Tiger Woods has confirmed the final three players making up his 20-man Hero World Challenge at famed Albany in The Bahamas from 4-7 December.
The 15-time major champion has revealed Jordan Spieth, Billy Horschel and Akshay Bhatia have been awarded exemptions into the $5m tournament that benefits his Tiger Woods Foundation.
All three players have endured something of disappointing campaigns on the PGA Tour this season.
At the start of the year, you could argue all three Americans were very much in the mix to make Keegan Bradley’s 2025 Ryder Cup team.
But none of them would make Bethpage.
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Spieth won the Hero World Challenge in 2014, which was the last time the event was staged before moving across to Albany.
The three-time major champion landed a tournament record 10-stroke victory over Henrik Stenson at at Isleworth Golf & Country Club in Windermere, Florida.
Horschel recently made his long-awaited return to the game with a title defence at the BMW PGA, but he unfortunately missed the cut at Wentworth.
Bhatia started the season brightly with a T3 at The Players but the left-hander has somewhat treaded water for the remainder of the year.
Spieth, Horschel and Bhatia will therefore all be keen to end their season on a high note as they look to build some form and confidence into 2026.
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Scottie Scheffler will be the man to beat once again
Scottie Scheffler going for history at Hero World Challenge
Runaway World No.1 Scottie Scheffler will once again headline the field – and he’ll start a red-hot favourite in The Bahamas.
Scheffler, 29, has taken a real liking to Albany Resort having won the last two renewals of the Hero World Challenge.
The four-time major champion romped the field last season with a six-stroke victory over Tom Kim.
That was the largest margin of victory since the Hero World Challenge has been staged at Albany.
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Nine of the 2025 Ryder Cup players along with Team USA captain Keegan Bradley and European vice-captain Alex Noren are in the field, which you can check out at the bottom of this page.
Scheffler will attempt to become the first player to win the Hero World Challenge three times in a row.
Only Scheffler, Woods and Viktor Hovland have won the tournament twice in a row.
Woods is a record five-time winner of the Hero World Challenge.
Hero World Challenge confirms field
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What is the Hero World Challenge?
The Hero World Challenge has been running since 2000 but Hero took up title sponsorship in 2014, the year Spieth etched his name on the trophy.
Hero then moved the tournament over to the famous Albany in The Bahamas starting in 2015 where it remains today.
The Hero World Challenge benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation.
While the tournament is on the PGA Tour schedule, it is not an official PGA Tour event.
The prize fund for the Hero World Challenge is $5m.
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The winner takes home $1m.
Woods will miss out on the Hero World Challenge
Why is Tiger Woods not playing in the Hero World Challenge?
Woods is currently out of competitive action as he recovers from the seventh back surgery of his career earlier this month.
Prior to that, Woods was also recovering from surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon.
It’s highly likely that Woods will also now miss out on competing in the PNC Championship alongside his son Charlie Woods – a 36-hole Scramble event that takes place just before Christmas.
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Medical experts have told GolfMagic that Woods will likely need to spend the next three months away from the game – before hopefully looking at returning to competition in less than six months time at The Masters.
Woods has not played in a competitive PGA Tour event since missing the cut at The Open in July 2024.
That marked his third straight missed cut in a row in the majors.
GolfMagic has listed the field as it stands for the 2025 Hero World Challenge below.
Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele have now been replaced in the Hero World Challenge field by Andrew Novak and Alex Noren.
Jordan Spieth, Billy Horschel and Akshay Bhatia have been named as the final three exemptions. pic.twitter.com/ixDniaxo59
— Andy Roberts (@AndyRobertsGolf) October 29, 2025
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Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele were initially down to play – but both players have now been replaced in the field by Andrew Novak and Alex Noren.
Novak, JJ Spaun and Chris Gotterup will all be making their Hero World Challenge debuts.
Hero World Challenge 2025: Field
Scottie Scheffler
Sam Burns
Justin Thomas
Corey Conners
JJ Spaun
Chris Gotterup
Robert MacIntyre
Wyndham Clark
Harris English
Brian Harman
Keegan Bradley
Andrew Novak
Justin Rose
Alex Noren
Sepp Straka
Akshay Bhatia
Hideki Matsuyama
Billy Horschel
Cameron Young
Jordan Spieth
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