Tiger Woods won’t be playing in the Bahamas next week at the Hero World Challenge as he recovers from a sixth back surgery he had in September.
In announcing Monday on social media he won’t be playing, Woods said the 20-man field for his holiday tournament will be filled out by Justin Thomas, Nick Dunlap and Jason Day.
Scottie Scheffler is the defending champion.
Woods was unlikely to play in the Bahamas since disclosing Sept. 13 he had yet another surgery on his lower back — his sixth in 10 years — that he hoped would relieve some of the spasms he had experienced this year.
He described it as a microdecompression surgery of the lumbar spine for nerve impingement, and the recovery time typically is eight to 12 weeks. Woods said while he was disappointed not to play, he looked forward to his role as the tournament host.
Woods finished 18th in the 20-man field a year ago.
Thomas is a two-time PGA champion whose wife gave birth to their first child a week ago, a daughter they named Molly Grace. He has played only once since the Tour Championship.
The newcomer to the unofficial event — its gets world ranking points but not official money — is Dunlap, who won a PGA Tour event as an amateur, left Alabama to turn pro and picked up a second win. Dunlap joins Woods as the only players to win the U.S. Junior Amateur and the U.S. Amateur.
Woods, meanwhile, is far more likely to play the PNC Challenge on Dec. 14-15 in Orlando, Florida, a 36-hole event with his son, Charlie. Woods is allowed to ride a cart that week because it is sanctioned by the PGA Tour Champions.
A year ago at the Hero World Challenge, Woods spoke about his hopes of playing a big tournament every month. But he withdrew after one round at Riviera and did not play again for nearly two months. He finishes the year completing only 11 rounds.
He set a Masters record by making his 24th consecutive cut, and then Woods missed the cut in the other three majors.
