Woods sets season debut at Riviera

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Tiger Woods will make his first PGA Tour appearance of the year at the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, the golfer confirmed on Wednesday.

“Excited to be the host next week,” Woods posted on social media.

The 48-year-old last competed in an official PGA Tour event at the 2023 Masters tournament in April but played in two events in December.

Woods played with his son Charlie at the PNC Championship in Orlando on 18 December after playing in the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas earlier in the month.

The 15-times major champion has struggled since suffering severe leg injuries in a 2021 car crash and he underwent ankle surgery after the Masters in April.

‘Excited to be the host next week.’

The Genesis Invitational is held from 15 to 18 February and Woods is the host of the event.

Last month, Woods said he was ending his long-standing partnership with sportswear company Nike and it will be interesting to see what equipment and clothing he features in at Riviera.

After playing at the PNC Championship, Woods said he felt in shape to carry out his plan of monthly competitive action this year.

“I’ll be able to walk and play,” Woods said after the final round of the Orlando event.

“We’ve been working out hard, been able to recover. We’ve been training every day, which is great. It’s been nice to knock off a lot of the rust and some of the doubt that I’ve had because quite frankly I haven’t hit a shot that counted in a long time,” he said.

The Masters will be held at Augusta National the week of 8 April.

The 2024 schedule sees the PGA Championship in May, the US Open in June and the British Open in July.