Tiger Woods currently missing from the Hero World Challenge field

The field for the 2022 Hero World Challenge was announced this month, with 17 of the world’s top 21 golfers set to appear at the tournament, which acts as a benefit for the Tiger Woods Foundation. However, Woods himself has not yet confirmed his appearance in December’s event. Spaniard Jon Rahm is currently the pre-tournament favourite with the bookmakers. The world number five has been in reasonable form this year and is the second favourite to land the upcoming CJ Cup in South Carolina, with Unibet pricing Rahm at 15/2 in their outright market. The European bookie does not currently provide a cash-out facility on golf wagers, according to a recent detailed review by Oddschecker, which also details the latest promotions open to first-time golf bettors.

The Hero has been one of Tiger’s biggest achievements in golf

The Hero World Challenge is hosted at the Albany Golf Course in The Bahamas. It’s the 22nd year of this iconic event, which comes with a prize purse of $3.5 million. It goes without saying that, based on Woods’ fervent support for the PGA Tour, no players venturing over to LIV Golf have been invited to this year’s tournament.

Woods himself is still not certain to play, having last appeared at the Hero World Challenge in 2019, securing a credible fourth-placed finish. Fitness will no doubt play a major part in Woods’ decision to feature or not. Woods has been in action just three times on the PGA Tour in the last 12 months. He came 47th in this year’s Masters before withdrawing because of injury after three rounds at the PGA Championship and missing the cut at the Open Championship at St. Andrews’ course.

However, with three exemption places set to be named closer to the tournament, there’s still wriggle-room for Woods to play. There have been sightings of Woods on courses in recent weeks. He was on the driving range at Liberty National in September for the amateur-focused Nexus Cup which he hosts. Woods was also fit enough to act as caddy to his son, Charlie, who was playing at a junior tournament.

Is retirement on the agenda before the end of the year?

Retirement is certainly something that’s been discussed by Woods in recent months. His withdrawal from the PGA Championship escalated those calls, as did his indifferent performance at the Open Championship. It is somewhat miraculous to think that Woods was able to recover from his life-threatening car crash to play golf ever again. However, it’s clear that his body can no longer handle the rigors of four rounds of golf across a weekend on a consistent basis.