Defending champion Jordan Spieth heads World Challenge field

(Reuters) – Six of the 10 top-ranked players in the world, headed by Jordan Spieth and Jason Day, will compete in the Hero World Challenge in The Bahamas next month, organisers said on Wednesday.

The Tiger Woods-hosted event is moving outside the United States for the first time and will be played on the Albany course on the island of New Providence from Dec. 3-6.

American Spieth, the world number one and defending champion, and Australian world number two Day are in an 18-man field which includes British Open champion Zach Johnson, so all this year’s major champions will be in action.

England’s Justin Rose and Australian Adam Scott might enjoy a home course advantage given that they live in Albany.

Woods will not play as he recovers from two recent back operations, but he is expected to be present at the $3.5 million event, which earns world ranking points but does not count towards official money or points on the PGA Tour.

The field (world ranking in brackets:

Jordan Spieth (1), USA

Jason Day (2), Australia

Rickie Fowler (5), USA

Justin Rose (7), England

Dustin Johnson (8), USA

Zach Johnson (10), USA

Adam Scott (13), Australia

Hideki Matsuyama (14), Japan

Matt Kuchar (15), USA

Jimmy Walker (16), USA

Brooks Koepka (17), USA

J.B. Holmes (18), USA

Patrick Reed (19), USA

Paul Casey (23), England

Billy Horschel (26), USA

Chris Kirk (27), USA

Bill Haas (28), USA

Anirban Lahiri (39), India

(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina, editing by Ed Osmond)