Tiger Woods Foundation announces sponsor change for Windermere golf event

WINDERMERE — Tiger Woods returned to his old stomping grounds Sept. 15 to announce that the Tiger Woods Foundation’s World Challenge, an annual event dating back to 2000  that is coming to Isleworth Golf & Country Club in December, has a new sponsor.

This year’s event, a partnership between Woods’ foundation and the Tavistock Foundation, now has Hero MotoCorp, a motorcycle and scooter empire from India that is looking to expand into North America and the United States, as its title sponsor. 

The event is coming to Windermere for the first time after the first 14 editions of the event had previously been held in California.

The event — scheduled for Dec. 3 to 7 — is limited to golfers ranked in the top 50 in the world. Already, the event has received commitments to play from Zach Johnson, Graeme McDowell, Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson, Jason Day, Matt Kuchar, Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth, Jim Furyk, Hunter Mahan, 2014 Masters champion Bubba Watson and more.

This year’s event will have a limited number of tickets available to the general public. Those tickets went on sale on Sept. 15 and can be purchased at heroworldchallenge.com.

Woods, formerly a Windermere resident, has been rehabbing from an injury earlier this year and said he has been busy preparing for the tournament, which will likely be his first event back in competition.

Media professionals from around the country — ranging from ESPN to the New York Times — were in attendance for the press conference with plenty of questions about how the golf legend felt his rehab efforts were progressing.

“I haven’t swung a golf club yet,” Woods admitted. “I’ve just been shadow-swinging without a club, but I’ve been busting my butt in the gym pretty hard. 

“I’ve got my strength back, which is nice,” he said. “Now, the next goal is to get my explosiveness and my fast twitch going, and that’s the next phase of my training.”

Woods joked around a bit with reporters, making light of his play of late and addressing a comment made recently by star golfer Rory McIlroy that he and fellow fan favorite Phil Mickelson were on the “last few holes of their career.”

Woods said he thought the comment was honest and funny, adding that “Phil has less holes to play than I do, though” — a quip met with plenty of laughter.

Contact Steven Ryzewski at [email protected].