Star golfer Tiger Woods announced on Tuesday he will not compete in next week’s Hero World Challenge tournament in the Bahamas, the 15-time major winner having undergone back surgery in September.Woods said fellow Americans Justin Thomas and Nick Dunlap and Australian Jason Day were the final competitors in the 20-player event, set for December 5-8 at Albany Golf Course."I am disappointed that I will not be able to compete this year at the Hero World Challenge, but always look forward to being tournament host and spending the week with @HeroMotoCorp,” Woods posted on X.Woods, a five-time winner of the World Challenge, hosts the annual event but has played just once in the last three years due to health concerns.He underwent the sixth back operation of his career in September with hopes of easing back spasms and pain he felt during 2024 starts, the most recent of which was at the British Open in July at Royal Troon.Woods, whose 82 PGA Tour wins are level with Sam Snead for the all-time record, has made only 10 official starts since a 2021 car crash that caused severe leg injuries.Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler is the defending champion.It will be the first time in the event for 20-year-old Dunlap, who became the first amateur in 33 years to win a PGA Tour event when he captured the American Express title in January.Dunlap then joined the PGA Tour and went on to capture his second title last July at the Barracuda Championship, becoming the first PGA player to win as a pro and an amateur in the same season.Marina Alex retires after more than a decade on LPGA TourAdd Marina Alex to the list of players who have retired from the LPGA Tour this year, with the two-time tournament winner calling it a career after she finished tied for 12th in this past weekend’s CME Group Tour Championship at Naples, Flordia.The New Jersey native and Vanderbilt alum, who first played on the LPGA Tour in 2013, won the Portland Classic in 2018 and the Palos Verdes Championship in 2022.Alex, 34, amassed $5mn in career earnings, according to the LPGA, including $720,000 this season, when she had 10 top-25 finishes and five top 10s. She had 83 top-25 finishes in her career and 35 in the top 10.Alex’s final competitive round was a 6-under-par 66 on Sunday that left her in a tie with Jennifer Kupcho, France’s Celine Boutier and South Korea’s Jin Young Ko. They were 10 shots behind winner Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand."It’s always hard to say goodbye,” Alex said. "I know this is what I want, and it’s the right decision for me right now. That doesn’t change the fact that this is a life that I built for the last 11 years out here, and golf has been my life since I’ve been a kid. We’re about to enter a new world of a new identity. It’s great, but change is never easy.”Also playing in their final LPGA Tour competitive rounds Sunday were Lexi Thompson and Ally Ewing, who already had announced they were calling it a career. Thompson finished in a tie for 49th place at 2 under, while Ewing finished just behind Alex in a tie for 16th at 11 under.Other players to say farewell from competitive golf this calendar year were Scotland’s Catriona Matthew, South Korea’s So Yeon Ryu, Angela Stanford, Colombia’s Mariajo Uribe, England’s Laura Davies, South Korea’s I.K. Kim, Amy Olson, Gerina Piller and Brittany Lincicome.
November 27, 2024 | 12:14 AM