Tiger Woods marked his first official PGA Tour start since The Masters with a one-over 72 in California, leaving him eight strokes behind early leader Patrick Cantlay; Watch the Genesis Invitational throughout the week live on Sky Sports Golf

Tiger Woods experienced brilliant birdies, frustrating bogeys and even a shank during an eventful PGA Tour comeback at the Genesis Invitational.

The tournament host, making his first appearance of 2024 and first in an official PGA Tour event since withdrawing mid-round from The Masters in April, mixed five birdies with six bogeys with a one-over 72 at Riviera Country Club.

Woods made two birdies in three holes on his front nine and was still in red figures with seven holes to go, with the 15-time major champion showing plenty of positive signs in his first outing wearing his new ‘Sun Day Red’ clothing.

The former world No 1 only registered seven pars on an eclectic scorecard, with an inexplicable shank from the final fairway resulting in a closing bogey and leaving him eight strokes off the clubhouse lead.

Explaining the shank, Woods told Golf Channel: “Well, my back spasmed on it. It has been spasming the last like three holes and it just locked up on me. Didn’t move, didn’t rotate and presented hosel first!”

Mixed day for Tiger

Woods – playing alongside Justin Thomas and Gary Woodland – got up and down from off the green to take advantage of the par-five first but bogeyed the next after a poor chip from just wide of the putting surface.

The 48-year-old responded to missing from seven feet to save par at the third by rolling in from 15 feet at the par-three fourth, then followed his first par of the day at the fifth by draining a 15-footer at the par-three next to move into red figures.

Woods made a good two-putt at the seventh for the first of three consecutive pars, seeing him turn in 34, but bogeyed the driveable par-four 10th after finding the greenside bunker off the tee and then seeing his pitch away from the hole run off the green.

He responded brilliantly to convert a putt from the fringe at the par-five 11th, although failed to scramble a par from the sand at the next and required a stunning up and down from the rough at the 13th to avoid back-to-back bogeys.

Woods slipped back over par with a dropped shot at the 15th, his fifth bogey of the day, then made a two-putt birdie at the par-five 17th to get back to level par after reaching the green in two.

The 82-time PGA Tour winner found the fairway off the final tee, only to find the hosel with his approach and finish behind the tree. Woods responded to pitch through a gap to 15 feet but was unable to salvage a closing par.

It was 1999. Tiger Woods was just fresh off a win from the Buick Invitational with a remarkable 22-under 266 and was on top of his game at the Los Angeles Open. However, a dropped shot on the final par-4 denied him a playoff chance and, as a result, forced him to be content with the runner-up position. Unfortunate? Yes. But little did he know that the T2 finish would be the closest he would get to a win at the Riviera Country Club.

Come 2024. Mr. T has achieved a record-breaking career with 110 professional wins, including 82 victories on the PGA Tour. Even then, a triumph at the California Club seems as elusive as catching a ghost for the golfer, seeing as to how he was forced to withdraw from the recent event as well.

Does Lady Misfortune await Tiger Woods at Riviera?

“I have traditionally not putted well here,” said the 48-year-old Woods ahead of the 2024 Genesis Invitational as he recounted his years of bad luck at the course. “I’ve driven it well here… my iron game has been pretty good,” added the athlete before pointing out, “but I have never really gotten hot with the putter at this course.” It seems lady luck has turned her eyes away from the professional at his hometown event.

Tiger Woods says he’s feeling better. He says he’s resting.

And he also confirmed via a Saturday statement what had been speculated a day earlier, when he stunningly withdrew from the Genesis Invitational.

He has influenza.

The statement over his social channels was just four sentences, and it was unclear if he, as the tournament host, would try to return to the Genesis during Sunday’s final round. The message was also the latest news in a Woods whirlwind.

He’d been making his first PGA Tour start since last April, when he withdrew from the Masters, and he shot an up-and-down, one-over 72 during Thursday’s first round. He made five birdies. He made six bogeys. He shanked once. Afterward, he blamed the mishit on a back spasm.

Friday, during the Genesis’ second round, he opened with a birdie. But playing partner Gary Woodland later admitted Woods looked off. There were reports that he took multiple bathroom stops. By the 7th hole, he was done, and PGA Tour rules official Pete Dachisen carted him back to the clubhouse.

Uncertainty followed. Mark Dusbabek told Golf Channel viewers that the WD was not due to his back, but because of an illness. An ambulance and two fire trucks appeared at Riviera. Medical professionals entered and exited the clubhouse every few minutes. After a while, the fire trucks and ambulance left.

They were followed later by Woods. At about 3:40 p.m. local time, Woods exited, driven away by an official in a red Genesis coupe.

Rob McNamara, a longtime Woods confidante, released this question-and-answer statement via the PGA Tour communications team:

Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren have mastered the art of co-parenting.

The former couple first met in the early 2000s, and just a few years later, Woods and Nordegren tied the knot in a stunning ceremony. In 2007, the duo celebrated the arrival of their first child, daughter Sam Alexis. The family grew once again in 2009 with the addition of their son Charlie Axel.

By the time their children were toddlers, Woods had found himself embroiled in a scandal, after reports surfaced that the golfer had been having several affairs during his marriage. Wood and Nordegren finalized their divorce in 2010, but despite any drama between the parents, the pair worked to keep the best interests of Sam and Charlie in mind. While Woods admitted it was much harder to do things solo, he said that seeing his children grow is the greatest reward.

“I just love being with them and seeing what they’re doing, what they’re capable of doing – the joys, just the shifts of interest. It’s just fun. We have a great time together,” he said in 2011.

While things may have gotten easier as Sam and Charlie have gotten older, Woods still sees his children as the highlight of his life, encouraging him to continue onward even through some of his biggest obstacles.

Here’s everything you need to know about Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren’s children.

Sam Alexis Woods, 16

Woods and Nordegren’s older child, Sam Alexis Woods, was born on June 18, 2007, in Orlando, Florida. The couple chose a name with special meaning, as Woods’ father had always called the golfing superstar by the nickname Sam when he was growing up.

“We wanted to have a name that would be meaningful to either side of the family, my side or Elin’s side, because she was born [the day after] Father’s Day. It just happened to fit. My father had always called me Sam since the day I was born. He rarely ever called me Tiger. I would ask him, ‘Why don’t you ever call me Tiger?’ He says, ‘Well, you look more like a Sam,’ ” the golfer explained.

Woods instilled a love of sports in his daughter from the very beginning, sharing that he put a golf club in Sam’s hands when she was just a few weeks old — although “she couldn’t quite hold it.” At just six months old, Sam attended the first of many of her dad’s golfing competitions. Throughout her childhood, she was spotted rooting him on from the crowd on numerous occasions and even served as his caddy at one point. While it sounds like Sam might now be more into soccer than golf, Woods has said that his children’s attendance at his golfing events means the world to him.

“We all know what happened in ’97 with my dad’s health, and he was pronounced — well, he was dead at one point earlier that year; came back, and then came here and I won the Masters. To now have come full circle and to have a chance to have my kids out there and be able to share that with them, it’s special,” Woods told the Golf Channel.

Following Woods and Nordegren’s split, the athlete later revealed that he was upfront about the situation with his young children. While he didn’t tell them exactly what happened, he says he did admit to them that he had made mistakes.

“I’ve taken the initiative with the kids, and told them up front, ‘Guys, the reason why we’re not in the same house, why we don’t live under the same roof, Mommy and Daddy, is because Daddy made some mistakes,’ ” Woods told TIME magazine in 2015.

Tiger Woods is considering retirement after pulling out of the Genesis Invitational due to illness whilst trying to attempt his combat to golf after taking almost an entire year out in a bid to recover from muscular injury but one thing is preventing that…

The iconic golf star managed 24 holes on Friday, February 16 but it appears he no longer wants to continue in the sport. However, he must do so in order to back his Sun Day Red clothing line that is in its infancy.

After losing his Nike sponsorship, he needs to supplement his income despite amassing a fortune in the millions and views the clothing line as a way to do that hence why he will push through the pain barrier so it gets publicity.

“If Tiger could retire, he would,” a source told the Daily Mail. “His body is beat up but, for his brand, he still has to make and keep appearances and make a go at it.

“After his car accident, he thought that was it. There was almost an amputation in play, so to be back even at all is sort of a miracle. Now with this recent illness that had him bow out of the latest tournament, that is unfortunate.

“But he will be back because he has to support his new brand Sun Day Red, and everything else in his world. He’ll be back even though he would love nothing more than to retire.”

Why can’t Woods find form?

After a lengthy spell out, Woods sensationally returned to the green in 2019 and won the Masters to claim his fifth title there at the Augusta National Golf Club, winning by one stroke from three players.

But then came disaster in 2021 as he suffered a major car accident that left his bones shattered and destroyed after he was apparently speeding prior to the crash, which saw his vehicle rollover.

Since then, his attempted comebacks have never really worked with injury frequent and failing that, some other kind of problem as evidenced by his most recent outing at the Genesis Invitational.

Aged 48, the 15-time major champion made it to Day Two of the event before needing to withdraw after suffering flu-like symptoms and dehydration in his first appearance since the Masters in April 2023.