(LOS ANGELES) — Tiger Woods had some explaining to do Friday about a putter so cold that he nearly missed the cut at Riviera and a chauvinist prank he played on Justin Thomas at the Genesis Invitational.
Woods stirred in the opening round of his return to elite competition for the first time in seven months.
It started with a 323-yard drive, 10 yards longer than Thomas’ 29-year-old drive. Woods put something in Thomas’ hand as they walked off the tee, which Thomas tossed to the ground when he realized what it was — a tampon, to remind him that Woods hit it farther. Woods laughed and wrapped his arm around Thomas’s shoulders.
When the moment was posted, social media exploded. After Woods made a rare putt on Friday, a fan yelled, “Tampon!” at him.
Woods apologized after finishing with a bogey-bogey 74 in the second round, which put him over the projected cut line. By the end of the day, he had advanced far enough that he was certain to be present for the weekend. He trailed Max Homa by 11 shots.
Tiger Didn’t Play Well That Day
“It was supposed to be all fun and games, and obviously, that hasn’t happened,” Woods said. “I apologize if I offended anyone in any way, shape, or form. It was never meant to be that way. We just play pranks on each other ae time, and I don’t think this came across that way virally.”
Outside of cursing after bad shots, Woods rarely draws this much attention to himself inside the ropes.
The golf was not much better.
He missed birdie opportunities and par chances late, and his finish was the polar opposite of his opening round when he closed with three consecutive birdies for a 69.
Woods missed a 5-foot birdie chance two holes after coming within inches of an ace on the par-3 14th, his fifth hole of the round.
“I didn’t putt very well today,” Woods admitted. “I blocked a lot of putts early, and this is probably the highest score I could have shot today. Probably should have shot five or six shots better than this. I didn’t make the putts early and in the middle of the round when I had the chance. And they weren’t particularly difficult putts.”
Missing Spots And Chips Into The Holes
Even after missing his target on the par-3 sixth hole, the famous green with a bunker in the middle, he was still 2 under for the tournament. The ball rolled down the green’s edge to the front, and the pin was cut to the top left.
He studied various options with his arms crossed and a lob wedge in his hands. He could have pitched it behind the green and up the slope, letting it run back toward the hole.
“If I chipped it up on top, there’s a chance it’ll come back to the front part of the green,” Woods said, adding that’s what happened when he tried it during the pro-am on Wednesday.
He switched to his putter and ripped up the slope to the left of the pin, leaving himself about 10 feet away for a chance at par. There is one issue.
Beginning Of A Bad Finish
“The hill caught it more than I expected,” he said.
It lost speed and turned right, down the edge of the bunker and into the sand. He drove to 5 feet and made a quick putt with enough break to start it outside the cup.
That was the beginning of a bad finish. On the eighth, his tee shot found a bunker, and he caught it heavily. He then hit his third shot over the green and put from the first cut of turf to tap-in range for a bogey.
He came up short on his final hole, No. 9, and plugged into the bunker. With a front pin, all he could do was blast out through the green, and his par putt caught the lip. When he signed his card, he was 1-over 143 and outside the top 65.
“I made two bad calls on the wind on 6 and 9 that cost me two shots,” Woods explained.
Because of injuries to his right leg sustained in a car accident a year later, the tournament host is playing for the first time since 2020.
SOURCE – (AP)
