him revamp his short game, which had been holding him back at tougher courses. Hovland won three times in all on the PGA Tour and climbed to fourth in the Official World Ranking. But to a lot of people, himself included as he stated on Smylie Kaufman’s podcast, he’s been playing the best golf of anyone.
The Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings has him second behind only Scottie Scheffler while Data Golf ranks him first and as the 16th best-player all-time in terms of his peak performance (between the British Open and the DP World Tour Championship).
Hovland no doubt is the hottest player in the world, having won his two most recent starts on the PGA Tour at the BMW Championship and Tour Championship and then played a starring role in Europe’s Ryder Cup victory.
His performance has earned the respect of his peers.
“What he’s done kind of this entire year, especially starting at Memorial, it doesn’t surprise me at all because I’ve seen it,” said Collin Morikawa. “I’ve seen it for years. I’ve seen it in college, I’ve seen it even when we first turned pro.”
Veteran pro Jason Day is convinced he could pull off three in a row this week against a 20-man field, which includes the return of Tiger Woods.
“He’s got confidence,” Day said. “Viktor’s played such a good stretch of golf. I don’t know how he spent his break. It really depends whether he’s been hanging with friends or grinding on his game but he’s certainly capable of more great golf.”
Hovland said he took 3 ½ weeks off after the Ryder Cup and visited Norway, and then went and finished T-2 at the DP World Tour Championship. Asked to explain why he’s had so much success at Albany Golf Club, a course designed by Ernie Els, Hovland said, “You’ve got to hit it straight and it blows a lot and I like playing in the wind.”
Hovland is sharing a house this week again with Morikawa, a two-time major winner, but he won’t have the same room this year as the FedEx Cup champ got upgraded to the master bedroom.
“I had the master bedroom the past two years and that hasn’t worked out for me, but it has for him,” Morikawa said. “So I decided, and I texted him yesterday to make sure he was taking the master bedroom. We showed up at like 3 a.m. (Tuesday), so it was nice to find my little guest room in the corner. He’s got everything he needs.”
And should Hovland repeat it definitely won’t suck, as he put it, but it will mean he’ll need a new roommate when he returns next year.
“If he wins, I am going to find someone else to stay with,” Morikawa said. “Something has to change, something has to give.”
Golf’s silly season is upon us, and it begins this week in the Bahamas.
Golf’s silly season is upon us, and it begins this week in the Bahamas.
The 2023 Hero World Challenge is set to begin Thursday at Albany, where Tiger Woods will make his first start since the Masters in April. In addition, 19 of the world’s best players will be in the field, including Will Zalatoris, who is also returning for the first time since also withdrawing from the Masters and having back surgery.
Viktor Hovland, the 2023 FedEx Cup winner, is the two-time defending champion at the event.
Here’s a look at some of the shirts, hats and accessories on sale to the public.
NASSAU, Bahamas — Albany Golf Club is a luxurious setting for the Hero World Challenge. This is where Tiger Woods likes to dock his yacht named Privacy.
But it’s also a 20-man field and the crowds are typically sparse so there isn’t the need for a special merchandise tent. All the goodies are packed into the pro shop at Albany. It’s a nice mix of brands from Nike Golf and Peter Millar to B Draddy and Johnnie-O and Holderness & Bourne and Greyson as well as EP Pro and Foray Golf for women. But overall, the merchandise feels like an afterthought. There’s potential for so much more.
Here’s a look at some of the shirts, hats and accessories on sale to the public.
Don’t read too much into it. His latest comeback isn’t being derailed by another setback.
NASSAU, Bahamas – What Tiger Woods says goes at the Hero World Challenge.
And Wednesday morning, Woods determined that nine holes – not the 18 that the rest of the field played – was sufficient for him at the pro-am portion at Albany Golf Club.
Don’t read too much into it. His latest comeback isn’t being derailed by another setback – although with Tiger you can never know for sure. Rather, to borrow a phrase from the pandemic, Woods is taking an abundance of caution and “wants to save himself for the next four days,” business manager Rob McNamara, who will serve as his caddie this week, said.
Asked if nine holes was always the plan, McNamara said, “As of this morning.”
Woods did tab himself a “committee of one” who determined he would receive a tournament exemption into the 20-man field event that he’s won five times during his career.
Woods’s swing during the pro-am looked a little shorter, which may turn out to be a blessing in disguise for his game. He looks strong, and his walk looked better than the last time we saw him gutting out weekend rounds at Augusta. There’s a still a hitch in his giddy-up and a noticeable limp from the injuries he suffered to his lower right leg, ankle and foot in his February 2021 single-car crash in Los Angeles.
Woods told reporters Tuesday that the pain in his ankle is no longer an issue thanks to surgery for a right subtalar fusion in April.
“I’m not concerned at all about walking it,” Woods said. “It’s more, as I said, I don’t have any of the ankle pain that I had with the hardware that’s been placed in my foot, that’s all gone. The other parts of my body, my knee hurts, my back. The forces go somewhere else.”
Nevertheless, a big part of the test this week is to see him walk 72 holes – or shall we say 81 including the pro-am – and if he can handle that sort of load on a flat course before he starts to consider kicking off the 2024 season at the Genesis Invitational in February and ramping up for the Masters in April.
Woods said his game is still rusty and there was at least one moment that suggested that to be true. On the ninth hole, Tiger pulled his drive into a transition area of sand and seashells. When he grabbed a fairway metal, McNamara shouted to some photographers in his line to move out of the way.
“He’s got a bad lie,” McNamara said, warning that this ball could be headed in their direction.
“No, it’s a good lie,” Woods confidently declared.
But perhaps he was a little overly optimistic as he topped the shot no more than 50 yards.
“Never mind,” Woods said to the photographers. “You’re all good.”
So, hopefully, is his back. As Woods made his way from the ninth green to the clubhouse, where he agreed to do lunch with his pro-am foursome rather than another nine holes, he said, “Tomorrow will be different.”
Tiger Woods’ new golf equipment at the 2023 Hero World Challenge.
Tiger Woods’ golf bag is monitored as closely as Ft. Knox. Golf lovers and equipment junkies have always wanted to know what driver he’s playing, if the Scotty Cameron putter that some people refer to as Excalibur or The Elder Wand is still in the bag and what shoes Tiger is wearing.
The 15-time major winner is preparing for his first event since the 2023 Masters and is scheduled to tee off with Justin Thomas on Thursday at the Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Course in Nassau, Bahamas.
Leading up to the event, there was speculation on whether Tiger would show up with a new TaylorMade Qi10 LS driver, the prototype club Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood used two weeks ago on the DP World Tour. Now that Woods has played two practice rounds, we have a good idea about the equipment he plans to use.
Golf Channel and NBC will have live coverage of all four days in the Bahamas.
They announced the TV times for Tiger’s return. Then they decided it wasn’t enough.
On Wednesday, NBC and Golf Channel announced expanded live TV coverage from the Bahamas, with the first and second rounds coming on an hour earlier than originally planned.
Woods is host with a tee time in the 20-man field at the 2023 Hero World Challenge, his annual silly season bash in the Bahamas. Woods committed to the event last week, sparking excitement in the golf world. He joins a field that includes the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler, Max Homa and Viktor Hovland.
This is the eighth year for the event in the Bahamas. There is a purse of $3.5 million with $1 million going to the winner.
Golf Channel will air parts of all four rounds, with NBC jumping in for some weekend coverage. Peacock will have the live-streaming coverage. There is no PGA Tour Live on ESPN+ for this event.
Tiger is back on the course this week at the event that benefits his foundation.
Tiger Woods is back on the golf course this week to kick off his silly season return to competition.
The 15-time major champion is teeing it up at the 2023 Hero World Challenge at Albany in the Bahamas, the unofficial PGA Tour event hosted by Woods that benefits his TGR Foundation. Woods, 47, will then once again team up with his state-champion son, Charlie, for the annual family hit-and-giggle at the 2023 PNC Championship in Florida next month.
Woods is a five-time winner at the Hero (his last win came in 2011) and he has also finished runner-up on five occasions. He has yet to win the event since it moved to Albany.
Here are the best photos of Woods on the course at the 2023 Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.
Photos: Tiger Woods at the 2023 Hero World Challenge
“If you guys hear of me doing that again, tell me to stop.”
NASSAU, Bahamas — The year of living dairy and gluten-free is over for Justin Thomas.
Chalk it up to a failed experiment but credit to Thomas, the two-time PGA Championship winner, for leaving no stone unturned in his quest for greatness. But living gluten-free and giving up his guilty pleasure of pizza only resulted in being a glutton for punishment: he failed to make the FedEx Cup Playoffs and dropped from No. 8 to No. 27 in the world this year.
“It wasn’t exactly during my best stretch of golf, so I would say if I had it over, I would not do it,” he said Tuesday during a press conference leading into this week’s Hero World Challenge. “Yeah, it’s one of those things, I don’t really give 50 percent too much. I feel like if I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it. I’m going to want to know how it is.”
“I was supposed to go six months of dairy free, a year of gluten free,” Thomas reminded his questioner. “I think like the six months was right when I was over in the U.K. for Scottish and British and I’m like I’m not going to start this back up in the middle of a tournament because I didn’t know how my body was going to react. Literally not having anything for six months, I thought there was a chance my body would freak out. After shooting about 400 the first two days at The Open Championship, when I got to Minnesota I got a gluten-free pizza like on Monday or Tuesday and I swear I could have cried, it was so good. “
Thomas had previously joked that he might give up one of his Wanamaker Trophies for a pepperoni or meat lover’s pizza.
“And honestly, I just slowly implemented dairy again the next two weeks and I didn’t feel any different, which I was shocked, to be honest. I was pleasantly surprised. I called Ara, who I’ve been working with. I’m like, I’m having gluten, I don’t feel any different after having this again, so I’m going to have it and see how it is. And here we are.”
Thomas said reigning British Open champion Brian Harman put it best. “Basically if you just play like crap for a year, having to diet, then you just go back to it. That’s what he told me.”
And this is what Thomas told the media: “Yeah, if you guys hear of me doing that again, tell me to stop.”
