Tiger Woods teaming up with Rory McIlroy for latest version of The Match

Tiger Woods is hitting the course once again.

Woods is set to team up with top-ranked Rory McIlroy for the latest edition of The Match next month, the PGA Tour announced on Monday.

The two will take on Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth in what will be the seventh playing of The Match — which will take place on Dec. 10 at Pelican Golf Club outside of St. Petersburg, Florida.

Proceeds from the charity event will benefit Hurricane Ian relief efforts across Florida.

Though this is far from a Tour event, it will be the first time Woods has played publicly since he missed the cut at The British Open in July. He has played just three times on Tour since his car crash in Southern California in 2021, first at the Masters in April and again at the PGA Championship, where he withdrew after three rounds.

It’s unclear if he will play in the Hero World Challenge in December. That unofficial Tour event benefits his charity foundation. He is expected to play in the PNC Championship with his son, Charlie, too.

It will mark Woods’ third time playing in The Match. He participated in the inaugural event in a head-to-head battle with Phil Mickelson. He returned again in 2020 with Peyton Manning, where they beat Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady.

McIlroy, Thomas and Spieth will all be making their debuts in the event.

McIlroy is fresh off his win at The CJ Cup, which marked the 23rd of his career and launched him back to the top spot in the Official World Golf Rankings. He is currently leading the DP World Tour standings ahead of its championship event later this month, which would be an incredible way to follow up his FedExCup win earlier this year.

Thomas has won 15 times on Tour in his career, most recently at last year’s PGA Championship. He’s played just once this season, finishing T40 at The CJ Cup. Spieth has 13 Tour wins to his name, most recently at last year’s RBC Heritage. He finished T52 in South Carolina, his only appearance on Tour this season.