LOS ANGELES — Tiger Woods strolled through the fairways at Riviera Country Club without any issue on Wednesday morning.
Woods was calm, chatting up Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen and new Los Angeles Angels outfielder Aaron Hicks constantly as they got one final practice round in. The limp, which he was battling consistently a year ago before surgery knocked him out for most of the 2023 season, was long gone.
“My ankle doesn’t hurt anymore,” Woods said.
Woods is set to make his official return to the PGA Tour this week at the Genesis Invitational, a tournament he hosts at the course where he made his first ever start in 1992 each season in Los Angeles. It marks his first time competing since he withdrew from the Masters last April due to a lingering foot injury. Woods underwent a fusion procedure on his ankle later that month, and has been recovering ever since.
While he did participate in a few “soft” events — Woods played at both the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas and then with his son, Charlie, at the PNC Championship in December — this week marks his first true tournament back in action.
Woods has long stated his goal is to try and play about once a month on Tour in 2024, which starts this week at Riviera. The last several weeks, though, the 48-year-old has been simply trying to get healthy enough to hold his own after his latest surgery.
“It’s been an ongoing process,” Woods said. “How the body feels from day to day and the grind of trying to practice and get ready for an event, just the overall just aging process of it all, that has been the trick of it and been the challenge of it … [I’m] trying to get used to the new feels of the body. That’s always the challenge.”
It’s hard to know what to actually expect from Woods this week golf-wise. Sure, he’s won a record-tying 82 wins in his career and he’s undoubtedly among the best to ever do it. But on the other hand, Woods has been consistently absent in recent years while dealing with a number of injuries and recovering from a devastating car crash a few years ago. He’s never won at Riviera either, something he’s attributed largely to his putting, and he now sits at No. 893 in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Woods just barely made the cut at last year’s Genesis Invitational, though he finished out the weekend strong and carded one of his best rounds in recent memory. This time the Genesis Invitational is one of the PGA Tour’s Signature Events, meaning the field is only 70 players deep. There is still a cut, but it includes the top 50 players, ties and anybody who is within 10 shots of the lead at the midway point. Woods will tee off just before 9:30 a.m. on Thursday alongside Justin Thomas and Gary Woodland.
Both literally and figuratively, it seems as if Woods is trying to turn a page in his career. Not only is he able to walk a golf course and play without outward signs of discomfort, but Woods’ old “TW” logo is gone. He replaced it with his new “Sun Day Red” apparel line, which he launched officially on Monday night with TaylorMade. The new deal marks his first since he split with Nike last month after an iconic 27-year partnership. He’s also working with veteran caddie Lance Bennett this week, after parting with longtime partner Joe LaCava last year.
While it’s unclear if the changes will transition over into his game, Woods is just happy to be playing once again.
“I still love competing. I love playing. I love being part of the game of golf,” Woods said. “This is the game of a lifetime and I don’t want to ever stop playing … For instance like today, to be able to play with two great athletes, the cross-pollination doesn’t happen with other sports. And this game, I love that and I don’t ever want to lose that.”
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