Spieth hopeful Woods will return

Prior to his late fortnight surge to salvage his season in 2014, Spieth’s year was best considered progress for the then-21-year-old.

Spieth, who romped to a 10-stroke win over Henrik Stenson at the unofficial PGA Tour tournament a year ago, heads to the Albany Golf Course having left Australia empty-handed.

One of them is Adam Scott, at No. 10 in the world, who is trying to avoid his first winless year since his first as a pro in 2000.

The US star was fresh off an Australian Open title when he arrived at Isleworth and blitzed the invitational field for an impressive global back-to-back win, setting the stage for this year’s first major wins at the Masters and US Open.

He ended the 2014-15 PGA Tour season with record earnings of $12,030,465, eclipsing the previous mark of $10,905,166 by Vijay Singh in 2004, before being voted Player of the Year. There was another lead in the final 18 holes in The Players Championship that he couldn’t hold as Martin Kaymer grabbed the hardware. Last week it was the Australian Open, this week the Hero World Challenge, where a dream year is set to come to an end. “Again, things still have to fall your way, you have to get the right breaks in the end to win a tournament, and I’ll have plenty where I’m in contention and won’t close it out”. “For me, the moment I get content and lackadaisical or even just going through the motions, is the moment when golf is not where is should be”.

Spieth, who has been paired with Indian ace Anirban Lahiri, is hoping to cap off the year on a high. “He’s been a huge influence on me even though I’m only five years younger than him”, Scott said.

Asked how he could possibly match his remarkable 2015 campaign next year, Spieth replied: “I’m not sure yet… And just getting one win is tough”.

“And with all that talent and with his work ethic, I mean, he could achieve a lot and I certainly expect him to do that going forward and it would be fun to watch”.

There has been much speculation in the days that have followed that Woods will retire from the game, but Spieth is hopeful that is not the case.

“This is a very easy week for us, ” Spieth said.

“Just the dominance, the way that he was able to bring it in the majors”. Said Woods, “To have the field that we have, it’s by far the best we’ve ever had. These are the kind of events and fields that you want to play against every week and I’m really excited”.