Tiger Woods hopeful of coming to India; three players of Indian origin in World Challenge

Tiger Woods speaks to the media alongside Dr. Pawan Munjal, Executive Chairman of Hero MotoCorp, at a press conference prior to the Hero World Challenge 2024 at Albany Golf Course in Nassau, Bahamas. Pic/AFP

Former World No.1 Tiger Woods is still hopeful of coming to India for a competitive event, something he has not been able to do for the 10 years he has been Hero Motorcorp's Global Partner.

While Woods is looking forward to visiting India, Pawan Munjal, the chairman, managing director and CEO of Hero MotoCorp, is thrilled to have extended his partnership with the star-studded Hero World Challenge for another six years till 2030 and with Woods to continue as their global partner.

A third thing that brought a big smile to Munjal's face was that he was able to bring to the field three players of Indian origin - Sahith Theegala, Akshay Bhatia and Aaron Rai.

Munjal said, "If you remember, we had Anirban one time here, which was a great thing to happen. He was in the Top 30 then. To have three boys of Indian origin in a field of the best and Top 20 is a huge, huge thing for India.

"We have been looking for an Indian star on the golfing map to really grow the game of golf in India. I'm sure even if they're not Indians but they are of Indian origin, I'm sure the whole nation is going to be very, very excited and very proud about this fact," he said.

Indian-American Sahith is 12th in the world rankings, Indo-British Rai is 21st and Indian American Akshay Bhatia is 31st as the entire field of 20 comprises players inside Top-40 in the world.

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Woods commented, "All the players who come down here over the years have supported this event, some of them have started their own foundations because of the impact that Pawan and I have had on this event and our various charities."

Hero and Tiger Woods Foundation and Woods came together for the HWC in 2014 and will now be together till at least 2030, making it one of the longest relationships on the PGA Tour.

Woods, who has often chosen HWC, which he hosts, as an event to test his fitness and preparation ahead of the following season, admitted, "Yeah, I am disappointed. I'm not physically ready yet to compete at this level. By the time I came back here, I was ready to start competing and playing again. Unfortunately, not this time. I still need to keep training to give myself the best chance going into next year and the events ahead."

On the issue of the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, which funds the LIV series, Woods said, "I think all of us who have been a part of this process would have thought it would have happened quicker than this. Even if it did, we're still at the regulations of the DOJ (Department of Justice) saying it's giving us hominus dominus that it will go through. Even if we had gotten a deal done by now, it's still in the DOJ's hands, but we wish we would have had something more concrete and further along than we are right now. But things are very fluid, we're still working through it, and it's happening daily. From a policy board standpoint or an enterprise standpoint, things are moving and they're constructive. But yes, definitely moving."

On his return to golf and competing, Woods is still desirous and hopeful. He said, "The fire still burns to compete. The difference is the recovery of the body to do it is not what it used to be. I still love doing it, I love competing, I love competing in anything whether we're playing cards or we're playing golf. No matter what it is, I love competing."

The Hero World Challenge will be held from Dec 5 to 8 with 20 players, all of whom figure in the top 40 of the world competing.

The field is led by World No.1 Scottie Scheffler, who is also the FerdEX champion, two-time Masters champion, who won in 2022 and 2024, and also the defending champion of the Hero World Challenge.

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