Tiger Woods, mixed teams and PGA Tour cards at stake: Here’s what golf will be on TV this December
Tiger Woods is set to play for the first time since April next month.
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The official seasons for the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LPGA Tour all ended last Sunday. That came after LIV Golf and the Korn Ferry Tour’s season finales last month.
While official golf for the 2023 season has come to an end, golf’s so-called “silly season” is just beginning. This year, it’s jammed-packed.
For starters, next month won’t be completely devoid of official golf as the DP World Tour has already started in 2024 campaign.
We also have Tiger Woods’ return — twice, the first mixed PGA Tour/LPGA Tour team event in 24 years, a Michael Block sighting and Q-School’s return as an avenue for PGA Tour cards for the first time in 11 years.
With that, here are some of the best golf events that will be on this December.
Golf events in December 2023
Nov. 30 to Dec. 3 – Hero World Challenge
Tiger Woods is back. The 15-time major winner will make his first start since the Masters in April at his own charity event in the Bahamas. Woods was slated to make a comeback at Albany last year, but a bout of plantar fasciitis forced him to withdraw on Monday of tournament week.
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Woods will certainly be the main draw, but a star-studded field including Scottie Scheffler, Viktor Hovland and Max Homa among others is sure to make it the biggest event of the month.
But the focus will be on the tournament host’s health as he could barely walk during the third round of the Masters, in which he withdrew. He then underwent a subtalar fusion procedure to stabilize his right ankle.
So far, videos of Woods caddying for son Charlie have shown his gait limp-free, but if Woods completes 72 holes this week, it will be just the third time since his return from his 2021 car crash.
Nov. 30 to Dec. 3 – ISPS Handa Australian Open/Investec South African Open Championship
Not only is the DP World Tour roaring into the 2024 season with four events in December, the Tour has already crowned the first two champions of the 2024 season.
The DP World Tour schedule begins with back-to-back weeks of dueling events in Australia and South Africa. This past week, Min Woo Lee picked up his third DP World Tour win at the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship, while Dean Burmester captured the Joburg Open.
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This week, the Australian Open and South African Open Championship take center stage, but most fans will want to pay attention to the action from down under.
Not only will PGA Tour stars like Adam Scott, Cam Davis and Min Woo Lee be continuing their trips through their home countries, but LIV stars like Marc Leishman, Joaquin Niemann and Cameron Smith will also tee it up. The LIV golfers are able to play since the event is co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour of Australasia.
For LIV Golfers, these two DP World Tour events (including last week’s Australian PGA) are a huge opportunity to earn much-needed Official World Golf Ranking points.
And in case you need any other intrigue, PGA Championship club pro heartthrob Michael Block is in the field on a sponsor’s invite.
Dec. 7 to 10 – Alfred Dunhill Championship
The DP World Tour’s South African swing continues in Malelane.
Dec. 7 to 10 – World Champions Cup
the PGA Tour Champions will host its first World Champions Cup team match play event.
In a sort of merger between the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup for seniors, three teams of over 50 golfers from the U.S., Europe and International teams will compete in a unique format of three-way matches.
Dec. 8 to 10 – LIV Promotions event
The first-ever LIV Promotions event will take place at Abu Dhabi Golf Club with three spots in the 48-man league up for grabs.
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The event will be a grind, with the first day consisting of an 18-hole qualifier, followed by the 18-hole first round on Saturday and a 36-hole finale on Sunday.
For journeyman pros who don’t have status on major tours, the event could be a huge break in their careers.
In a surprising twist, the PGA Tour will also allow its players to compete in the event, as it considers the event not part of the rival series.
Dec. 8 to 10 – Grant Thornton Invitational
For the first year since the JCPenney Classic ended in 1999, top stars on the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour will compete in mixed teams at the same event.
With Lexi Thompson and Nelly Korda playing in the field at the previous QBE Shootout last year, the two tours are doubling down and giving us the first mixed-field event in more than 20 years.
The PGA and LPGA Tour are competing together. We ranked the top teams
Some of the top pairings will be Tony Finau and Nelly Korda, Rickie Fowler and Lexi Thompson, and Sahith Theegala and Rose Zhang, among others.
The Grant Thornton replaces a previously dull QBE Shootout team event, which really just felt like a Zurich Classic that didn’t mean all that much. Now the event has a more unique format will lead to seeing players together in the same event that we’ve never seen before.
Dec. 14 to 17 – AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open
The DP World Tour finally wraps up the early part of its wrap-around schedule with the Mauritius Open. However, this starts perhaps the biggest week of the month with three golf tournaments taking place simultaneously.
Dec. 14 to 17 – PGA Tour Q-School
For the first time in 11 years, the pressure at PGA Tour Q-School will be ratcheted up with PGA Tour cards on the line once again.
With the PGA Tour throwing out both its wrap-around schedule and the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, five PGA Tour cards will again be available at Q-School. With the event taking place after the cutoff for the top 125 in the FedEx Cup points list for next season, this will be the final opportunity for pros to earn PGA Tour status for next year.
However, this new Q-School is different than the last time it awarded PGA Tour membership. Instead of being played over six rounds, the Qualifying Tournament this year will be four and the top five players plus ties will earn status for 2024. That’s down from 25 and ties previously.
Dec. 16 to 17 – PNC Championship
Tiger Woods, Charlie Woods to team up again at PNC Championship
Tiger Woods will again take part in one of the most fun tournaments on the schedule at the PNC Championship for the fourth year in a row.
We’ll get a chance to see his son, Charlie, in action after he just helped his high school to the Florida State Championship this fall.
The tournament will also feature action from other legends of the game, like Annika Sorenstam with son Will McGee, Nelly Korda with father Petr Korda, Justin and Mike Thomas, John II and John Daly, and defending champions Vijay and Qass Singh.
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