The pursuit of a 16th major championship in 2024 is officially over for Tiger Woods. The 48-year-old scuffled badly in the first two rounds of The Open Championship at Royal Troon, tallying a 14-over par to miss the cut. After playing sparingly this year due to injury concerns, he is focused on getting more tournaments under his belt in 2025.

Though, that does not mean Woods is done for the rest of 2024. He is going to be away from the action for the next several months but will return to competition in December for the Hero World Challenge in Albany, Bahamas, per Barstool Sports' Dan Rapaport.

Woods hosts the non-PGA Tour event, so his inclusion was expected regardless. Still, it will be interesting to see how he performs following a dreadful major season that saw him place 60th at The Masters and miss the cut in the three other championships.

Can Tiger Woods bounce back in the Bahamas?

Tiger Woods plays a shot from a bunker on the 12th hole during the second round of the Open Championship golf tournament at Royal Troon.
Jack Gruber-USA TODAY Sports

The long layoff will ideally benefit Woods from a physical standpoint, but the gap in between tournaments could continue to have a negative impact on his play. Perhaps the Hero World Challenge will be a perfect way for him to gear up for the 2025 PGA season.

20 of the best and most well-known golfers typically duke it out at the annual event, so there is an added level of prestige that comes with prevailing there. Scottie Scheffler finally broke through in 2023 after narrowly finishing in second the previous two years. Since he is in the midst of a peak-Tiger Woods type of year, it would be somewhat poetic for the world No. 1 to close out 2024 with another win at the golf icon's tournament.

Woods placed 18th at even-par in the 2023 Hero World Challenge and will therefore be motivated to truly contend for the crown this year. A win is unrealistic given what fans have witnessed these last three months, but it is important for him to swing the club well. He hopes to give fans an appetizer of what is possibly to come in 2025.

By now, however, the golf world knows to adjust their expectations when it comes to this version of Tiger Woods. The Hero World Challenge runs from Dec. 5-8.