Ailing Woods withdraws from Genesis Invitational

LOS ANGELES: Golf superstar Tiger Woods withdrew midway through the second round of the Genesis Invitational because of illness, the US PGA Tour said Friday. Woods, who hosts the tournament at The Riviera Country Club, had teed off on the seventh hole but was soon seen being taken from the course in a golf cart. The 15-time major champion was playing his first US PGA Tour event since withdrawing from the third round at the Masters last April.

Two weeks later he had ankle surgery to address lingering pain in his right foot from injuries suffered in a 2021 car crash. Although Woods said Thursday that back spasms contributed to a surprising shank at the 18th hole of his one-over par first round there was no indication that any of the myriad injuries that he says affect him every round contributed to Friday’s withdrawal.

Woods would have been battling to make the cut in the elite event. He opened Friday with a birdie at the par-five first but bogeyed the third and fifth. He was in the fairway at the seventh when he called it quits. It’s an unwelcome setback for the 48-year-old Woods, who said in December at the unofficial Hero World Challenge that he hoped his various physical problems would allow him to play a limited schedule of one tournament a month.

After his first competitive round in more than 10 months on Thursday he admitted the jury was still out on whether that plan would pan out and whether it would allow him to be competitive. “I’m hoping that’s the case, hoping that I play that much,” Woods said. “As far as the physical ups and downs, that’s just part of my body, that’s part of what it is. “That’s all right, I accept it and accept the challenges,” he said. Woods has played only nine official events in the last four seasons. He has missed the cut twice and withdrawn three times.—