Tiger Woods doesn’t tee it up unless he believes he can compete, and for a spell, he did just that on Thursday.
The 15-time major champion made his return to PGA Tour action with a 1-over 72 in the first round of the 2024 Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California. For the majority of the round Woods seemed comfortable and in complete control of his golf ball, but after he made the turn the winds picked up and so did his score.
Woods began his day with a birdie on the handshake par-5 opening hole before he took two slaps to the face with bogeys on Nos. 2 and 3. He avoided par once again with a 15-footer for birdie on the par-3 4th hole and added another circle to the scorecard on No. 6, the wonky par 3 with a bunker in the middle of the green.
He closed out the front nine on cruise control before he sandwiched a birdie on No. 11 between two bogeys on Nos. 10 and 12 to move back to even par on the round. Three poor shots on No. 15 led to another bogey before two great shots and even better putts made for a nice birdie at the par-5 17th.
The round closed with some theatrics after Tiger hit a vicious shank from the fairway on the 18th hole. He escaped from prison among the trees and cleared a bunker to run his approach up the fairway and onto the green to set up a 15-foot par save that cruised past the cup on the high side, setting up one final bogey.
The rust was present, but that’s to be expected from a player who played less than a dozen competitive rounds in the last year. Woods will return to the course on Friday afternoon at 2:54 p.m. ET once again alongside Justin Thomas and Gary Woodland.
