Tiger Woods falls out of contention on final day of the Genesis Invitational with three bogeys on the front nine – as 15-time major champion draws in a huge crowd on his return from injury
Tiger Woods drifted down the leaderboard on the final day of the Genesis Invitational with three bogeys on the front nine of his round.
The 15-time major champion has been wowing the crowds at the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles across the four days of competition, with his performance far outweighing expectations after a seven-month injury layoff.
But Sunday appeared a step too far for the legendary golfer, despite him recording a birdie on the first hole to send the watching fans crazy.
Woods bogeyed the fifth, eighth and ninth to head into the back nine at one-under-par, two over for his final round.
That left him tied for 42nd on the leaderboard – still a remarkable achievement given his injury problems and lack of competitive golf over the past year.
Tiger Woods toiled during the early stages of his final round at the Genesis Invitational Sunday
Huge crowds followed Woods’ group round the course in Pacific Palisades, California
Woods bogeyed three holes on the front nine after initially starting his round with a birdie
The American was playing alongside Englishman Tyrrell Hatton and his fellow countryman Kramer Hickok on Sunday.
After the Genesis Invitational, Woods will be hoping to head to the Players’ Championship at TPC Sawgrass next month before a return to Augusta for the first major of the year – The Masters.
Woods managed just nine rounds in 2022 because of complications around the limb-threatening injuries he sustained in his car crash the previous year.
Most recently that meant the 47-year-old needed to withdraw from December’s Hero World Challenge owing to plantar fasciitis in his right foot, however he did play later that month alongside his son Charlie at the two-round PNC Championship, where players are allowed to use buggies.
The 15-time major winner found the sand on the third hole, before managing to save par
Popular Brit Tyrrell Hatton (pictured) was playing alongside Woods in Sunday’s final round
‘The plantar fasciitis is no fun, and now I get to truly recover and heal and progress forward on this because there’s so many good things that I’ve been able to do physically, to be able to hit the golf ball and practice and do everything in a standstill,’ Woods said of the issue back on December 18.
‘But I haven’t been able to get from point A to point B, and obviously going to work on this.’
Woods is the tournament host of the longtime event at Riviera Country Club, where he made his PGA Tour debut as a 16-year-old amateur in 1992 but which he has never won as a professional.
This weekend will not see him change that stat, but his performance has been hugely impressive nonetheless.
