A few days after Tiger Woods committed to playing the Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines, he announced that he’s “just not ready” to return. It would’ve been his first PGA Tour start since the British Open last July.
Woods was set to play — and walk — 18 holes in competition for the first time since he had a microdiscectomy in September to alleviate pain down his legs, his sixth surgery on his lower back. He was also supposed to be his first compeition since the loss of his mother, Kultida Woods, who died last week at age 80.
Woods is the host of the Genesis Invitational, which was moved from Riviera Country Club because of wildfires that devastated the surrounding Los Angeles community of Pacific Palisades.
He has never won at Riviera, but his eight wins at Torrey Pines include the 2008 U.S. Open. The public course along the Pacific Ocean is also the site of his most recent top-10 finish on the PGA Tour, a tie for ninth at the Farmers Insurance Open in 2020.
The Genesis Invitational is a limited-field signature event with no cut. Woods hasn’t played four rounds in an event since last year’s Masters, when he broke the tournament record for consecutive cuts made with his 24th. He finished last among those who made the cut, shooting 82-77 over the weekend. He played the other three major championships last year, missing the cut each time.
A 15-time major champion, the 49-year-old Woods has 82 PGA Tour victories, tied with Sam Snead for the most ever. His last win was the Zozo Championship in 2019.
He missed all of 2021 after a rollover car crash in Los Angeles in February of that year that caused severe injuries to his lower right leg.
Woods skipped the unofficial event he hosts in December, the Hero World Challenge, but he played an exhibition with his son, Charlie, and has competed in the indoor TGL league.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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