For comments: ben.alberstadt@golfwrx.com. On Twitter: @benalberstadt

Good Thursday morning, golf fans, as day one of the Hero gets underway at Albany and December is upon us.

1. Captain Weir, officially

Golfweek’s Adam Schupak…“To no surprise, Canadian Mike Weir was officially named captain of the International Team on Tuesday for the 2024 Presidents Cup, which will return to Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, for the first time since 2007.”

• “Presidents Cup has become such a big part of my career, so to be here in this moment announced as captain of the 2024 International Team is surreal,” said Weir.”

2. Homa’s LIV troll

Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…“Homa was asked Wednesday at the Hero World Challenge if he was offended by the lack of rumors that have linked him to LIV Golf.”

• “Yeah, yeah, huge insult,” he joked. “No, I guess it would have been cool to be a part of that so I could live the life of, you know, it felt like a reality TV series for a bit.”

• “Homa went on to explain that, as a joke, he tried to have his name linked to LIV Golf, which has wooed some of the game’s top players away from the PGA Tour with guaranteed contracts and a limited schedule, by tinkering with his Twitter profile.”

• “Brooks [Koepka] changed his bio and everyone figured out he was going [to LIV],” Homa laughed. “I was like, oh, I’m going to get in on this and see if people catch on, but didn’t realize that my Twitter bio doesn’t get a ton of traction.

3. New LIV location details

Mark Schlabach for ESPN…”The LIV Golf League will play tournaments in Australia, Mexico, Singapore and Spain as part of its 14-event schedule in 2023.”

• “LIV Golf announced Wednesday that it will stage events at Mayakoba’s El Camaleon Golf Course (Feb. 24-26), Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore (April 28-30) and Real Club Valderrama in Spain (June 30-July 2). LIV Golf had previously announced it would play at The Grange Golf Club in Australia (April 21-23).”

• “LIV Golf is also expected to return to The Centurion Club outside London, which was the site of its inaugural event in June.”

4. History of Norman-Woods

Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine…”In many senses, a friendship of sorts had formed between the two players, who are 21 years apart. But whatever bond there was, it was broken by the latter half of 1996.”

• “That September, Woods listed Norman’s Shark Shootout on the remainder of his playing schedule, but tournament reps quickly responded, saying that Woods had yet to be invited. When a formal invitation did come, Woods declined it, opting instead to compete the following week in the Australian Open, which Norman also played.”

• “Woods shot 79 to open that first start Down Under and ended up tied for fifth. Norman then told reporters, “We play very difficult courses here. He got a shock when he shot 79. Perhaps he will appreciate why Australians play so well when they leave home.”

• “Two years later, at the 1998 Presidents Cup, Woods requested to play Norman in singles.”

5. How is Tiger playing?

Our Jason Daniels…”Although likely to appear in the remaining two events on his 2022 schedule, it’s of massive interest to discover how Tiger was playing before the breaking news of his latest injury?”

• In an interview with Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis, the five-time Masters champion revealed the answer to be ‘pretty well, thank you!’

• “I was playing at home quite a bit, playing 18 holes shooting 65s and 64s, and walked one nine holes and shot 5-under, I was playing well,”

• However, as many have feared, the pressure and toil of a four-day competition might be too much:

• “But it’s the added load, the back-to-back days, in a tournament situation of four days in a row. My planner just didn’t like it. The only thing I can do for it is to rest it. Obviously scrape it, ice it, stretch it, it just takes time.”

6. Cam fumes at opening Australian Open round

Damien Ractliffe for the Sydney Morning Herald…“Cameron Smith went straight from his post-round press conference to the practise range after a “pretty shitty” first round at the Australian Open, where he finished with a one-over 71.

• Smith described his round at Victoria was “as bad as I’ve played in a long time”, but said he simply needed to get back to work after a whirlwind two weeks which left him under-prepared for the feature event.

• “I don’t think it was a mixed bag, I think it was all rubbish to be honest,” Smith said post-round.

• “That is as bad as I’ve played in a long time. It was pretty shitty. I think the course was pretty difficult, the conditions were pretty difficult, but I need to be better than that.

• “Maybe some delayed tiredness, maybe. I did feel a little bit foggy out there at times, but it’s not really an excuse, it’s my job to do all that stuff.”

7. Rahm on Tiger: He can’t walk any faster

Rex Hoggard for Golf Channel…”Tiger Woods has delicately made his way around Albany this week with a focus on hosting the Hero World Challenge after a bout with plantar fasciitis in his right foot led him to withdraw from the competition. The late WD put the 46-year-old’s season in perspective.

• “Following multiple procedures on his right leg as he continues to recover from a 2021 car crash, Woods returned to competition this year with mixed results. He managed to play just three events – the Masters, PGA Championship and Open Championship – with the highwater mark coming in his 47th-place finish at Augusta National.”

• “Woods was paired with Jon Rahm during the final round at this year’s Masters, but it wasn’t the 15-time major champion’s play that stood out for the Spaniard.”

• “I think the fact that we got put on the clock on [hole No.] 7 and he was somehow trying to speed up, we all looked at the official, like, he can’t walk any faster, let’s be honest. Like he was already doing an amazing job trying to move up and down those hills,” Rahm said Wednesday at the Hero. “We all joked around with the official and then when he turned around, Tiger takes off and I’m looking at my caddie, like, well, this is incredible.”

8. All quiet on the western front

9. Hero World Challenge photos

• Check out our photos from Albany.