(Los Angeles) Golf legend Tiger Woods experienced an eventful recovery in Los Angeles on Thursday in the first round of his first competition in 2024, where he attracted all eyes.
Host of the Genesis Invitational, a PGA Tour tournament, Tiger Woods began his game and his year 2024 at 9:25 a.m. local time, in the heart of a delicious winter Californian morning (bright sunshine, around 17°C).
In a cream outfit branded by his new equipment manufacturer (Sun Day Red with TaylorMade, after leaving his historic partner Nike), the 48-year-old American attracted the crowd, who followed his assured step over 18 holes, reassuring for his state of health after his ankle operation last year. In the audience, tiger disguises and a few well-known faces, like Los Angeles Clippers basketball club coach Tyronn Lue.
The legend with 15 major titles started his day at the very chic Riviera Country Club with a birdie hailed by the spectators, but ended it in the trees at hole N.18. Woods managed to escape with a nice paw between two trunks, for a simple bogey and an average final card of 72, one shot over par, eight shots behind the provisional leader, Patrick Cantlay.
“I’ve done a lot of good things and a lot of anything, one or the other. I had a series of birdies and bogeys, I couldn’t be consistent,” commented Woods.
The American will have to finish in the first 50 (out of 70) or less than 10 shots from the lead at the end of the second day on Friday to rank and defend his chances this weekend.
The Genesis Invitational marks the return of Tiger Woods to the PGA circuit, which he had not attended since the Masters Tournament in April 2023. He then had surgery on an ankle, aftereffects of a car accident in 2021, then resumed competition in December during two lesser tournaments, without completely removing doubts about his ability to return to the very high level.
Woods has announced that he wants to play one tournament per month in 2024. This could allow him to compete in all four major tournaments for the first time since 2019, the year he was 15e and last major title at the Masters Tournament.