Tiger Woods was given a rousing reception as he teed up at the first round of the Genesis Invitational on his return to competitive action after seven months away.
Woods, 47, has not teed it up in a tournament with a cut since The Open last July, and all eyes will be on him to see how he fares at the Players’ Championship at TPC Sawgrass next month before a return to Augusta for the first major of the year – The Masters.
The swarms of fans gathered around the first tee were in fine voice as they chanted, ‘Tiger! Tiger!’ before the golf legend took his first shot.
Woods’s tee shot just found the edge of the rough to the right of the fairway but came cleanly out with his second finishing just short of the green on the par-5 first. After a beautiful chip to within feet of the pin, he holed out for birdie and a perfect start to the round.
Woods, who was in the marquee group alongside pals Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas, saved par on one of the hardest holes on the course, the second, before finding his first fairway of the day off the third tee, outdriving his playing partners by about 30 yards.
Tiger Woods was given a rousing reception as he teed off at the Genesis Invitational
The 15-time major winner has not teed it up in a tournament with a cut since The Open last July
Swarms of fans had gathered around the first tee to watch the 47-year-old take his first shot
One-under through three, Woods sat down on an ice box by the side of the fourth tee box as he waited for the group ahead to finish playing the par-3 fourth. He appeared to remove his shoe to adjust his sock on his right foot – his injured leg.
The 15-time major winner had warmed up for the event in the Genesis Invitational Pro-Am in Pacific Palisades Wednesday, and despite being the first out at 6.30am, he had plenty of fans in attendance to watch him head out for a vitally important 18 holes.
He appeared to make it up the steep hill to the 18th green during the Pro-Am Wednesday without issue but Dan Rapaport reported that he was ‘walking with a pretty significant limp’ during the player dining that evening.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of the Genesis Open on Tuesday, Woods was quick to insist that he believes he can win the tournament.
‘I would not have put myself out here if I didn’t think I could beat these guys,’ Woods said ahead of the event, which has attracted 19 of the top 20 players in the world.
‘I’m there to get a W, OK? So I don’t understand that making the cut is a great thing,’ Woods said. ‘If I entered the event, it’s always to get a W. There will come a point in time when my body will not allow me to do that anymore, and it’s probably sooner rather than later.
‘But wrapping my ahead around that transition and being the ambassador role and just trying to be out here with the guys, no, that’s not in my DNA.’
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 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 Dec. 18.
Woods his second shot out of the rough on the first just short of the green on the par-5 first
Woods, who has 82 wins on the PGA Tour, looked locked in in Pacific Palisades, California
‘But I haven’t been able to get from point A to point B, and obviously going to work on this.’
The use of a buggy was a critical part of Woods’ involvement in the latter, with the American having previously explained that he retains the ability to swing a club with some of his old mastery, but is currently unable to endure the rigors of a long walk.
It is a huge boost to the PGA Tour that he has declared his intent to return to one of their non-major events for the first time since the Zozo Championship in October 2020.
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.
Last year, Woods finished 47th at Augusta, playing through the pain barrier after a serious car accident in February 2021 that still impacts his ability to walk.
Woods is hoping to be fit enough to play in Players’ Championship at TPC Sawgrass in March
Woods was all smiles as he prepared for his first competitive round of golf since last July
Woods headed out early for his Pro-Am round Wednesday ahead of the Genesis Invitational
As well as his miraculous Augusta return, Woods made the cut at the PGA Championship but withdrew in the third round. He missed the cut at the British Open, his last event at St Andrews.
His last finish at Riviera was a solo 68th in 2020. Woods is currently ranked No. 1,283 in the Official World Golf Ranking, having ended 2020 at No. 41 and suffering the horrific car crash just two months later.
The Genesis Invitational is the Tour’s third designated event of the year, following the Sentry Tournament of Champions and this week’s WM Phoenix Open.
The designated events came as part of the PGA Tour’s string of changes in response to the threat of LIV Golf.
The purse will be $20 million with $3.6 million going to the winner – part of the fightback against the Saudi-funded breakaway’s mega-money prizes and deals.
