The end of the 2019 golf calendar will be a little more packed than most years, with the Presidents Cup on the schedule from Dec. 11-15 at Royal Melbourne in Australia.
In response, the Australian PGA Championship is moving forward in the calendar, preceding the Australian Open to create a one-two punch in the hopes some of the 24 players involved in the biennial matches will come over early and compete.
However, for American (likely playing) Presidents Cup captain Tiger Woods, he still has a tournament to run a half a world away from Melbourne. The 2019 Hero World Challenge will go on as expected, but Woods and his TGR Live team are looking at a number of logistical problems to complete the 18-man event.
The 2019 Hero World Challenge will be played the week before the 2019 Presidents Cup, meaning many of the Hero participants -- who have to be in the top 50 in the world and could likely be on one of the two teams -- will need to get from the Bahamas to Australia to prepare. The event competes with the Australian Open, leaving players to make a choice:
- Support Woods' event and then traveling a long way to Royal Melbourne,
- Travel to Australia early to play in the Aussie PGA and/or Aussie Open and/or have a family vacation,
- Show up in Oz the week of the Presidents Cup.
Regardless of what his charges choose, Woods has to figure out how to get there in time for Monday practice rounds. This means the Hero World Challenge is likely to finish early Saturday afternoon in 2019, giving Woods and the participating players (and family members) from both sides ample time to catch a chartered flight to Melbourne in time for Monday practice rounds.
“There are so many things that are up in the air,” Woods said Sunday at Albany Golf Club. “One of the logistical things I'm trying to figure out is try to get where there's like 8 to 10 guys plus four or five more, and you're getting close to 50 people from the Bahamas to Australia in time for a practice round, opening ceremonies and the event. We have our work ahead of us trying to logistically try to make this all happen.”
