Tiger Woods says he is playing in the Bahamas in December

Tiger Woods said Tuesday he is playing his Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas the first week of December, which would be his first competition in more than 15 months if he follows through with it.

Woods left himself open to doubt by entering the Safeway Open last month, only to pull out three days later when he said his game was not ready.

“I am excited to make my return at the Hero World Challenge at Albany and play in this terrific tournament,” he said in a news release that announced the 18-man field for the unofficial tournament that awards world ranking points but is not part of any tour.

Woods is the tournament host of a holiday event that began in 1999. He is a five-time winner, all of those victories coming at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California, before the tournament moved to Isleworth in Florida and then to the Bahamas.

Woods, now at No. 831 in the world ranking, last played in the Wyndham Championship in August 2015 when he tied for 10th. He had two back surgeries over the next few months and has said he would not return until fully healthy.

He initially said in early September that he planned to play the Safeway Open and Turkish Airlines Open. Woods withdrew on the Monday before the Safeway Open, saying his health was good and his body felt strong but that “my game is vulnerable and not where it needed to be.”

He also pulled out of Turkey.

The Hero World Challenge features players from the top 50 in the world, with an exception made for Woods as the tournament host. The 16 qualifiers came from the top 25 in the world ranking that was published the week after the Tour Championship.

The lone sponsor exemption was given to Zach Johnson, who won the event in its last year at Sherwood by holing a shot for par from the drop area on the 18th hole to force a playoff that he won against Woods.

The tournament will be missing at least the top two players in the world — Jason Day, who is taking the rest of the year off to rest his back, and Rory McIlroy.

Still to be determined is whether U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson plays.

Johnson, who is No. 3 in the world, will be in the Philippines on Tuesday of the tournament week (Nov. 29) for an exhibition with McIlroy. He would have to fly straight from there to Los Angeles and then the Bahamas, arriving in Nassau on Wednesday morning in time for the pro-am. His manager said Johnson has not decided if he will try to play.

More games: friv

Tiger Woods makes appearance at school career day, does not feel compelled to overdress

We have so many questions about these pictures of Tiger Woods making an appearance at career day at daughter Sam's school, but let's start with the basics.

First off, the outfit. OK, we get it, you're a Nike loyalist to the bone. But if we're to be completely honest, we were hoping for a little more effort. Even most of the third graders are wearing a collared shirt. The only acceptable excuse is that he arrived at school fresh off a four-hour workout as he prepares for his return to golf.

-- How detailed did Tiger get when discussing his career to the class? Did he go blow-by-blow breaking down the 2000 PGA against Bob May? Was there an obligatory "Steiny" reference? How much time did he spend discussing the finer point of "traj control"?

-- This picture suggests a portion of the program when things got testy. Potential sensitive topics broached: what exactly Tiger does all day; best Palm Beach-area back surgeons; Y.E. Yang.

Regardless, good to see Woods upright and appearing relatively fit. Here's hoping he has some new material to work with at next year's career day.

Charting the Biggest Comebacks and Collapses in Major History

The Economist recently published an article detailing their EAGLE system (Economist Advantage in Golf Likelihood Estimator), which projects how golf tournaments will finish, likely better than anyone has before, even noted statistician Ken Pomeroy. It's very complicated (you can read the explanation here) and requires some top-of-the-class mathematics lingo to explain, but the graphs it produces are perfectly blunt.

Using 15 years worth of major championship data, and over 400,000 golf holes, the system has highlighted the worst collapses (as well as the craziest comebacks) in golf history. Atop the list are Adam Scott at the 2012 British Open and Jordan Spieth at the 2016 Masters, but we already knew that.

The system can also be used to show the most improbable outcomes, like Keegan Bradley's 2011 PGA Championship victory, where he rose from the slimmest of single-digit chances to claim the Wanamaker Trophy. The article listed Bradley's win as a 1-in-10,000 type of result, which was second most imporbable behind Y.E. Yang's '09 PGA Championship win. Below is Bradley's win-expectancy chart from that event.

The system can also be used to show the most dominant performances in recent history, like Rory McIlroy's first major championship win at the 2011 U.S. Open. According to EAGLE, McIlroy had nearly a 90% chance of winning the event after just 36 holes. For context, any golfer reaching 60% win expectancy after just two rounds is rare. Only Tiger Woods ('02 U.S. Open, '09 PGA Championship) and Jordan Spieth (2015 Masters) had been able to do so in the past 15 years. Below is McIlroy’s 2011 U.S. Open graph.

It is worth noting that EAGLE is aiming to become even more robust a system moving forward. As outlined late in the article, The Economist hopes to adjust its algorithm to include player streakiness and recent play in the future.

Five times the US Open lived up to its fearsome reputation

Oakmont is set to provide a daunting test for the world's best golfers in this week's US Open.

Here are five other occasions when the year's second major championship has lived up to its fearsome reputation.

Winged Foot (1974)

A year after Johnny Miller won the US Open with the first 63 in major championship history, the USGA exacted swift revenge in such a fashion that the tournament became known as the Massacre at Winged Foot. Gary Player was the only player to match par in the opening round and not one player was under par after any round. Fifty-four-hole leader Tom Watson collapsed to a closing 79 as Hale Irwin won the first of three US Opens on seven over.

Shinnecock Hills (2004)

Retief Goosen's winning score may have been four under par, but runner-up Phil Mickelson was the only other player in red figures and the final round saw 28 of the 66 players fail to break 80 on a par-70 layout. A combination of extremely dry conditions, fast greens and a questionable pin position even led to a stoppage of play while the seventh green had to be watered mid-round.

Winged Foot (2006)

Thirty two years after Hale Irwin's victory on seven over par, Australian Geoff Ogilvy backed into a first major title when Jim Furyk, Colin Montgomerie and Phil Mickelson all made a mess of the 72nd hole. Furyk only bogeyed, but Montgomerie made a double bogey after a perfect drive and Mickelson also took six to leave Ogilvy alone on five over. "I think I was the beneficiary of a little bit of charity," Ogilvy admitted.

Oakmont (2007)

For the second successive year five over par was good enough for victory as Angel Cabrera held off the challenge of Furyk and Tiger Woods. Cabrera and England's Nick Dougherty were the only players to break par on day one, while 54-hole leader Aaron Baddeley collapsed to a closing 80.

Oakland Hills (1951)

Ben Hogan won the US Open for the second year running on seven over par after a three-under 67 in the final round, prompting his famous quote: "I'm glad I brought this course, this monster, to its knees." Runner-up Clayton Heafner's closing 69 was the only other sub-par score all week.

Bad blood: Tiger Woods' exes still at odds

Both of Tiger Woods’ exes, Elin Nordegren and former girlfriend Lindsey Vonn, were making the rounds over Kentucky Derby weekend — and party organizers were ordered to keep the two blondes apart.

While Nordegren and Vonn have been friendly in the past, party organizers were instructed not to seat the Olympic skier anywhere near the former Mrs. Woods, we hear.

The pair crossed paths a night before the big race at Friday’s Barnstable Brown Foundation Gala, which was also attended by Kate Upton, Jon Voight and Megyn Kelly.

We’re told Swedish beauty Nordegren, who divorced Woods in 2010 after his myriad affairs were uncovered, then headed to breeder Black Rock Thoroughbreds’ Fillies & Stallions party to join guests including Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and singer Joey Fatone, with Vonn arriving not far behind.

“The staff was being told over a walkie-talkie that Lindsey was on her way over and must be put in a different area from Elin,” said a source. “They were very clear about that.”

Vonn — who dated the golf superstar from March 2013 until May 2015 — had problems getting into the event because she had been issued the wrong wristband. But once inside, we’re told she sat with girlfriends in a separate VIP area, well away from the mother of Woods’ two children, Sam and Charlie.

According to insiders, former gold medalist Vonn was also very insistent that she didn’t want photographers to take her picture at the fête.

We’re told the two women have a complicated relationship. “Elin really liked Lindsey because the kids really liked her,” said a source close to Nordegren, adding that if Vonn wanted to keep her distance at the party, it would likely be an attempt to avoid any media storm created if there were pictures of them partying together.

But a rep for Vonn insisted that she didn’t ask to be seated away from Nordegren, adding the two women are on “great terms” and spoke at different events over the weekend.

Tiger Woods' agent squashes rumors, confirms client hasn't been at Augusta

There have apparently been numerous rumors this week that Tiger Woods has been doing undercover prep work at Augusta National this week for the 2016 Masters.

Woods' agent, Mark Steinberg, told Bob Harig of ESPN that the aforementioned reports are simply not true.

This is not really a big surprise. But such is life when you're Tiger Woods and social media rumors exist. I would be shocked if Woods showed to play the 2016 Masters. Of course, I thought many of the same things late last year and Woods dropped a top 20 on us after a few months off.

This time feels much different, but who knows. Maybe we will see Tiger stalking the grounds looking for win No. 5 there. He hasn't announced he's not playing ... yet ...

In 2014, Woods announced he wouldn't play nine days before the tournament started. We are currently 12 days away, so I would expect something next week on Woods' status for this year's tournament.

Woods has insinuated he will attend the Champions Dinner this year regardless.

The last time we saw Tiger at Augusta. (USATSI)

Spieth's recent stretch demands comparison to Woods

KAPALUA, Hawaii – As one player spoke with a gaggle of reporters following his round on Friday, a celebration erupted from the ninth green just down the hill at Kapalua.

“That’s the boy,” the player mused with a healthy dose of awe.

“The boy” was Jordan Spieth, the PGA Tour’s 22-year-old wunderkind who continues to surprise despite a resume that already includes two major bottle caps and a half dozen victories. His eagle at the par-5 ninth on Friday vaulted him into a commanding lead at the 2016 lid lifter and he’s really not looked back since.

The boy wonder set out on a windswept Saturday at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions with four-stroke advantage and picked up three consecutive birdies starting at the fourth before dropping his first shot of 2016, a bogey that was the result of a wicked bounce in a bunker on No. 8.

“I started out the day with just kind of an off range session. I wasn't feeling great,” said Spieth, who closed with a 65 for a 25 under total. “[Nos.] 8 through 11 was a tough stretch for me striking the ball. But we still played those holes 1 over when it could have been worse. We made up for it.”

But even when Spieth gives the field a glimmer of hope it’s starting to feel like borrowed time.

Following his bogey at No. 8, Spieth also failed to birdie the par-5 ninth and Brooks Koepka picked up two shots with birdies at the 14th and 15th holes to cut the lead to one shot.

Spieth’s answer was quick and undeniably clear, a birdie putt at No. 12 from Oahu (actually it was 46 feet) that dropped with a sheepish grin and innocent shrug followed by two more birdies at Nos. 14 and 15.

Despite a charging effort from Koepka, who posted with a 10-under 63 in the week’s toughest conditions, Spieth maintained a healthy advantage to fuel his burgeoning aura.

Comparisons to Tiger Woods and his dominance have all turned out to be wildly unfounded. There have been Tiger-like performances in recent years (see McIlroy, Rory 2014) and Tiger-ish seasons (Spieth 2015), but sustained preeminence is hard.

Spieth’s last 10 months, however, demand comparisons to Woods at his best, no matter how unfair they seem.

Since winning last year’s Valspar Championship in March he has five Tour victories, including career-defining triumphs at the Masters and U.S. Open.

Along the way he added five runner-up finishes and a FedEx Cup title. By any definition, that is Tiger-like.

It’s etched into the leaderboard and the faces of his frat brothers every time he converts a crucial putt, like his 9-footer for eagle at the last to close his round on Saturday for a five-stroke advantage.

“I know what it feels like to be Jordan Spieth now, I guess, shooting 10 under every round,” Koepka laughed.

Spieth’s name atop a leaderboard may not be worth a half a stroke a side like some say it was for Woods once upon a time, but there is no denying that his continued excellence is starting to inch its way into the collective psyche.

“I tell you what, you can't make a lot of mistakes,” said Brandt Snedeker, whose 65 on Saturday was his best card in 14 trips around the Plantation Course but still left him nine shots back.

“I played a couple practice rounds with him this week and he just hits so many quality golf shots. And when he doesn't, his short game is so good he doesn't make any bogeys.”

Whether this is the new normal remains to be seen, and to be historically accurate Woods achieved his status after a decade of stellar play, but three rounds into the new year it’s hard to see any weaknesses or blind spots in Spieth’s game.

Spieth plays to his strengths, avoids the big miss and though he might not make every putt he steps to, he certainly holes the ones that matter.

He’s won on fescue greens (U.S. Open), bent (Masters) and Bermuda grass (Tour Championship), and seems to play better when the conditions are most demanding.

Although he’s far too modest to ever admit it, he seems to sense his building mystique among the rank and file.

“When Tiger’s in contention, why is his record so phenomenal? Well, sure, he played the best golf and he was the strongest mentally, but everyone else knew that he could do it and maybe tried to do a bit too much and then they're out of their own sync,” said Spieth, who has now led or been in second place after all seven rounds he’s played at the Tournament of Champions.

“In no way, shape, or form am I comparing where I'm at to what he's done, but I think that any time someone continues to win or close a deal, it just starts to put it in your head.”

With a Houdini short game and a putting stroke that travels, Spieth has emerged as a singular talent. Whether he’s bound for the heights that Woods reached depends on what transpires over the next decade or so, but he’s certainly headed down a familiar road.