Tiger Woods will return to action this week at the Hero World Challenge, a tournament hosted by Woods for the benefit of his foundation.
This will be the first year for the new title sponsor Hero MotoCorp. Williams, Target, Chevron and Northwestern Mutual have all taken turns as the main sponsor in past years.
The total purse is $3.5 million with $1 million going to the winner. Prize money in this event is not counted as official on any world golf tour, but it spends just the same.
Since 2009 the Hero World Challenge has awarded world ranking points to the participants.
Zach Johnson, the defending champion, put on a wedge clinic last year as his short-iron shots left tap-in putts or went into the cup coming down the stretch last year. He beat the host in a playoff to win the 2013 event.
The 18-man field for the Hero World Challenge is limited to the four major championship winners, plus the top-12 players available in the Official World Golf Rankings, along with two exemptions granted to the Woods Foundation.
Masters champion, Bubba Watson is the only 2014 major championship winner on hand this week. U.S. Open Champion, Martin Kaymer and Rory McIlroy, who won the Open and PGA Championships, have started their winter vacation.
The tournament has been held near Los Angeles at the Sherwood Country Club for the past 14 years, but will be held at Isleworth Golf Club in Orlando, Florida this year.
Keegan Bradley, Jason Day, Rickie Fowler, Billy Horschel, Zach Johnson, Chris Kirk, Matt Kuchar, Hunter Mahan, Hideki Matsuyama, Graeme McDowell, Patrick Reed, Justin Rose, Jordan Spieth, Steve Stricker, Henrik Stenson, Jimmy Walker, Bubba Watson and Tiger Woods make up the elite field.
Woods will be making his first competitive start since missing the cut at the PGA Championship in August. He needed the time away from the tour to rest his surgically repaired back.
Due to the injury and surgery, he had his worst season on the PGA Tour after coming off a five-win season in 2013.
Woods is very familiar with Isleworth as he lived and practiced there for many years, until he moved to Jupiter in southeastern Florida.
Golf fans will be watching Woods performance in the Hero World Challenge to gauge whether or not he will be a factor next season on the PGA Tour.