By Rahul Banerji
Almost the entire top tier of the Official Golf World Rankings including a re-energised Tiger Woods will contest the 2018 Hero World Challenge between November 29 and December 2.
The invitation-only PGA Tour event hosted by Woods is being held in the Bahamas for the fourth consecutive year, a statement from the tournament organisers said.
The field has players from six countries including four of the top five, and 16 of the top 23 in the world including defending champion Rickie Fowler.
Only Brooks Koepka, winner of two majors in the just-past season at world no. 2, Rory McIlroy (6) and Francesco Molinari (7) from the OGWR top 10 are not in the list released.
Woods who won the Tour Championship amidst chaotic scenes in Atlanta this September will as always be a major draw card.
It was Woods’ 80th career PGA Tour title leaving him just two behind all-time leader Sam Snead, and a first in five years.
Woods is in the middle of the pack at 13th in the OGWR, a massive rise since his return to active play at the start of the season.
Eyes on
Another player who will be closely followed is form man Bryson DeChambeau with three wins in his last five starts.
Former no. 1 Dustin Johnson will be keen to overcome what is by his standards something of a slump in form, while Jordan Speith is the only former winner not on the card this time.
He took the title in it’s first year with Bubba Watson, Hideki Matsuyama and Fowler topping subsequent editions.
The field (with world ranking and country:
Justin Rose (1), England
Dustin Johnson (3), USA
Justin Thomas (4), USA
Bryson DeChambeau (5), USA
Jon Rahm (8), Spain
Rickie Fowler (9), USA
Tommy Fleetwood (10), England
Jason Day (11), Australia
Xander Schauffele (12), USA
Tiger Woods (13), USA – Tournament Host
Tony Finau (15), USA
Bubba Watson (16), USA
Patrick Reed (17), USA
Webb Simpson (20), USA
Alex Noren (21), Sweden
Hideki Matsuyama (23), Japan
Two exemptions will be issued at a later date to round out the 18-player field.
Live television coverage of the Hero World Challenge will be provided by Golf Channel during all four rounds and by NBC during the third and fourth rounds.
For world no. 1 Rose who took home winner the season-wrapping FedEx Cup, it has been a reward for keeping his game at a high level.
“I think the reason I’m sort of standing here today as the FedExCup champion is largely to do with the consistency with which I’ve played, a ton of top-10s,” the statement quoted Rose as saying.
Also read: Ryder Cup stars Bjorn, Rose and Olesen in for Hero Challenge
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