What happened to Tiger Woods at the Genesis Invitational? A look at the golfer’s outing
When news of Tiger Woods participating in his first non-Major PGA tournament in two years came out, there was a sense of excitement and nervousness about how their favorite golfer would perform in his comeback tournament. The nervousness was evident even in Woods' game, although he managed to calm it soon.
Genesis Invitational went better than expected for Tiger, despite him looking a bit rusty in some of the shots. While Woods had a great first round at 2-under 67, his form dipped the following day at 3-over. His best performance came on Saturday, where he carded the third round at 4-under, a glimpse of the veteran Tiger. He had his moments, but a fourth round of 2-over 73 meant, the 82 times winner on the PGA Tour would finish at T45. He hit 5 bogeys on Sunday at Riveria Golf Club.
"It’s progress, but I didn’t win," said Wood after the conclusion of the event. "It certainly was a little bit more difficult than I probably let on. My team has been fantastic in getting my body recovered day to day and getting me ready to play each and every day."
This was Tiger Woods' first official event since the 150th Open last year and the first non-Major PGA Tour event since October 2020. Woods played the PNC Championship and Capital One's exhibition "The Match" in between, but one can understand the difference in competitiveness between official and exhibition events. His serious leg injuries due to a car crash in 2021 didn't allow him to play much. He suffered from plantar fasciitis in his right foot due to injuries.
The 15 times Majors winner also got into controversy during the Genesis Invitational. He was seen handing a tampon to Justin Thomas during the first round of the tournament. This didn't go well with many people and the act received backlash online.
Sky Sports presenter Sarah Stirk found this behavior "crass". Many found it misogynistic, stating that Tiger Woods was trying to show women as inferior to men. He received support from the likes of Paige Spiranac, who felt the controversy was uncalled for. Woods later apologized for it on Friday.
"If I offended anybody, it was not the case. It was just friends having fun and as I said, if I offended anybody in any way, shape, or form, I'm sorry. It was not intended to be that way," Woods said on last Friday.
Tiger Woods gives an update on his 2023 schedule
Tiger Woods has reiterated that he won't be playing frequently from now onwards as his body doesn't allow him to do that anymore.
“So that was my goal last year and I was able to play three of the four, and this year, I can hopefully play all four. That is going to be my schedule going forward because of all of the limitations I have," Woods told CBS.
Although a bit rusty, in his own words, Tiger added that his game was alright.
"I made some silly mistakes here and there, and I didn’t quite pick up the speed of the greens each and every day fast enough, like I normally would if I was playing," said Woods.