Tiger Woods sustained another self-inflicted blow during his return to the PGA Tour at the Genesis Invitational, though this one had little to do with his battered body as he continues his comeback from the horrific 2021 car crash and had everything to do with a bad joke gone awry.
In his return to elite competition for the first time in seven months, Woods caused quite a buzz in the opening round for all the wrong reasons.
It started when he ripped a 323-yard drive, some 10 yards longer than the 29-year-old Thomas.
Walking off the tee, Woods discreetly put something in Thomas’ hand, which Thomas tossed to the ground when he realized what it was — a tampon, to remind Thomas that Woods hit it farther. Woods laughed and put his arm around Thomas.
Social media came to life when the moment was posted. On Friday, one fan shouted, “Tampon!” at Woods after he made a rare putt.
Woods apologized after his bogey-bogey finish for a 74 in the second round, which left him over the projected cut line.
“It was supposed to be all fun and games and obviously it hasn’t turned out that way. If I offended anybody in any way, shape or form, I’m sorry. It was not intended to be that way. It was just we play pranks on one another all the time and virally I think this did not come across that way.”
Woods said.
Outside of swearing following bad shots, Woods rarely brings this kind of attention to himself inside the ropes.
Meanwhile, on the course, Woods’s performance has been uneven through the first two days.
Making his first start on Tour in more than 200 days, Woods made five birdies in the opening round, including three straight to cap a strong start.
He wasn’t nearly as sharp in the second round, though, and struggled with his putting. After playing his first nine holes in even par, Woods bogeyed three of his final four holes to barely make the cut.
“I did not putt well today,” he said. “I blocked a lot of putts early and this is probably the highest score I could have shot today.
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