LOS ANGELES — Tiger Woods’ return is over.
Woods withdrew from The Genesis Invitational, the event he hosts each year in Southern California and the first official tournament he’s played since last year’s Masters, on Friday afternoon due to an illness.
Woods hit his tee shot on the seventh hole at Riviera Country Club after a rough start to his second round. After hitting his drive and landing in the fairway, Woods hopped in a cart and left the course, signaling the end of his tournament. He was seen putting his head in his hands at one point on the ride back to the clubhouse.
At the time, Woods was 1-over for his round and 2-over for the tournament.
The Tour and rules official Mark Dusbabek then confirmed that Woods had withdrawn due to an illness. Woods stopped into the bathroom multiple times through his six holes. He was also spotted bent over and leaning on a cooler at the fifth tee box, clearly uncomfortable. According to Woods’ longtime business partner and manager Rob McNamara, he started feeling some «flu-like symptoms» after Thursday’s round.
«[He] woke up this morning, they were worse than the night previous,» McNamara said. «He had a little bit of a fever and that, and was better during the warm-up, but then when he got out there and was walking and playing, he started feeling dizzy.
«Ultimately the doctors are saying he’s got some — potentially some type of flu and that he was dehydrated. He’s been treated with an IV bag and he’s doing much, much better and he’ll be released on his own here soon.»
Woods walked out of the clubhouse on his own and got in a vehicle to leave the course shortly after McNamara’s comments. An ambulance was called to Riviera due to a «medical request,» but neither Woods nor anybody else was transported away in that ambulance.
Woods posted a statement on social media on Saturday morning confirming that he withdrew due to what he now knows is influenza, and that he is feeling better.
I would like to confirm that I had to withdraw from @thegenesisinv due to illness, which we now know is influenza. I am resting and feeling better. Good luck to the players this weekend. I’m disappointed to not be there and want to thank @GenesisUSA and all the fans for the…
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) February 17, 2024
Gary Woodland, who was playing with Woods and Justin Thomas, said it was evident early on that Woods wasn’t doing well.
«I saw it, he obviously wasn’t himself, just didn’t look right,» Woodland said. «Saw that before the round started. It sucks. Obviously everything’s better with him there and for him for his first tournament back and he couldn’t come out and finish the way he wanted to, that sucks for all of us.»
Woods posted a 1-over 72 to open the Genesis Invitational on Thursday. His first round was incredibly inconsistent all the way through, and he actually shanked what should have been an easy approach shot on the final hole. He said that he was dealing with back spasms during the last stretch of play, which he credited to the brutal fusion procedure he underwent on his back in 2017. He underwent a second fusion procedure on his ankle after he withdrew from the Masters last year, but he said both Wednesday and Thursday that his ankle wasn’t bothering him.
It didn’t seem that Woods was in any physical pain due to either his back or his foot on Friday before he withdrew.
«Not physical at all, his back’s fine,» McNamara said. «It was all medical illness, dehydration, which is now the symptoms are reversing themselves now that he’s had an IV.»
Patrick Cantlay was leading the tournament at 10-under on the week when Woods withdrew, though Cantlay was only halfway through his second round. Woods was two shots outside of the projected cutline, so he would have needed a strong finish in the back half of his round on Friday to make it into the weekend.
Woods has long said that he hopes to play in about one tournament each month in 2024, which would allow him to compete in all four major championships. In theory, that will mean that Woods will try to compete in either the Arnold Palmer Invitational or The Players Championship next month.
Cantlay flew ahead of the rest of the field by Friday afternoon. He backed up his opening-round 64 with a bogey-free 65, which got him to 13-under at the midway point of the tournament. The Southern California native will enter Sunday with a five shot lead over the rest of the field.
