Golfer Tiger Woods still hopes to come to India for the competition, something he hasn’t been able to do in his 10 years as a global partner of Hero. Then there’s Pawan Munjal, a close friend of Woods, who is thrilled to extend his partnership with the star-studded Hero World Challenge for another six years until 2030, with Woods remaining their global partner until 2030. The third thing that brought a big smile to Munjal’s face was that he was able to field three players of Indian origin – Sahit Thigala, Akshay Bhatia and Aaron Rai – on the Hero World Challenge field.
The tournament, which will feature 20 of the world’s best golfers, begins on Thursday.
Munjal said: “If you remember, we once had Anirban (Lahiri) and it was great. He was in the top 30 at the time. To have three boys of Indian origin in the Top 20 and Top 20 is a huge, huge thing for India.
“I and many of you have been looking for an Indian star on the golf map to truly grow the game in India. I’m sure that even if they are not Indian, if they are of Indian origin, I’m sure the whole nation will be very, very excited and very proud of that fact.” Indian-American Thigala is ranked 12th in the world, Indo-British Rai is 21st and Indian-American Bhatia is 31st as all 20 players include players ranked in the world’s top 40.
On extending their relationship with the tournament, Munjal said: “It was easy. Like I said, we’ve had an incredible 10 years of journey together that has benefited both of us, the foundation and the Hero brand around the world. no two thoughts about it.” Woods commented: “Well, this is amazing news for all of us at the fund, to be able to have Hero MotoCorp, which has supported us here for the last 10 years, and continue that relationship and our partnership through 2030 is truly amazing. We Thanks to this we can help and serve even more young people.
“All the players who have come here over the years have supported the event, some of them starting their own foundations because of the impact Pawan and I had on the event and our various charities.
“We’ve had a great relationship and a great partnership over the last 10 years, so I think it was very natural for us to continue that relationship into 2030 and hopefully we can improve on that in the next five or so years. better than it was in the first 10, and then hopefully even better in the future.” The Hero and Tiger Woods Foundation teamed up for HWC in 2014 and will now be together until at least 2030, making it one of the longest-running relationships on the PGA Tour.
Woods, who has often chosen the HWC, which he hosts, as an event to test his fitness and preparation ahead of next season, admitted: “Yeah, I’m disappointed. I’m not physically ready to compete at this level yet. When I came back here, I was ready to start competing and playing again. Unfortunately not this time, I still need to keep training to have the best chance for next year and the upcoming competitions.” On the issue of the PGA Tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which funds the LIV Series, Woods said: “I think all of us who were part of this process thought it would happen faster than it has. Even if that were the case, we’re still stuck with the Department of Justice (DOJ) rules that say that gives us a hominus dominus that it will go through.
“Even if we had already made a deal, it is still in the hands of the Department of Justice, but we wish we had something more specific and more advanced than we have now. But things are very fluid, we are still working on it. this happens daily. From the point of view of the political council or from the point of view of the enterprise, things are moving and they are constructive. But yes, they are definitely moving.” Back in competitive golf, Woods remains enthusiastic and hopeful.
“The fire of competition is still burning. The difference is that rebuilding the body to do this is not what it used to be. I still love to do it, I love to compete, I love to compete in everything, whether we play cards or I play golf, whatever it is, I love to compete,” Woods said.
The Hero World Challenge, which runs Dec. 5-8, will be headlined by world number one Scotty Scheffler, who is also a FedEX champion, a two-time Masters champion (2022 and 2024), and the defending champion here.
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