The 2024 season was highly anticipated, with the 15-time major champion confirming he would be playing more this year. Fans were excited to see Tiger Woods back in action. However, at his first event of the year, the Genesis Invitational, the 48-year-old succumbed to influenza and withdrew after two rounds. He then teed up at Augusta National and made the cut for a record-breaking 24th consecutive time, though he finished at the bottom of the leaderboard.

Three more starts remained for the PGA Tour star, but he struggled to make an impact. Woods missed the cuts at the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship, and The Open and didn’t play again for the rest of the 2024 season. With his body stiffer than before and constant battles with pain, the 48-year-old underwent another back surgery in September to ease his game in the upcoming season. Since then, Woods has been rehabilitating, aiming to return to form and at least make the cut in the events he plays.

When will he play again in 2024? Woods was expected to attend the TW Invitational held at Pebble Beach. However, his friends, Gary Woodland and Max Homa, made appearances at the game day and afterparty, as Woods missed it due to his surgery. The Hero World Challenge is set to begin on November 30, and Woods has never missed it—not even in 2023. Thus, he is expected to tee up in Albany, Bahamas, for the first time since his surgery, as Today’s Golfer reported.

If his rehabilitation process takes longer, however, the 82-time PGA Tour winner may miss the Bahamas event, leaving fans disappointed once more. Over the next two months, the 48-year-old is set to have a packed schedule, likely appearing more than he did in 2024.

What’s the December plan for Tiger Woods?

He has made a total of six appearances at the father-and-son, PNC Championship with his youngest child, Charlie Woods. Last year, the 48-year-old even had his daughter, Sam Woods caddie for him at Ritz Carlton, Florida. Undoubtedly, Woods enjoys teeing up at the PNC Championship and he would probably do it this year as well. If his 2023 schedule is followed, Woods will surely play in the PNC Championship, starting on December 19.

And then a month later, Mr. T will be integrating his brainchild, TGL, in Palm Beach. The simulator league was delayed for 12 months after the venue was destroyed last year. But this time, all the preparations have been completed, and the schedule for Woods’ team, Jupiter Links, is out too. In January, the 48-year-old and his team will tee up against Collin Morikawa’s Los Angeles GC and Rory McIlroy’s Boston Common Golf on January 14th and 27th, respectively.

There will be three more matches between February and March, against the remaining three teams. Also, the PGA Tour gave Woods a ‘Lifetime Achievement Exemption’ for all its signature events, which indicates that apart from the majors, Tiger Woods will have more tournaments he could play. The question is if he will be able to.

Matthieu Pavon’s latest validation came as an invitation from Tiger Woods. The 15-time major champion unveiled the first 17 players in the 20-man Hero World Challenge. Pavon, the 2024 Farmers Insurance winner, is ‘glad’ to have received a second chance after he skipped Woods’s signature event early this year.

Pavon became the first Frenchman to win on the PGA Tour since World War I. As a winner, the 31-year-old became eligible for all the remaining Signature events, including the Tiger Woods-hosted one at Riviera, the Genesis Invitational. But he skipped the $20M purse tournament to ‘recharge his battery’.

“My putting coach (Jon Karlsen) is coming to see me next week. This is why I also withdrew from Genesis. I want to have a full week with my family, recharge the batteries, benefit from 15 days to be able to train both physically and technically,” Pavon said at that time. Notably, he also skipped the WM Phoenix Open.

Tiger Woods, meanwhile, played as a host but had to exit without completing the second round due to ‘flu-like symptoms’. It later turned out to be influenza. Woods also underwent his sixth back surgery last month. So, it’s unclear if Woods will tee off in the Bahamas this December, but more on that later.

Meanwhile, Matthieu Pavon is already cherishing the opportunity he missed earlier. “I think I will have enough great tournaments to play this year, and even more next year,” said the French golfer and he does. In a short tweet, the one-time PGA Tour winner wrote, “Great news this morning! Glad to be part of the 2024 Hero World Challenge [Tiger emoji] in Albany, Bahamas. I can’t wait!”

Pavon has four top-tens this season. But, overall, the Frenchman had a roller-coaster ride. In his last ten appearances across the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, the 31-year-old has broken inside the top 20 only once.

Yet, Matthieu Pavon has clearly been on Woods’s radar, likely because of his T5 at the US Open and the T12 at the Masters. The larger question is, while he gets the chance to tee up at Woods’s events, will he get to play with the host himself?

Why Tiger Woods might tee up at Albany

The initial list of 17 players doesn’t include Tiger Woods’s name. The loaded field is led by Scottie Scheffler, followed by four of his peers from the world’s top ten. Although Woods is not listed now, there are three spots open for the 20-man field. Moreover, last year, too, Tiger Woods kept one spot open, which he later filled himself.

Actually, the former world no. 1 has chosen the Hero World Challenge as his stage for return several times. Be it 2017, 2016, or 2014, Tiger Woods made a comeback after an injury in the event he hosted. So, it won’t be another surprise if he walks the same path this time too. The Hero World Challenger tees off on December 5 in Woods’s Albany resort.