Woods announces his return
Tiger plans to play Torrey Pines, Riviera on West Coast
Tiger Woods is playing twice in California over the next six weeks as he begins another comeback on the PGA Tour from back surgery.
Woods announced Thursday he will play the Farmers Insurance Open on Jan. 25 at Torrey Pines, the San Diego course where he has won eight times. That includes the 2008 U.S. Open, his 14th and most recent major.
He also says he will play the Genesis Open at Riviera in Los Angeles that starts Feb. 15. Riviera is where Woods played his first PGA Tour event as a 16-year-old amateur. He last played in 2006, though it now is back in play because the Tiger Woods Foundation runs the tournament.
“I'm very excited to be back at Riviera,” Woods said. “To be able to play in an event that I used to come to as an amateur, as a junior and now as the tournament host, that is on one of the most historic sites in all of golf, it's a dream come true.”
The schedule is similar to the one last year when Woods was returning from back surgery. It just didn't last long.
He played in the Bahamas against an 18-man field with no cut, said he was feeling good about his health and his game, and then resumed a PGA Tour schedule at Torrey Pines. But he missed the 36-hole cut for the first time in San Diego, flew to Dubai and withdrew after opening with a 77 because of back spasms.
Two months later, Woods had fusion surgery on his lower back — his fourth back surgery in three years — and was out the rest of the year until he returned at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas and tied for ninth, 10 shots out of the lead.
Different about this return was that Woods was hitting with power, at times hitting it past Justin Thomas and Henrik Stenson, and he played several practice rounds before the Bahamas with Thomas, Rickie Fowler, Daniel Berger and Dustin Johnson. All of them remarked that he looked much fitter, healthier and happier.
The PGA Tour figures to get an even bigger boost.
“I think Tiger's return and the excitement based on how he looked based on what it does for ratings, what it does for a non-golfer's interest in golf, it's got to be at the forefront of the excitement,” Jordan Spieth said.
Woods didn’t mention other events he might play.
KAPALUA, Hawaii — Coming off his best year, Marc Leishman got off to an ideal start in 2018 with eight birdies and a 6-under 67 for a one-shot lead in the Sentry Tournament of Champions.
Leishman ran off four straight birdies around the turn and holed a 20-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole. He was one shot ahead of Brian Harman and Jhonattan Vegas.
Rickie Fowler overcame a double bogey on the 13th hole with two straight birdies and an eagle on the final hole. He shot 69, along with Dustin Johnson and Si Woo Kim. Jordan Spieth, who had never shot over par in 12 previous rounds at Kapalua, shot 75.