Aaron Rai has been named as the replacement for Justin Thomas at Tiger Woods’ PGA Tour event next month in the Bahamas.
The Hero World Challenge will take place at Albany Golf Club over 4-7 December.
Thomas, 32, was supposed to be teeing it up but will now have to miss the $5m invite-only tournament after undergoing surgery similar to the 15-time major winner.
Two-time major champion Thomas announced last week that he had undergone microdiscectomy surgery on his back and will miss “some events” in the beginning of 2026.
“I’m not putting any tournament on the calendar or specific time for returning,” he said in a video uploaded to his social media.
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“While I will miss some events in the beginning of 2026, I want to be very smart and patient in letting my disc fully heal so it isn’t an issue again.”
Justin Thomas
Thomas has also had to withdraw from the forthcoming Skins Game. He was replaced by former Open champion Shane Lowry.
Lowry will go head-to-head with Xander Schauffele, Tommy Fleetwood and Keegan Bradley as one of golf’s most celebrated franchises returns after a 17-year absence.
Rai will now replace him in the field at the Hero World Challenge. The English golfer, now No. 23 in the Official World Golf Ranking, has enjoyed a very good season.
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He has posted 10 top-25 finishes across 21 starts on the PGA Tour and also tied for third at the BMW Championship.
Two weeks he ago he won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, ending a winless drought on the DP World Tour that stretched back to the 2020 Scottish Open.
It will be the second time Rai has played in the Woods-hosted event.
Woods, 49, will not be playing as he continues his recovery from his latest back surgery.
The 82-time PGA Tour winner confirmed after the Ryder Cup that he had his seventh back procedure in New York after experiencing pain and discomfort.
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Hero World Challenge field 2025
Scottie Scheffler
Sam Burns
Aaron Rai
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
Like Thomas, he has not announced a timetable for his return.
Fans of Woods will hope that he could feature in a few tournaments next year. He turns 50 next month and will be eligible to compete on the PGA Tour Champions.
Woods has been keeping a relatively low-profile since going under the knife.
He was pictured with a new sponsor during a recent shoot for Bridgestone. Last week, he was snapped alongside ex-wife Elin Nordegren as their teenage son Charlie helped his high school team to a state championship win.
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