Could Tiger Woods Make A Stunning Return At The Hero World Challenge?

It's getting towards that time again, when speculation starts to step up about exactly when Tiger Woods will make his latest comeback to the game of golf - but could it be as soon as the end of November?

The field for the Hero World Challenge, which Woods hosts, has been released with 19 of the 20 spots being filled - and we wonder who that final spot could be reserved for?

Last see limping out of the third round of The Masters, Woods has never really given a hint of a return date, but with his own event coming up and that place in the field remaining empty - the rumour mill has been flying.

Woods has been out of action since April following ankle surgery, but has been teasing a comeback recently having been spotted earlier in October hitting full shots for the first time since that surgery at Pebble Beach.

Woods targeted his own event to make another comeback last year, but had to pull out of the 2022 Hero World Challenge due to the plantar fasciitis that led to his withdrawal from The Masters.

The Hero World Challenge, which takes place at Albany in the Bahamas between 30 November and 3 December, seems an ideal comeback venue with its limited field and more relaxed atmosphere as an unofficial event - not a full-blooded PGA Tour tournament.

And although we've not been getting regular fitness updates from the 15-time Major champion, having had his subtalar fusion surgery back in April he's now at the six-month mark and should have no massive limitations in his comeback.

Foot and ankle surgeon Nima Heidari told Golf Monthly just after Woods' surgery that once his bones had fused following the operation, his rehabilitation would then come without many restrictions.

Heidari said that once Woods could bear weight on his foot that: "Everything should have healed, at that point then no holds barred. He has got absolutely unrestricted rehabilitation.

"And the thing is that the conversion to unrestricted rehabilitation really is not a time thing. It is a function of when the bones have knitted together enough. 

"It's a bit like a fracture. You know, once the fracture is healed, you can then start rehabilitating in an unrestricted way.

"When he reaches that point where things have healed enough then it becomes unrestricted and I suspect that they would be keeping a very close eye on him and he may have one or two more scans to really assess the bone union so that they can optimize his return to play."

In short, now we've seen him out and actually hitting full shots his rehab could accelerate, according to the medical experts, and if there's one player in golf that would be keen to "get those reps in" then it's Woods.

The new TGL Woods is spearheading alongside Rory McIlroy may also offer us a clue, as that will hit the ESPN screens at the start of January - and Woods will surely be teeing it up there.

The PNC Championship is also coming up shortly after the Hero World Challenge - and the family event is something Woods and his son Charlie have loved playing in, so that's also surely a target.

Woods is able to use a cart for that two-day tournament though, with the Hero a four-day walk and a much bigger test of his injury.

One place to fill in the Hero could just be one of those things, it could be a hoax, but it's likely a teasing hint that Woods could be about to embark on his latest and perhaps greatest comeback.

He's continued to astound and dumbfound us with his powers of recovery, but this comeback, from major surgery and approaching his 48th birthday in December, could just top the lot.