Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge cancelled for 2020
Hot on the heels of news that the Australian golfing summer has been cancelled, another end of year favourite, Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge, has also fallen victim to COVID-19.
The 18-man Hero World Challenge was set to take place from December 3rd at the Albany Golf Club.
2019 winner Henrik Stenson with host Tiger Woods (Credit: PGA Tour)
The Bahamas is home to the tournament and while the small island nation was able to get the virus under control early on, daily cases have risen steadily over the past few months and show no signs of abating.
The more pressing issue is that the naming sponsor is of course, the Indian-based Hero MotoCorp, and that country is still facing huge daily infection rates with over 7.6 million cases and 10% of the world’s death toll so far.
According to earlier reports, there were discussions about bringing the tournament back to Florida where it was last played and won by Jordan Spieth in 2014 but that didn’t solve the issue of the Indian contingent being able travel to the event.
“Given the current global restrictions and ongoing developments resulting from COVID-19, the 2020 Hero World Challenge will not be played this year. This decision was made with the health and well-being of all tournament constituents and the Albany community in mind.”
“We look forward to hosting 18 of the top players in the world and welcoming tournament guests to Albany, Bahamas next year.”
Up until 2014, the tournament was previously played on US soil at the Sherwood Country Club in California, ironically home to this week’s ZOZO Championship.
Hero World Challenge host Tiger Woods has won the title on five occasions along with five runner-up finishes while Sweden’s Henrik Stenson is the defending champion following his defeat of Jon Rahm by a stroke last year.
