Thomas excited to try to 'kick Tiger's ass' at Hero World Challenge

Last season's FedEX Cup champ is hoping to flex his muscles when Tiger Woods returns to the links this weekend.

Woods will be making his long-awaited return at the Hero World Challenge, and while Justin Thomas is excited to play alongside Tiger on Day 1, it doesn't mean he plans to take it easy on him.

"I'm probably just as excited to watch it as you are. I just get a front row seat to it on Thursday," Thomas said, according to Jay Coffin of GolfChannel.com. "But I'm also looking forward to trying to kick his ass, to be perfectly honest."

Of course, Thomas' competitive nature doesn't mean he lacks any respect for Tiger and his accomplishments.

"If he hadn't done everything he's done, we wouldn’t have the sponsors we have," Thomas said. "If it wasn’t for him we wouldn't be playing for the amount of money that we’re playing for."