The 2021 Hero World Challenge, hosted by Tiger Woods, will take place from December 2-5 at Albany in the Bahamas, the tournament announced overnight. The exhibition will return after last year’s event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic – and it will do so with more players, as the field size has been permanently increased from 18 to 20.

The Hero World Challenge, which dates back to 2000, benefits Woods’ TGR foundation. The inaugural event was held at Grayhawk Golf Club in Arizona before moving to Sherwood Country Club outside Los Angeles, where it stayed for 13 years. The 2014 event was held at Isleworth Country Club in Florida before the tournament moved to the Bahamas, where Woods owns a property.

The limited-field event typically draws a strong field – the reigning Major winners and the Players champion are automatic invitees, with the remaining spots filled by players ranked inside the top 50 – and does offer Official World Golf Ranking points as well as a $US3.5 million purse.

Woods is a five-time winner of the event, with all five of those victories coming at Sherwood. Henrik Stenson won the 2019 Hero, which was held the week before the Presidents Cup in Melbourne, where Woods served as player-captain.

There was no indication as to whether Woods will be on-site during tournament week in any capacity. The 15-time Major winner is rehabilitating traumatic leg injuries stemming from a single-vehicle car accident on February 23.

PHOTO: David Cannon