Tiger Woods’ Return Headlines This Week’s Golf Tournament at Riviera
By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor
As if the field were not strong enough with 19 of the top 20 players in the Official World Golf Rankings committed to this week’s Genesis Invitational, Tiger Woods announced just before the deadline Friday that he will not only host but make his 2023 PGA TOUR debut at Riviera, where he has never won as a professional. He and 131 others will compete for a tournament-record $20 million purse and the 15-time major champion is eager to play in his first regular PGA TOUR event since October 25, 2020, when he tied for 72nd at the Zozo Championship, relocated from Japan to Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks because of the coronavirus pandemic. Woods made his pro debut at Riviera as a 16-year-old amateur in 1992 and is winless in 11 tries, a trend he hopes to change beginning today when he tees off from Hole 1 at 12:04 p.m. in a group with Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas. While recovering from his fifth back surgery in February 2021, Woods crashed his SUV in Los Angeles only two days after the Genesis Invitational, suffering multiple fractures of his right leg and ankle. He missed 14 months but unbelievably made the cut at the Masters last April. He withdrew after the third round of the PGA Championship at Southern Hills in May and missed the cut at the British Open in July.He made it clear during his press conference Tuesday morning that, as always, he is playing to win.
“I’m excited about being able to compete and play here at Riviera where basically it all started,” Woods said. “As far as the recovery, it’s more my ankle, whether I can recover from day to day. It’s gotten so much better the last couple months. I wouldn’t have put myself out here if I didn’t think I could beat these guys and win. That’s my mentality.”
Woods will have to contend with, among others, world No. 1 McIlroy, No. 2 and reigning PGA TOUR Player of the Year Scottie Scheffler; No. 3 and 2021 U.S Open champion Jon Rahm, No. 5 Patrick Cantlay; No. 7 Collin Morikawa; No. 9 Thomas; No. 10 and reigning U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick; and 2021 Genesis winner Max Homa.
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