Hero World Challenge 2014 live stream: How to watch online, TV coverage and more

If you’ve got nothing to do Thursday afternoon, or just want to ignore work, there ‘s actually some interesting and notable golf -- perhaps the first since the Ryder Cup at the end of September. Tiger Woods returns at one of the three tournaments that benefits his foundation, the Hero World Challenge. It’s a silly season event, with just 18 players in the field, but that field is loaded and includes the biggest moneymaker in golf, who’s coming off almost four months of rehab and rest no less.

There are so many questions surrounding Wood’s game and health. This is not an official PGA Tour event, but it is a nice challenge before the calendar flips to 2015. It’s likely we won’t see Woods play again until either late January in Dubai or the next week in early February at Torrey Pines. Woods will be playing an easier course, Isleworth, where he lived and practiced for more than decade. And he’s only competing against 17 other players, so there should be some amount of success.

But even with those “unofficial” conditions, this is still a significant test for Woods. How will his new swing look? What adjustments are being made under new “consultant” Chris Como? Is his back full-strength? Can he hang with some of the young power that’s in this limited field, which includes 10 of the top 15 in the world rankings?

So while this event usually flies under the radar in early December, there are actually plenty of interesting reasons to watch this week. Even beyond all the questions and hype surrounding Woods, there’s a set of world-class players and young guns in the field, including Jordan Spieth, who is coming off a win and what he called the best round of his career in Australia Sunday.

For anyone who watches golf closely but has been bored to death since the Ryder Cup, this week is a nice holiday boost before we turn our attention to the 2015 season. Golf Channel and their Comcast sister, NBC, will carry coverage of the event all four days. On Thursday, GC will have sole coverage, coming on the air at 2 p.m. ET for three hours. Woods will tee off at 12:15 p.m. with Jason Day, and while that won’t be the official coverage window, we expect Golf Channel’s pregame show to carry many of Woods’ shots during live look-ins, starting at 12:30 p.m. If you’re stuck in the office, as usual Golf Channel will stream a simulcast of their TV coverage, including that pregame show, via GC/NBC Live Extra. Here are all your media options for Wood’s return and the first round of the Hero World Challenge:

2 to 5 p.m. ET -- Golf Channel

Replayed from 5:30 to 11:30 p.m. ET, midnight to 3 a.m. ET

Noon to 5 p.m. ET -- PGA Tour Radio on Sirius-XM (Ch. 93/208)